Wind Release: Spiraling Wind Ball (Part One):

It had been almost a week since he had been placed on a squad. Their “official meeting” had occurred just a few days prior to the present day, and there was still an odd taste that lingered in Takao's mouth. Something had definitely been left to be desired, on his part in particular. The only other member of the squad that he had the pleasure of meeting thus far clearly outmatched him in terms of skill and experience. But that was to be expected of a higher ranking shinobi, a requirement as well if Takao wasn't mistaken.

During the skill evaluation bit of their meeting, Takao's strategy had revolved primarily around his only two existing fire jutsu and trying to create an opening for his team mate's superior abilities, so his own skills were a tad lacking. With the knowledge that he would take the path of a shinobi a bit more serious, and also the upcoming chuunin exams, Takao decided that it was about time to properly prepare himself. He would be going up against other ninja, genin like himself, who were better prepared and generally stronger. It was time to broaden his horizons, so to speak.

It was a nice day, warm without being blistering with a cool breeze that passed through often enough to keep the day from feeling too hot. A proper day to get some jutsu training in.

Takao had acquired a scroll to aid him in his quest of learning new techniques, and said scroll would begin his journey. He decided to pick a rather peculiar technique, though the technique itself was not peculiar. Not only did this technique call under the category of ninjutsu – Takao's weaker specialty, but it also fell under the category of his secondary element, which was wind. The combination of the two would prove to be a difficult technique to learn and master, but it would be worth the effort all the same.
With the knowledge of his apparent handicaps in mind, Takao set off with the scroll on his pouch for an area more orientated towards his liking – the rolling hills. There was just something about the quiet serenity that he believed would help him grasp the technique easier. As he arrived at the location, the scroll which had been residing in his hip pouch was removed and unrolled on the ground before him. The instructions were fairly simple, but molding the chakra of the element he held less skill in would be a difficult task regardless of the instruction's simplicity.

First, the hand seals. A simple combination, Takao worked on memorizing the sequence to begin with. He repeated the hand seals over and over again, slowly working the sequence to be burned into his brain. It wasn't something he could simply do overnight, he'd work at memorizing the hand seals for the next week or so every time the chance presented itself. If he want out to the market, he'd go over the sequence a few times. Or if he was at home with nothing to do, he'd go about completing the sequence. But that was just step one to learning the jutsu, he still had much to learn.

[535/1000]

Wind Release: Spiraling Wind Ball (Part Two):

It had been a few days since Takao decided to learn a new jutsu. He had dedicated the vast majority of his time towards learning and memorizing the sequence of hand seals for the jutsu, and had become proficient enough to use them in combat. They hadn't been mastered, per say, but the sequence was burned into his memory enough for it to only be a matter of physical skill now.

Moving on to what he would label as step two of learning the jutsu, he needed to learn how to mold his chakra with the wind element. As a primary user of fire, an element that was often defined as wild and destructive, an element as calm and swift as wind would prove to be quite a bit... different, to say the least.
However, Takao had an advantage. Or, well.. what he believed to be an advantage anyways. Despite fire and wind being rather different, they still shared the same concept of molding chakra. If he allowed for his chakra to mold in a much more calm and less lively or wild style, it might just work.

Takao returned to the same serene location as before and unrolled the same scroll. The next step was indeed molding his chakra. The directions were rather unclear, nothing more than a simple instructional diagram with just enough details to send those who wish to learn from it in the right direction. He stood up from his previous cross-legged sitting position and began the sequence of hand seals that were necessary to begin the jutsu.

He was to exhale wind-infused chakra into his hand and shape it into a rotating, whirlwind-like ball of chakra. It was similar to his other jutsu which both involved exhaling fire chakra, but this time with wind chakra.

Seemed easy enough.

With the hand seals completed, Takao inhaled a good half a lung's worth of air and exhaled towards his right hand's open palm. However, the amount of air required for the jutsu was a bit less than what Takao had built up. Rather than being able to capture the wind chakra and shape it into a sphere, the wind chakra simply shot towards his hand. He was lucky he didn't break a bone with that mistake, but damn did that sting.
The pain quickly subsided and he tried the process again, this time with a quarter of a lung's worth of air built up and infused with chakra. The air was exhaled towards his palm, and this time it felt much more like a simple yet forceful breeze. The ratio of air to chakra would prove to be a bit difficult to get the hang of. Despite the similarities to fire, he only converted oxygen to fire with chakra as compared to a mixture of the two.

