Ah, this place brought back memories.

Tame stood at the wide mouth of a cave. It was infamous, almost reviled, yet oddly enticing; a place which was uniquely known among the citizens of the Stone for being a place that no one ever escaped. Yes, this was a curious little cavern; for it was not simply an indent in the earth or a place hollowed out by wind and water. Quite simply, it was the only entrance to an intricate linkage of tunnels. Fascinating, really: that this entire system of what was probably transportation had no effect on the world above. It was rarely ever thought of if one did not bring to mind this cavern.

But, as he stood, Tame noted that there was something strange going on there: the cave, at first glance standing outside seemed as normal, but as one continued inward, a rock was in the way. The narrowing cave, almost as if the earth itself had a gullet, was choking on a rock. A...quite large one, at that.

This boulder was enormous. It could not be overstated how many times bigger it was than Tame. It was one of those things that made you feel quite small in life; one of those things that Tame hated.

That being said, Tame wanted to go visit the site of an old meeting he had. And this big lunk of sloppily-compressed earth was sure as hell not going to stop him. So, Tame began to punch it, in a calm fury. Quite the sight to behold: Itagaki Tame, the Whimsical Sniper, the S-rank-nuke-ninja master of long-range assassination, was punching a boulder.

But it wasn't just a boulder; it was a rock. A rock...

And it was then that Tame realized he was punching a rock. If he could scream, he would have done so at the top of his lungs; so, projecting his mental voice as far as he could, those in the area would hear a near-deafening (well, if such a thing would have affected their ears), disembodied FUUUUUUUCK! resound through their minds. It was rather like a foghorn; infallibly clearing away all other thoughts.

---

And then he started punching again. And again and again and again.

One might think he hadn't learned his lesson....no, he had. He had learned that the rock was stronger than he was. And he simply could not accept that. At least, at this point, his knuckles no longer hurt from punching the giant piece of hardened dirt. (He was fully aware that this was not due to him destroying his nerve endings by striking it repeatedly, however; this only motivated him to do more, to become stronger than a rock.)

And, at this point, Tame noticed an amazing phenomenon: he was cracking the rock. Just a tad. The tiniest little slivers had yielded to his fists, which exhilerated him. It was almost....no, it was exactly the same feeling. Cracking this monolith felt exactly like killing the Raikage and Hokage....he felt alive. He couldn't stop. He had so much inside him that he needed to let out: the energy, the hate, the frustration. All of it needed an outlet: and the perfect one was this giant piece of earth the deities probably laughed at as a pebble. Tame would too one day laugh at the rock.... ONE DAY.

He had not felt this in awhile.....everything he ever did was based on whimsy. This drive, this motivation....all based on a rock. He would overcome this obstacle at any cost....even if it killed him.

...

Well, maybe not that. Doing so would be....quite counter-intuitive. So, maybe he would stop if he was actually going to get injured.
DIE

YOU FUCKING

PIECE OF TRASH

These, spoken (well, not actually spoken, but it might as well have been) as the former Yamada clansman furiously pounded the giant stone with his hands balled up. As he did so, he noted that there were dents forming....yessss....the cracks began spreading a small bit, as well. Perhaps he wasn't becoming stronger, rather....but perhaps, just maybe, he was making himself not yield to this rock. He would not be defeated by an inanimate object.

But, somehow, Tame began to pant, and sweat; something he thought impossible for himself. The last time he had done so would have been....at least eight years ago. Back when he was in the Academy.

{Training Endurance E-0 --> D-0, complete! 750/750 words!}

It was....despicable. He was getting beaten by a rock. He curled up on the ground and started to silently sob to himself. why...why me... He supposed it had to do with his lifelong neglect of his physical stamina. After that accident....he never wanted to get close to anyone again, physically or figuratively.

But it happened to turn out that (at least the former) was his downfall. He never saw the need to train his own physical strength, or anything else for that matter. If he wanted to continue doing what he did best....he supposed that he would have to become somewhat more well-rounded to keep himself in the business. This, of course, was something Tame did not relish one bit.

{125/750, Strength E-0 to D-0.}

Sitting in peaceful darkness in his new quite place, Morrigi was very happy with this choice of location. Even deep under the stones of the land where no sunlight had ever shined, or would ever shine in the future, sitting in utter darkness he sat at peace. Cross legged upon a relatively flat stone in some chamber he would likely never find again he meditated as he reflected inward without the distraction of the world around him. It was only the very quiet sound of his own breath that kept him company and gave him indication that he was still among the world of the living; that and the ever present waves of natural energy that rolled around all of the lands that he had ever been to. As long as ht could still feel that he could never confuse himself for dead, with it's tidal wave sized pulses of energy crashing into his body as well as his mind, consciousnesses, and his very sanity. Alone in peace where the only wave of energy was a single smooth direction he could finally calm himself down and find his center without his inner beast threatening to overwhelm his body. Just peace

thump
Yes just himself and nature
"A rock..."

In a strange moment of clarity he addressed his strangely coherent inner self and agreed-ed with it " Yes, nature, and a rock" It was nice to finally find some peace with in himself to be able to talk with his other side, even if it was hardly a conversation. He felt that this silent place was the best place he could be right now, for aside from the one rock comment he had heart nor felt nothing from his inner beast sense entering the caves.

thump

Reflectively twitching an ear that strained to hear what he was pretty sure was his imagination, he started to question it. Didn't he hear that sound a few moments ago? Concentrating less on his meditation and more on the world that was actually around him that sound could actually be heard fairly regularly. It was a much much quieter sound than when his fist connected with something solid, but aside from volume it was the same sound. Putting his mediation on hold for the time being he decided to indulge his curiosity.

Trying to figure out which direction the sound was coming from he got to his fee---- " FUUUUUUUCK!"
Landing on his ass behind the stone he was previously sitting on, he was absolutely sure that he didn't hear that with his ears, and that he hadn't been talking with his inner demon. " What the HELL was that!? he questioned even the very rocks around him. The echo that bounced back to his ears seemed abnormally loud compared to the silence he had been in for the past how ever many hours it had been.

Tracking the sound back to it's origin took a bit of time as he crept his way through the darkness closing the distance one step at a time. Without his eyes to guide him he found himself relying more and more on his other four sense, or five but he still had not made proper heads or tails of it. His ears twitched as he made out the barest approximations of where the walls were, his skin getting goose bumps as air slowly wafted over his focused attention. Even his eyes constantly shifted in an attempt to detect any motion around him. Unfortunately as his meditation slipped further and further from his mind, and he drew closer and closer to other creature the "understanding" he had thought established with his demon also slipped further away. Just before seeing a hint of light in a further tunnel did the twisted bubbling of another force begin to press up upon his sanity.

Giving his eyes a moment to sift out of the utter darkness of the world below he turned the corner. What he first saw when peering around the corner to the origin of what he thought caused the now absent sound, and currently the progenitor of light.
Barely aware of the man curled up on the ground the carrier of light words cleanly reached his ears "Are you the demigod of speechless strength? If so, I demand you let me gaze upon your face at once.” Idly he thumbed the demon looking mask he wore on his tattered shirt as he let out a quiet chuckle. " I am no demigod, but many times I have been called a demon of great strength.

Noticing the blood on the wall and the little man on the floor was rather peculiar. It seemed like he had actually been punching the stone the entire time. Probably a mad man to be doing that down here in the dark.

[803] Senjutsu training