Scenic Views and Solitary Training

Having been neglecting her Ninjutsu training for the past few weeks Kudo decided that morning to head out to the mountains to get reacquainted with the stubborn element. While she had an affinity for moulding Doton chakra she had a hard time mastering any technique, though she’d had better results last time training in the mountains. Maybe it was the quiet and stillness that one could find in the windy crags, meditating always seemed impossible until she shed the loud hustle and bustle of the urban metropolis she spent most of her time within. It was a few hours before she really felt like the city had been left behind, even with its noise dying down shortly after taking the main road out it didn’t feel like she was out until she was surrounded by nature and off the busy road.

There were many trails to find and walk in the stony hills; she liked to follow the ones winding up to the peaks of the undulating region. Higher and higher she climbed until she found a small plateau where she could get to work. Sitting down she attempted to meditate, opting out after just five minutes and instead focusing on moulding her chakra for the exercises to come. First up on the docket was a simple and defensive technique that involved striking the ground after weaving a set of seals to produce an earthen wall. After a few tries her hands started to get sore, realizing it would have been best to bring some gloves and offer any protection to her bare palms. Finally she struck with such force that she swore a crack could be heard, a basic wall of dirt rising before her signaling her success. One down. Two to go.

The next was similar to another jutsu she knew that allowed for more free movement within the earth itself, almost swimming along its surface. This involved a more complicated interaction with the environment that would be moving with her to provide the constant alteration of the earth and stone around her. A few attempts granted partial success, but hilariously left her semi-submerged within the ground that left her giggling as she swayed back and forth with half buried. Closing her eyes she focused on coating herself in a layer of Doton chakra and was able to fully meld with the water-like ground and swim through its surface.

Surfacing from the ground she focused on the final technique she had planned, a simple offensive technique that involved spewing stone from the user’s mouth as a projectile. Scanning her surroundings she narrowed in on a pair of pine trees as her target, forming the four hand seals before exercising a rare bout of violence. Or at least she tried, all that was produced was a dribble of earth that she spat from her mouth. Yuck. Why did it have to be released from her mouth? Shaking her head she redoubled her focus, firing a tiny pebble this time with not nearly enough *umph* to be of use in combat. Surging her chakra she produced a fine rock that propelled and stuck itself within the bark with an explosion of wooden shrapnel around the point of impact. Jumping in the air with her success she sat down and watched the clouds a while before starting anything back up.

Jutsu Trained with 559/450 WC

• Earth Release: Earth Shore Return (C-Rank)
  
• Earth Release: Subterranean Voyage (C-Rank)
  
• Earth Style: Stone Pistol Technique (C-Rank)
  

After a relaxing post-cloud-watching nap Kudo stood up and pulled out a scroll she had prepared for the more complicated techniques she’d planned to exercise. In it she had many notes she’d gathered from fellow shinobi and books from the library. A stone dragon! She couldn’t help but start with the coolest of the prepared jutsu, eager to unravel the mystery of this exciting technique. While she had learned jutsu of similar scale to this one, there were none that had such intricate design to them. Forming the hand seals her chakra moulded into the shape she desired, trying to form the dragon beneath her feet with the head raising her up. This turned out to be a terrible idea, a malformed head sloppily rose from the ground and unbalanced her. Falling down the technique fell apart as the half-formed head lost its composition and turned back to formless dirt. Cursing her lack of foresight she immediately jumped back into it and this time tried to form the stone creature in front of her a few meters away. This time the head rose up with proper form, legs slamming down to the ground as he heaved its massive form from the earth. Its mouth opened in a silent roar that delighted Kudo. Falling on her back she panted from the expended chakra, not looking forward to further expending her limited reserve.

Jutsu Trained with 231/200 WC: Earth Release: Earth and Stone Dragon

The next technique was the most difficult looking one that she would be attempting that day, requiring a shadow clone to really test its effectiveness. Thankfully she had already mastered the kage bunshin which she formed quickly, the copy of her giving herself thumbs up in support. Furrowing her brow Kudo formed the hand seals, an earthen dome slowly began to form around the clone before crumbling to the ground. Alright, thicker walls. Trying again, large walls began to form around the clone before the strain became too much and she had to release the second attempt that drew beads of sweat on her forehead. Closing her eyes, Kudo focused on envisioning a sturdy dome of Doton with a layer of chakra coating the inside to repair itself and drain chakra from its victims. Forming the hand seals slowly she micro-managed the chakra forming the walls, slowly raising them to get a better handle on it before the dome finally successfully formed. Now that it was formed she placed her hands on its surface and began to slowly siphon the chakra from her clone, the copy of her falling to her knees before poofing into wispy smoke as the partitioned chakra returned to her system. The dome crumbled as she released the technique, sitting down taking large gulps of air as her system balanced the sudden influx of energy.