Constant failures came to pass. Either too much or too little, it was never quite just right. Seemed like getting control over his breath would be a major part of this jutsu. Maybe all wind jutsu were like that? Takao didn't know, but the thought didn't linger around for very often before it was dismissed and he returned to his training. Days past, then a week, until finally.. He got it!

Or, he was finally able to store, exhale, and control the amount of wind required for the jutsu. Shaping it into a sphere wasn't incredibly difficult, as it was just containing the wind that had already been infused with chakra. Takao stood motionless in amazement of his achievement, watching the barely visible ball of wind chakra rotate like a whirlwind in his hand. He could feel the control slipping however, and Takao certainly didn't want to be on the receiving end of one of these. The dark haired boy raised his hand upwards towards the sky, palm and whirlwind sphere facing in the opposite direction of himself, and released the hold on the jutsu. The ball fired into the air before dissipating into the wind.

[666/1000]
[Training Total: 1201/1000]

Fire Release: Spiral Flame Ball (Part One):

Another nice warm sunny day... There wouldn't be many more left as autumn approached as rapidly as ever, but Takao didn't mind. Autumn was one of his favorite times of the year, the colors of the leaves and the nostalgic feel the season gave was just all too enjoyable for him to think otherwise. That was besides the point, however. Takao had a great idea for a justu, and he was going to jump on the opportunity to learn it before the exams eventually rolled around.
It was nothing more than a simple C-rank jutsu, much like the one he'd just learned a short while ago. In fact, it was practically a mirror version of said jutsu, only with a bit more of a... bang. Quite literally as well, Takao planned on taking the knowledge from his Spiraling Wind Ball ninjutsu technique and transferring it over to work with fire nature chakra instead. Who knows what kind of effect the fire nature chakra would have on the jutsu, or if it would even work, but it was worth the shot.

Takao ventured out to a different spot this time, as he didn't want to damage the beauty of the rolling hills with the potential for his technique to backfire. So instead, he chose a much more rugged and unappealing location. A mountain north of the village, just a little ways away from the Hokage Monument Mountain. The land was scarred with the damage of battles and training from the past, and the feeling that the location gave him was surely empowering. It was time to begin the technique.

To begin his training, Takao started a sequence of hand seals. It felt somewhat natural to him, he was accustomed enough to using fire that molding his chakra with the hand seals was almost second nature. They seemed to just flow out of his instinct rather than mind, and eventually he was left with one last hand seal. He would have to memorize that sequence later, and it would probably take him a while to remember it the second time anyways. For now though, Takao inhaled deeply – far beyond what was needed for survival. Air flooded his lungs and eventually his chest puffed out. His left hand rose to his mouth to channel the chakra as it would be released while his right hand was held palm up to catch the chakra.

Balls of flame formed in his lungs, and they'd burn the fleshy organ if it wasn't for the protective coating of chakra he molded around it. These burning balls of fire were condensed by this layer of chakra, effectively recycling chakra that would have otherwise been wasted. The outcome was a total of two condensed balls of flame that were exhaled into his right palm. Takao had experience with catching and holding the rotating spheres by now, especially after training Spiraling Wind Ball. He watched closely was the condensed orbs rotated in his palm, occasionally moving his hand to speed up the process. A smile crossed his face as he watched.

He raised his hand and released the chakra that bound the orbs to him, thus allowing for the orbs to rocket forwards towards the face of a rock that Takao had been standing a safe distance away from. The orbs made contact and erupted upon contact, releasing the dense fire chakra in every direction. The force from the blast was enough to send chips of the stone flying in every direction as well, some coming close enough to Takao to cause damage. Takao, however, was much more distracted by the satisfaction of having created such a large explosion. The rock hadn't been left in complete ruin, as it was large, but the crater it left was definitely pleasing.

This was just the beginning, however... Next he'd try for five.

[Wordcount: 641/1000]

Fire Release: Spiral Flame Ball (Part Two):

So... Two condensed balls of pure madness was enough to satisfy Takao's sudden urge to blow shit up, but he couldn't help but wonder. Could he create five? He could only control five Spiraling Wind Balls at a time before things got a bit hectic, so he wouldn't try for more with this new technique. However, he would definitely try for exactly five.
The hand seals, a sequence that had already become instinctive through Takao's extensive fire release training and experience with molding fire nature chakra, were completed with relative ease as he inhaled a great amount of air once more. The air filled his lungs and fire began to form. The fire was encapsulated and condensed into thick a dense and rather unfriendly bundle of explosion.

