All the winds and flames and tricks! Oh my!

Committing to training. It didn't happen often but today was one of these days where there yokai felt liking doing nothing but beating the stuff out of training dummies. Random frustrations mixed with future plans, a bad night's rest and a bit of a temper. The perfect concoction to let off some steam. Not the worst moments either, perhaps, since there had been a couple of things she wanted to try out. Elements. For a long time she hadn't bothered with them, only having an interest in fuuton, but having seen shinobi make use of elemental affinities the genin had to acknowledge their usefulness.

Now standing before a training dummy it was her turn to try out the same. Starting with her personal favourite, fuuton. Most of the wind techniques she had spotted involved weapons, clapping or breathing. Any means to create an air current. So the demoness started her practise by breathing in deep and blowing out, molding chakra in the process. An air current would be created, not quite jutsu worthy but sufficient to reveal she got the hang of the basics. With that established, Akari proceeded to mimic the 'Passing Typhoon' technique. A simple gust of wind mostly used as a basic form of defence against shrouds and projectiles. She'd breathe in again, mold chakra to a greater degree than the trial, and breathed out to create a brief but powerful gust of air around her.

She'd repeat her efforts a few time until she considered herself sufficiently capable of performing the technique before pushing her limits to something greater. Great Breakthrough. A technique reserved for chuunin due its greater amount of chakra molding and, while basically the same principle in workings as the 'Passing Typhoon' yet of a more complex grade than the D-ranks. To the oni, it didn't seem that difficult to learn it, her challenge mostly being in the question if she had the constitution to deal with it at her rank. The only way to reach that answer was through practise and so the shinobi took a deep breathe again. A little slower than before, giving herself more time to mold the greater amount of chakra before she blew it all out. The training dummy standing in close quarters would not survive, brutally torn from its position and thrown around the training hall with little resistance.

Seeing the impact of the 'Great Breakthrough' Akari blinked.

---

402
XP: 10


Training: 250 wc
- D-rank Passing Typhoon
- C-rank Great Breakthrough

It was a pleasant surprise to see the impact of her own jutsu being executed. Granted, a training dummy was hardly something to boast about and her technique required some fine-tuning and continued practise if she wanted to be able to apply it in a combat situation but for a first time, this wasn't bad. Not bad at all. There were other techniques to try out, of course. Straight-forward techniques. So far she had tried her hand at techniques that crudely blew all around her. Nothing too crafty, plenty of wild power. Efficient in its own way yet not directed into a proper purpose. The 'Drilling Air Bullet' offered a little more on that account. A bullet of compressed air to fire down a target.

In the eyes of the genin, the jutsu held quite the devastating power, her rank not allowing just yet to deal with the true terrors among the techniques. But she could see its use. It was now a matter of practising it, trying it out and discovering its potential. Much like she had done with the previous technique, Akari took in a deep slow breath as she molded the chakra into it and carefully shaped it into a bullet of sorts. Directing her intention towards the fallen training dummy previously victimised by her 'Great Breakthrough' mimic, she spit out the ball of air to see it crash into the ground and splinter a couple of pieces. Nothing too bad, and totally hitting the dummy in question. Black pools would watch the puppet with a hint of apathy, the mind trying to figure out what went wrong exactly. Aiming hadn't been as easy but that was expected. The damage seemed mediocre at best while it should have been higher.

Proceeding to retry the technique, the elder yokai she was familiar with appeared without a sound. He'd take position against the wall behind her, observing how his protegee continued training by herself. Bullet after bullet would be fired off, one better than the other as she improved upon the technique step by step. By the time she had successfully replicated its effect, the genin was panting from the chakra she had expended into achieving the desired results. Hands leaning on her knees, beads of sweat would wet the floor.

---

382
Total: 784
XP: 20 [2/3 daily solo posts]

Training: 150 wc
- C-rank Drilling Air Bullet

"I see you are growing well in your new path"

The elder would reveal his presence as he spoke, making Akari turn around with a jump. She hadn't heard him arrive, so absorbed into her training she had failed to remain vigilant. She'd shot him a dirty glare and puff up her cheeks for that even if he wasn't to blame for her failure. The yokai merely chuckled at her offence.

"I didn't mean anything bad with it. In fact, since you are exploring fuuton I might be able to teach you an interesting technique. It requires quite some concentration and precision but you've already proven not to tackle anything less than that."

Akari tilted her head with mild curiosity, dropping her glare for a more neutral expression as she expected him to tell her more. And since he caught her attention and eagerness, so he proceeded.

"Gale Palm. It's a versatile technique that could either enhance your speed or that of an item, or create a gust of wind strong enough to knock down someone.", the elder explained, forming the needed hand seals before clapping his hands. Opening his hands, a gust of wind would violently blow forward and knock down the genin. As she stood up, he'd form the hand seals again slowly without clapping his hands.

"You've experienced the gust and as you stood up I formed the hand seals again to create its second effect."

Resting a hand on her hip with her previous annoyance returning, she'd barely have the time to lay her eyes on the elder when he blurred out of her vision and reappeared right next to her. Shocked, her eyes widened and turned slowly to reassure herself she wasn't dreaming. Right next to her, the elder with the cane, too old to do most choirs at the compound, had just moved at a speed she simply couldn't track. She stepped away to fully face him and just as she wanted to speak out her amazement he started whining.