Jutsu Trained with 229/200 WC: Earth Release Barrier: Earth Prison Dome of Magnificent

This next planned Doton technique was a strange one, Kudo couldn’t really conceive how useful it would be in combat. It sounded more like something that could be useful in mineral extraction or other such feats requiring a great level of manpower to unearth without Ninjutsu. Eyes glued to the scroll she copied the hand seals she had written down, forming the chakra with a level of uncertainty that almost guaranteed the jutsu’s failure. A large mound formed on the plateau she stood on, glad that at least the initial formation was something she did correctly. The rising mound peeled back its tip to form a mini volcano of sorts, only one that spewed the content from below. From its mouth tumbled a few small rocks, Kudo unsure on how to properly alter the technique to produce the desired effect. What even is the desired effect I’m trying to achieve? Thinking of something new she formed another kage bunshin and had it dig underground with a simple Doton jutsu. Now having an actual target she rewove the hand seals and formed the mini volcano once more, this time attempting to pull the bunshin from below and expel it through her technique. After a short pause the clone was ejected from the open mound, pumping her arms in midair before poofing back and returning the thrilling experience of free falling to the original Kudo.

Jutsu Trained with 233/200 WC: Earth Release: Opening Earth Rising Excavation

A change of environment was needed for this next exercise; she needed a cave that would be buried when performed properly. Not exactly an easy set of criteria or end result to find oneself in. She figured she needed to be placed at the mouth of the cave to be safe herself, and even then it would be a risky move. It took a couple hours to find a suitable location, there were a few small caverns dotted about the area that would do nicely. Alright, let’s start small. Outside of the cave was a small crack in the ground, planting her feet over it she formed hand seals focusing her intent on the scarred surface. A release of Doton chakra washed over the ground, the crack grew larger if only a hair's width. Well, technically that was a success, I think? Moving on to the small cave she wove the seals once more, creating several large cracks before she released it to start again. Stomping her feet on the ground she let loose a mighty roar to amp herself up as she formed the same seals a third time, slamming her hands to the ground as it quaked beneath her. A rumble answered her call as the ceiling buckled and began to collapse. Running out screaming she caught her breath and coughed through the cloud of dirt she became engulfed in. Practicing the simple wall creating jutsu from earlier she rose herself above the cloud to pull in some clean breaths before taking a well earned break.

Jutsu Trained with 258/200 WC: Earth Release: Rock Lodging Destruction

Almost finished with the prepared Doton jutsu exercises for the day, Kudo felt reinvigorated as she jumped up from her brief break with excitement brimming from cheek to cheek. This next one was a simpler version to the last cave collapsing once, glad to be done with the more dangerous of the techniques for the day. Alright, just break big rocks into smaller ones. What’s so hard about that? Closing her eyes she focused on her breathing before opening then and flying through the handful of signs that molded her chakra into the familiar element. Slamming her hands to the ground, she watched as cracks spread out from her palms for several feet before ceasing, a frown burrowing her brow at the lack of splintering of the stone around her. This time she performed a simple jutsu to produce a small earthen wall to practice on, forming the same seals again before pressing her hands to the simple wall of stone. Chakra spread from her fingertips, weakening the structural integrity of the wall before it crumbled to dust before her. Jumping up in the air she yipped with delight, only one more remaining before the final leg of her exercises were in sight.

Jutsu Trained with 203/200 WC: Earth Release: Rock Collapse

The final Doton technique was a strange one, not as dangerous as some of the others but conceptually an oddity to be sure. When performed properly a portal should appear in the air, releasing a sticky mud of sorts to trap enemies unlucky enough to be caught in the mire. How this portal was created and from whence the sticky mud was summoned from eluded her. It really sounded more similar to the summoning techniques of those who signed contracts with shinobi animal clans or strange relics. Shaking her head she focused on the task at hand, perhaps the seals would intuit some of this knowledge once formed. Flying through the seals Kudo watched in amazement as a poor excuse of a portal flickered to life before her, oozing out a dribble of this sticky mud before fizzling out. Glad to have at least gotten the concept down this time she poured the proper flow of chakra into the technique, this time opening a proper portal that continuously poured the viscous mud onto the flat mountaintop. As the portal closed the mud slid off the side, slowly rolling down the cliffside before coagulating into a more solid form below. Sitting down she cried out in victory, having triumphed over every prepared Doton technique she wrote down in her scroll that she brought with her on this training excursion.

Jutsu Trained with 226/200 WC: Earth Release: Sticky Earth Drop

The first of the non-Doton related techniques was a sneaky one that she could easily see herself using on a mission. It was perfect for her preference to play backup to her teammates, but could also prove useful in evading detection of the enemy. To blend in with the environment is a staple desire for any shinobi, going unseen can only aid oneself when in enemy territory. The thought of being alone in enemy territory frightened the young genin, though perhaps with this technique mastered she would feel that lessened any amount. Forming the required seals she watched as her hands turned semi-translucent, an amazement that this technique didn’t require any sort of special lineage or forbidden knowledge to obtain. Releasing the technique she redoubled her focus on spreading this transparency to the rest of her body she realized she’d been closing her eyes, reopening them to find herself almost invisible as a sign that she had gotten the technique down. The worry crept back into her mind that if someone as weak as her could grasp this sort of jutsu then her enemy almost certainly would as well. The fleeting feeling of being less helpless when alone shrank back to normal, hopefully that she wouldn’t ever find herself in such a situation.

Jutsu Trained with 213/200 WC: Transparent Escape Technique

With that Kudo went home, thoroughly exhausted and ready for a long bath and sleep.