As the encased the fire in chakra, he made a bit of a mistake. The chakra holding one of the orbs was weaker, as the lining of chakra that protected his lungs during the formation of these orbs had not been evenly distributed. This left one single orb without the coating it needed to stay as dense as it was in his lungs, and upon exhaling, the explosion was immediately released in Takao's face. The force of the jutsu had not only sent him flying, but also released the other orbs from his hand which rocketed into the sky only to explode after their protective shell disintegrated.

But hey, that's what happens when you play with fire. You get burned.

Takao picked himself up off the ground slowly, his face scorched and his clothing singed. Luckily the jutsu had been weak due to his inexperience and wasn't too damaging. Despite this, just like everything else, everything in life is a learning experience. He made an error and he would not only correct it, but learn from his mistake and move on.

He immediately went back to practicing the jutsu. There wouldn't be a pause or a break, he wanted to get the technique perfected as soon as he could. It wasn't something that would happen in a day, not even a week probably, maybe... potentially even? Something like that, it just wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

A week of constant training and exhaustion would come to pass. There were plenty of mistakes to be made, each one of said mistakes were corrected as they were made. It was all a learning process, and Takao just happened to learn better from failing than he did from actually succeeding. The jutsu would be mastered in no time. The hand seals were down and memorized, the chakra was nearing perfection, and it was just a matter of a bit more training...

[Wordcount 446/1000]
[Training Total: 1087/1000]

Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique:

It was rather strange how rarely Takao realized the destructiveness of his own training. As a user of fire primarily, his training and jutsu practice were much better suited for the outdoors. It made a rainy day like the one he was currently enduring that much more frustrating. The rain itself was rather calming to him, actually. At the moment, Takao was sitting on the window seat in his room with his legs against the wall, back on the actual seat portion of the window seat, and hands constantly going through hand seal drills he'd learned in the Academy. It could never hurt to practice and refine skills he was already proficient with, right?

Takao had been waiting for the rain to let up to resume his training, as he had a new jutsu to learn! The exams were right around the corner, and now that they had been changed to Konohagakure, his plans and strategies would have to change as well. It was too bad they had to be moved, Takao was really looking forward to a bit of sight-seeing while he traveled. He'd long since unpacked his bags that he had prepared for travel and resumed his regular training. It was probably better off this way anyways, it gave Takao a lot more time to train that he would've lost on the road.

He finally jumped off off the window seat and cracked his back. The rain wasn't about to let up anytime soon and he wasn't going to waste any more time with waiting. He was warmed up enough from the hand seal drills to start learning the jutsu he had been planning for. It was probably one of the most common fire affinity jutsu out there to learn, but Takao had put it off until now. He'd spent the past week doing breathing drills and preparing himself for the jutsu. After all, that was a lot of fire to put in your lungs at once. Takao would need all the preparation he could get.
“Doesn't look like that rain is going to let up anytime soon, so I might as well get started then.” Takao said to himself as he stretched his arm and yawned. He'd been sitting on that window seat for a good hour or two running over each of the hand seals and practicing various breathing drills to prepare him, and he was ready as he'd ever be.

Takao went through the hand seals for the jutsu that he was going to learn, hand seals he'd long since learned and burnt into his memory. As each of the hand seals molded his chakra, he inhaled deeply and filled his lungs with oxygen. This was the hardest part of learning the jutsu, and it was the part he'd be practicing while indoors.
The oxygen in his lungs was soon converted into chakra, and then into fire. A layer of chakra covered his both of his lungs to prevent them from being damaged by the heat. Takao wouldn't be building up enough chakra for a full blown fireball, just enough to push his limits a bit and gain some experience with controlling fire inside his lungs. As the fire formed in his lungs, Takao held it for as long as he could. Eventually, each time he built up the fire and held it, it would look for a means of escape and Takao would just cough up the fire.

His training went on for hours. Running through the hand seals, filling his lungs with air, then converting the air from chakra to fire and eventually releasing it in fits of coughing. Eventually he noticed that the rain had let up and he ventured to the safety of the outdoors to continue his training.

This is where things got interesting. Takao no longer had to hold the fire back, although the indoor training had granted him a significant amount of control over the fire that he was creating. Now there was nothing holding Takao or the fire he could build up back. He intended on taking full advantage of the outdoors by building up as much fire as he could and releasing it in the form of a fireball. As he'd been doing before, only on a much larger scale and with a lot less coughing up the fire.