"Ow, ow ow. My old bones..."
"Are you serious?"
"W-well... It grants speed... It's not like it heals my old bones..."
"You shouldn't be acting all cocky when you could break a bone just by moving!"
"These young... Always full of fire..."
"Whatever, old man."

A moment of silence would follow as the heated discussion dwindled and the old man slowly returned to his former place with a chuckle. He had shown that youngster, didn't he? Looking down upon the old like that.

"Thanks..."
"That's right. Us old people are not out of the game just yet."

He'd sit on a nearby bench, hands resting on his cane. Even now, no sound left behind by his footsteps. Old eyes would observe her once again, expecting her to put the new knowledge into practise and so Akari started to form the hand seals she had been shown. Clapping her hands together and opening it, a gust of wind would leave her hands. Not quite as strong as what the elder had shown, but that was nothing new. All that mattered was getting the hang of it first.

Forming the hand seals again yet giving her chakra a different flow and purpose, she could feel her body get empowered by the fuuton chakra, urging her to move on. Putting it to the test, she'd sprint forward like she'd otherwise do. And yes, her own movement a blur, the whole environment would turn into a black swirl as she was unable to keep track of her own movement. Before she well realised it, the yokai tripped over the fallen puppet, flying upside down as she lost control and crashed unhappily into the ground, face first. Feeling the air being smacked out of her lungs, body burning just about everywhere, Akari remained still for a while as she recovered from the whole ordeal.

---

645
Total: 1429
XP: 30 [1/3 daily solo posts]

Training:
- Gale Palm

Standing up again the whirled world still swirled. Light in the head from the crash, the demoness held her head, eyes searching for the elder. Between nausea and pain, she wanted to kick his ass for not having warned her of the speed difference. Quietly in the shadows, the old demon just watched her. Not even a grin of malevolence, not a frown of worry. Just plain apathy for her blind eagerness. He couldn't deny her mind was a magnificent tool at her age but in the end of things she was still a kid, inexperienced in dealing with the double-faced potential of mortal kin. Very different from animals, pure and simple in approach.

Grumbling between her teeth, the kid cracked her neck once she had recovered sufficiently. The moment for the old man to stand up again. Her Evil Eye would waken, the demoness not all too amused. Push beyond her limits. The flickering flame would consume her entire eye. Altering its composition entirely from perception of the mundane to a deeper perception of the mental. The old yokai awaited calmly what she'd do, his experience more than sufficient to deal with a brat going out of control.

Akari ran up to him, opening with a flying kick that the old man dodged easily. Shifting into the Five Venom stance, she felt her energy circulate through her body. Enhanced speed, more precision. The signature of the Five Venom Fist. But he knew that stance too well. Swift strikes would follow, her speed and strength improved since the day she had picked it up. The old man was no joke despite. Frail looking, spending his time scolding youngsters. But in a fight, his age was but an illusion for the retired expertise he maintained. In his own way, often with the help of his cane, he'd block her strikes or redirect them. Only his constitution failed him, his body burning too much energy for the physical prowess he needed.

To make matters worse, the nausea Akari had felt would somehow be shared with him. He'd catch a glimpse of the universe's vastness, his mind suddenly crushed by his own meaningless existence at this point. It'd leave him light in his head, his movements less limber and precise. Akari's hand would stop inches before his eye, ready to gouge it out. He'd fall on his rump, exhausted and quite amazed, if not envious, of the power of youth he had lost at this point. Had he been to harsh with the kid..?

"My, my. I'm getting too old for this...", he said between pants. "I'll have to find you a different mentor for you."

Akari would sigh deeply in response, dropping her pose. Perhaps he was right. His frailty held him back, his age denying her to go all out since an old man was not supposed to be beaten up or something. Though Akari cared little for such societal etiquette, she cared for the solitude that would follow with his choice, and lowered her eyes.

"I can only wonder how you forced my body to feel so detached though."
"All-encompassing Void. A genjutsu of my own creation."
"Is that so...?", he'd ask as he stood back up. "I see you've evolved beyond what I can teach you. Good. Very good."

He'd pat her head like he was caring for a grand child and walked away without another word. Watching him hobble about, short of falling into the ground again as the vertigo of her genjutsu was still in effect, Akari concentrated her doujutsu on the old man and channelled the Genjutsu Kai through it, destroying the illusion as she forced his brain to return to reality. A couple of meters before he'd vanish out of sight, the old yokai would walk straight again, freed from the genjutsu. And leave Akari by herself in the training area.

---

646
Total: 2075
XP: 40 [2/3 daily solo posts]

Training:
- C-rank Five Venom Fist
- C-rank All-Encompassing Void
- C-rank Dream Devouring Technique

Being on her own again, her exhaustion would creep up on her. The intense chakra use for practising the basics of the new jutsu along with her body still aching from the crash had drained most of the kid's desire to continue her training. Training in katon would have to be postponed to another day. Dragging her feet one in front of the other, she'd leave the training area for today and find some respite in Kumogakure's park, picking up some food along the way with what little ryo she had pocketed still. lt wasn't much but it was better than nothing at all.

---

[EXIT]

104
Total: 2179
XP: 40

Total training:
Fuuton 550 wc
- D-rank Passing Typhoon
- C-rank Drilling Air Bullet
- C-rank Gale Palm
- C-rank Great Breakthrough[/b]

Custom: 600 wc
- C-rank All-Encompassing Void
- C-rank Dream Devouring Technique
- C-rank Five Venom Fist