With hand seals made and oxygen converted into fire, Takao released all of the chakra-burning fire that he could from his lungs. He used his right hand to stabilize the release of the flames as they exited his mouth in the form of a massive fireball, many times Takao's own size. He couldn't help but smile as the fire receded, leaving only a scorched crater where the bottom of the fireball had touched down.
“I guess being prepared helped a bit more than I thought it would.” he said as he glanced down at the crater. The fireball wasn't perfect by any means, it was difficult to control as a continuous fireball upon being released and the release was a bit sloppy. But, as with anything else, perfection comes from repetition. At least with skills like this anyways.

Takao went right back at it. It took a longer amount of time to preform the jutsu in the way that he wanted to than expected. At first, a day had passed. Takao spent the majority of it practicing the fireball jutsu until he was too exhausted to continue. Then the next day, he did the same. The same routine continued for the next four days at the very least, until finally he finally began to grasp the concept and preform the technique with at least some level of proficiency.

After one last fireball, Takao decided to call it quits for the day. He had created a number of craters on the mountain that he had decided to train on, and not just from this session. Not even from this particular jutsu he had been training as well, the stone was scarred by his past training, and even the past training of others. With one last look around, he turned and headed off to his home.

[Training Total: 1029/1000]

Katon: Bunshin no Jutsu:

Another boring day at the Kimura household, it seemed. There wasn't much time left until the exams rolled around and Takao was procrastinating as much now as he ever did. He was laying on the window seat in his room, his cat Toki laying on his chest as he looked out the window. It wasn't raining like the last time he wanted to train, it was quite the opposite. The day was cool, the air was dry and perfect for training fire jutsu, but Takao just didn't have the motivation to go out and train.
He slowly sat up and braced himself using his arms, the cat staying on his chest as if it hadn't even noticed he moved. Takao gave the animal a quick scratch behind the ears before he shooed it off his chest and slowly stood up. He'd sat there for long enough, thinking about how he needed to get out and train, and finally decided to actually get up and do it. He wouldn't train that hard today, he'd save it for tomorrow. Or maybe the next day.. or maybe the day after that? Who knows.

Takao grabbed one of the scrolls from his desk and walked downstairs. He explained where he was going to his parents and waved goodbye, then headed out the door. Not many hours of daylight were left for the day, but Takao would do his darnedest to make the best of the time he had left. He ventured out towards one of the few empty training grounds and got to work. Most of the other training grounds were full of genin and squads preparing for the exams, training hard in the last few days they had available to them.

He unrolled the scroll in front of him and examined the information. It was a clone jutsu that utilized the fire element, something Takao considered himself to be more than proficient in. The clone part of it though was a little... Strange. All of his jutsu up to this point were related in that the fire was generated in his body, where he had much more control over it. This jutsu would create walking balls of flame that could operate independently. This was a jutsu that would come in handy at some point in his life, not just in the exams, for sure.

He didn't waste any more time. He went through the hand seals a bit differently than normal. He would reference the scroll every time instead of spending time learning them. Then Takao would attempt the jutsu. At first, he could only create normal Academy clones. He never had a problem learning how to create those, but imbedding his fire chakra affinity in them would prove to be difficult. After all, he had to split his chakra and them imbue them with fire.

Takao tried again. However, this time he could only create a ball of flame rather than a clone. He'd spent too much of his concentration on the fire aspect rather than the clone aspect, and was left with a giant ball of flame that dissipated in seconds. It appeared the ratio was something he'd have to understand before proceeding. But that was lame, Takao thought to himself! People learn through failure, not through preparation!

He tried again, and again, and again. Over and over, countless times. Takao was even left training through the night, his mind dead set on learning this technique. It had almost become a lot less about preparing for the exams as stepping over a large hurdle in his training. He wanted to conquer the technique as fast as he could! But that would have to wait until tomorrow.

He ventured on home for a good night's rest, and first thing in the morning, he headed out for another round of training. Takao was getting close. He was able to summon at least one clone at a time, though this clone was occasionally set aflame by the fire chakra Takao attempted to imbue within it. It disappeared due to the damage inflicted, and left Takao to try again.
Slowly, however, Takao began to comprehend the technique and how to preform it. It was almost like Takao could feel the way the technique needed to be preformed when he compared it to his failures. Sometimes he would create a near perfect clone, and other times he'd create a mangled mess of flaming chakra. But it was these failures that he learned from and Takao was even using them as a base to learn more and do better.

“Agh! This is insane!” Takao shouted out to the sky as another fiery clone disappeared in a bout of flaming smoke. The frustration that stemmed from the failures of the technique were beginning to get to him, it seemed. Takao didn't have an iron will or some other bullshit, as he would call it. He was a normal guy, and normal people get frustrated when they fail so often.
So, like any sane and rational person would do in his situation, he took a break. He went out for a nice round of lunch at a nearby restaurant, took a refreshing and much needed relaxing walk, and when he was calmed down, he returned to the training grounds.

Not much was left for his training now. After a few more hours passed, Takao was able to create a single clone. It was perfect, and it held just the right amount of chakra for the jutsu. But now, the difficult part came. Takao would have to create more clones to master the technique, six at least. His chakra had to be split up into six different entities, and on top of that, he also needed to imbue them with fire chakra. All that was left was repetition.
A few days past before Takao finally mastered the jutsu, or learned it enough to use it in combat at the very least. He'd nearly exhausted himself of every last ounce of chakra in his system training, and the walk back to his house was the longest and hardest walk he'd ever ventured out on, but be made the walk knowing that he'd stepped over his obstacles.

[Training Total: 1036/1000]

Silent Step:

Silent Step, huh..? Nothing more than a simple technique. Hell, it probably wasn't even a technique, just a habit Takao had gotten himself into doing. But he'd given it a name, and thus, it had become a technique. A vast majority of his ninja comrades acted much more like mercenaries or militia than actual shinobi, who once prided themselves on their stealth abilities. Takao on the other hand was different. He didn't do his best to make his presence known, he even prided himself on his abilities to hide his presence – as lackluster as they were.

A skill to be honed in the future, no doubt. But here, in the now, was Silent Step. How exactly would one go about training his stealth abilities? Well, Takao had a number of ideas. First was balance. If he could control his body beyond his current capabilities, it would make it much easier to eliminate as much sound as possible during normal activities.
Takao had already spent a large portion of his time as a shinobi gaining flexibility. Flexibility was a part of balance, so Takao simply had to train balance in general. To begin, he trained by standing at the top of a tall and narrow pole. There was little more that went into the training than that. He simply stood on top of the pole for hours, until his body stopped moving. When he'd mastered that much, he added weights to his arms. He held these weights and his arms out, which doubled as strength training. Could never kill enough birds with one stone, right?

This balance training went on for a week or so. A bit excessive, surely, but it would benefit Takao eventually. After the weighted balance training was through, Takao switched to using a single weight in one hand for two hours. With this new variation of the training, he learned how to keep his balance even with a force acting on another part of his body. This force being gravity assisted by the weight, but in a fight it could mean somebody trying to grapple or throw him. Just like the weighted training, days had passed before he was able to resume training for the jutsu. Well, begin rather, really. The training process for the jutsu itself couldn't be done overnight, probably not even a month if he'd devoted all of his time and effort to it.

Over the months that he'd train this jutsu, Takao would only train it on his way to and from his routine sessions. He'd spend more time running along the roof tops of Konohagakure, taking the long way around, and even engaging in a bit of half-rate parkour whenever he got the chance. Anything to increase his overall athleticism. The more control he had over his body meant the easier the jutsu would be to preform. After enough time and training had come to pass, Takao finally did it.

To his own ears, he'd managed to land at his daily routine training area without making a single sound. Not even the subtle noise of kicking up some dirt or his boots sliding over the soil. Nothing. He was also notably more quiet on the run to the area as well. The jutsu was far from being mastered, but for now, it was effective.

[Training Total: 553/500]

Wind Release: Clone Technique Part One:

Another boring day... It was becoming quite the common theme in Takao's life. A boring, quiet, or otherwise uneventful day was likely to end in him training a new technique... Well, today was no different! Why fix a cycle that wasn't broken? He hadn't wasted the time with deciding to train today, however, it was much more of a planned occasion. After all, he had an idea. The concept of a clone technique that utilized the Wind affinity, but not in the way that other clones did. The clones had a much more supplementary use and weren't going to be meant for combat, even though they would prove to be useful in a plethora of different scenarios.

The concept of speed. The wind affinity seemed to be hand in hand with lightning when describing speed. Speed wasn't exactly Takao's strongest point, but he couldn't consider it to be his weakest point at the same time. But still, at his level, his speed was pathetic. If he was going to progress through the ranks, he'd need an edge... Something to put him ahead of the rest. Something to help him out of difficulty situations. This jutsu could be the answer to those problems.

He had gone off to the training grounds early, before daylight had even graced the village. The idea was in his head, so all that he had to do was get the idea out and turn it to reality. He'd done this type of thing before, but his wind affinity wasn't as strong as his fire. The process of imbuing his clones with an element was something that he had dealt with before and overcome. A process he'd mastered, even.
There wasn't any use in wasting any more time thinking about it though, right? Hand seals were formed, though not as fluidly as with a fire jutsu. It took a bit longer to channel and mold his chakra, but he did it eventually.

Now the process of manipulating his wind-nature affinity began, first by splitting his chakra into another instance. This would create the initial clone, which would then be imbued with the actual wind affinity. His first attempt as a complete failure. The amount of wind chakra he had attempted to put in the clone was miniscule at best, and had resulted in a complete malfunction. But what was to be expected of his first try? At least now he had a stepping stone – something to go off of and base his next attempt on.

The next attempts weren't anything that would impress. Either too much or too little chakra and wind affinity were put in the clones. Takao could have easily spent the entire night attempting the clones over and over again until his chakra reserves were at an all-time low, but he was a bit too smart to work himself into exhaustion. It was time to call it a day and head back home for some much needed R&R.

[Word Count: 495/1000]

Wind Release: Clone Technique:

Man, how could he have forgotten? It must've been a couple of weeks since he stopped training that jutsu. His motivation was preparing for a potential third part to the Chuunin Exams, but after the promotions had just been announced, and he was pronounced a Special Jounin, whatever drive he had to train had just gone down the toilet. “Oh well,” he thought. As he climbed the ladder of shinobi ranks, Takao would undoubtedly find himself in some sticky situations. Having a fire team of disposable clones that could manuever at speeds he himself couldn't would prove to be helpful, in at least one situation. But hey, if they saved his life even once, couldn't that be a good enough reason to finish the technique?

At any rate, Takao was making his way through the village. It was mid day, and many of the new genin squads were occupying the most popular training areas. He gave his undershirt a good tug to adjust the article of clothing to a more comfortable position. The more he wore the dreadful Jounin attire, the more it grew on him. He'd gone from wearing it in the traditional manner to rolling up the sleeves and adding in a pair of fingerless plated gloves. It was already much more comfortable to move around in, even if the flak jacket was a bit... bulky. He'd remove it for the duration of his training, but otherwise, wearing it around gave him a nice sense of authority. Authority was not something that Takao ever had much experience with it. Hell, he might as well of been afraid of having any kind of ranking dominance. What if he abused it? It wasn't likely he would, but what if?

His mind was everywhere before he finally arrived at an empty training area. It was beat to shit, the fences looked rusted to all hell and the place might as well of been abandoned for the past year or so. Perfect!

These kinds of creepy places always offered an almost unnatural serenity to them. Most folk would tend to avoid these less desirable areas, but Takao may have just found a more consistent place for his training to occur. If it stayed empty, he'd use it more often. He pushed himself through the rusted gate and opened both entryways to their limit. Takao proceeded further inside and released a scroll from his pocket. He had written a plethora of notes and instructions on the jutsu that he'd learned thus far, just for future reference. After all, he was assigned a squad recently, and having a few extra technique scrolls on hand.

He unrolled the document in front of him and crossed his legs. Nature transformation mixed with shape transformation... It was not an easy task for any shinobi. His hands were brought together and his eyes closed, Takao's focus was dedicated completely to splitting his chakra into tenths and mixing them with his wind chakra. For now, he'd try one.

With the seals made and the chakra molded, he exhaled and released the jutsu. His chakra moved from his body to the space beside him, filling it with his chakra. The chakra took on the form of a man, and then the form of Takao himself. As the clone came to exist, a cloud of white smoke appeared beside it. As Takao examined the clone further, there was a slight bit of discoloration that would make it obvious the clone wasn't real. He tried again, recreating the seals and molding his chakra similarly. The colors were spot on, but the proportions were off.

Repetition, repetition. That's how you get good. He tried it over and over again, creating one clone and dispelling it when it didn't meet his standards. Takao got a few good clones, with proper proportions and coloration, but he was looking for consistency. The next clone might be worse, or it could be better. He kept at it for hours, until the sun had just begun to set in the distance. Takao planned to stop when he got a bit of uniformity. An hour after the sun had set, he got what he was looking for. Five proper clones in a row. That was good enough for him, and he set off for home afterward.

[Wordcount 718/1000]
[Training Total: 1213/1000]

Fire Release: Body of Iron Technique Part One:

The day had been going very slow thus far. A fresh blanket of snow had graced the streets of Konohagakure – a rather rare sight to be seen in the most recent days. Despite the apparent beauty of the snow, Takao had decided to spent the day indoors. For the past four hours or so, Takao had been resting on his windowsill bed, reading through one of his favourite books. What better way was there to spend a cool, snowy Monday morning? He would be outside using his fire jutsu to help clear the streets for the villagers... but this was a much better use of his time!

Takao had an idea that was sitting in the back of his mind for a while. It had only been about a week ago that he had awoken from a nightmare that provided him with the fuel to feed his idea. In his dream, his home had been invaded by some kind of impish demon. The thing was human in size and shape, but possessed skin as black as the night and eyes that glowed a piercing white. But what haunted him the most about it was the smile. The smile is what put the thought in his mind over and over again, even a week later. So, like the perfectly sane individual he was, Takao had gotten the idea for a jutsu.

The idea he had was rather simple in concept, but execution would be difficult. He had the idea of a jutsu that created an armor that nobody could see. At first, anyways. Who knew what kind of effects the jutsu would have when it was preformed. The idea for the armor was to imbue fire-nature chakra into his topmost layer of skin to create an armor. Normal chakra might not work as well, because Takao lacked the potential experience with shape manipulation to pull it off. By including fire affinity chakra, he could achieve what he hoped would be his armor.

Takao marked his place in the book he had been reading and set it inside of the bookshelf beside the windowsill bed. He positioned himself in the middle of his floor and entered a state of meditation. Takao's hands were held in the tiger seal formation as he inhaled and exhaled systematically. It was a rather common exercise to “warm up” his chakra before use, so that it flowed better. He often found himself doing said exercise before engaging in combat or jutsu related training.
He sat there for what felt like an hour, molding and moving his chakra throughout his body, preparing it for the use of jutsu. As he finished, Takao brought himself to a standing position and exhaled heavily once. His hands were brought together to form a set of hand seals, molding his chakra to extra part of his body. It took a minute to preform, as he did not have the same chakra expelling experience that a highly skilled Hyuuga had. He had to move the chakra, starting at the top of his head, down to the bottom of his feet. It slowly coated his entire body in a layer of chakra imbued with his fire affinity.

The fire affinity that had been imbued in the chakra proved to be just a tad too plentiful. As a result, the skin on his right arm had been lit aflame. His reaction was quick and swift – yelling on top of his lungs and frantically patting the fire out with his other hand. The burn wasn't deep and was limited to his top most layer of skin. The layer of chakra that the fire had originated from actually protected him from the flames.
After he had calmed himself down some minutes later, Takao went for the second attempt. The same hand seals were used to mold the chakra, as it had become second nature to him by now. He acted on instinct and it just came to him. The second attempt had yielded similar results. His skin was set on fire, but the chakra he had pumped over his body protected him. He smothered the flames and tried again, and again, and again.

The process was repeated for what felt like hours. Over and over, he constantly made failed attempts at recreating his dream and producing an effective armor. He spent the majority of his day working on that technique, nearly burning his carpet a few times. T'was a necessary risk to produce a jutsu unlike any other that he had seen before.
A day of training had soon passed. Then another, and another after that. It was how jutsu like that worked. This wasn't some half assed C rank he could pump out in a week. It would take time, effort, and dedication. Takao could recognize this, and he was prepared to make such a sacrifice. A week of training had passed and Takao's dedication was just as persistent and strong as when he had started. He would succeed with creating this jutsu.

Each attempt he made brought him a little closer. Even if he failed harder than ever before, he learned what not to do. The process of elimination was slowly weeding out every wrong way of performing the jutsu. Too much chakra, too little chakra, too spread out, too compact, they were all different ways to incorrectly preform the jutsu. Takao was slowly memorizing every wrong way to preform the jutsu and adapting accordingly.

[Wordcount: 913/2000]

Fire Release: Body of Iron Technique Part Two:

A new day had lead to another session of training. There was a certain jutsu that he'd like to get knocked off his list as soon as possible. The idea had been haunting the back of his mind for what felt like months now. The damn images it put into his head were driving him insane, both literally and figuratively. The boy had actually lost sleep over something as miniscule as a nightmare, and yet, he wasn't afraid. Motivated perhaps, determined even, but not afraid. The thought of being consumed by his own nightmares, thought, and the jutsu itself was both terrifying and exhilarating, which only gave Takao more motivation to keep working on it.

Earlier in the day, he had arranged to get the rest of the week off from missions and other assignments to finish the training. He had estimated that it wouldn't take more than a week or so to finish. Learning how to use a new jutsu was always a challenging task. It wasn't always as simple as perfecting the ratio of chakra, or learning the hand seals. More often than not – at least when it came to Takao, his time was spent mastering the jutsu mentally. He needed to know that he possessed power over the jutsu, to know that the jutsu served him whenever he needed. In a sense, that's what made this jutsu such a difficult task to conquer. The idea of his own technique consuming him was haunting and had him second guessing his own abilities.

But his confidence with the technique had been restored. All it took was some simple ambition. He wasn't about to let his own chakra consume him. He would conquer it just like he did all of his other techniques before, and he would come out on top, just like he always did.

Takao approached the dead looking training grounds that had been seemingly abandoned for some time. The fence was long since rusted and worn, and the local foliage had taken the opportunity to overgrow. A few spots of dead grass and dirt were dotted around randomly, and Takao crossed his legs and sat down in one of the clear areas. He had memorized everything that needed to be remembered about the jutsu, so all that was left to do was complete the training.

He brought his hands to his chest and began to form a string of hand seals, each seal leading almost flawlessly into the next with both speed and precision. It was a maneuver Takao had long since memorized and practiced, so that portion of the training held little importance. He inhaled heavily as his own chakra leaked from his tenketsu, coating his body entirely from head to foot. The chakra was imbued with his katon affinity, providing it with the potency of fire as it solidified on his skin.

For the first time since beginning the jutsu, Takao had managed to successfully prepare it. He was about ready to stand up and start shouting in pure excitement, if it wasn't for the spontaneous fire that had erupted on his right arm. He had broken the seal too early, and the outer most layer of his skin was set aflame by the uncontrolled chakra. This was common when training the jutsu however, and Takao had grown to not particularly care that much about the fire on his arm. Nothing kept the fire from hurting, but Takao had become so used to it. Hell, somebody might have thought he was some sort of half-wit, as he just sat there and watched the fire burn on his arm without so much as blinking.

After a moment he snuffed the flames out with his other hand and released a frustrated sigh. This was the highest ranking technique he'd ever attempted, and he was creating it at that! It wasn't meant to be easy, and Takao didn't anticipate it to be. He lowered his chin to his hand, which rested on his knee, and huffed out an exhale as he thought.

Takao lowered his hands to the ground and rose to his feet. A walk to clear his mind would surely help. He walked towards the chained up entrance to the abandoned training area and rested both hands on either hip. He was really getting tired of pushing his way past the gates or jumping over. He rested one hand on the gate, and the other on the solid but rusted fence, and tore the worn metal apart. It wasn't easy, but the weathered metal was much more brittle than normal. He did the same for the other side, and rested the two chain-like fence gates beside the now open entrance. Much better, he thought.
The dark-haired male started his idle stroll through the village. He passed the Ichiraku Ramen Stand first, as it rested closest to the weathered training field. Takao stopped by for a moment to say hello to the owners, as he usually did when he was passing by. It was funny how social he had become since taking his shinobi career seriously. He'd met a lot of people along the way, some good and some bad, but they all seemed to change him somehow.

An exhausted sigh followed by a cloud of white breath escaped from his lips as he walked. All that reminiscing really tired him out. Wasn't he meant to be clearing his head?

Takao kept walking. He found himself walking up the main street that lead to the Hokage's mansion. He stopped outside his house, which resided just off the primary road in the residential district. He wasn't tired enough to return home just yet, and he still wanted to continue his training. His walk had eventually taken him from the southeastern part of the wall to the top of the Hokage Monument. The breeze was much stronger at the top, but it didn't seem to bother Takao that much.

He lowered himself to a meditative position with his legs crossed. He brought his hands to his chest and formed a series of hand seals, each molding his chakra that seeped from his tenketsu, coating his entire body. Flames erupted all over his body, covering him like that infamous smoke that came from using a transformation technique. It appeared to be a failed attempt, and felt like one too, but something was different.

As the strong winds collided with the fire and the flames subsided, Takao's skin was burnt jet black. He felt pain, but it was the same pain as before – it was restrained. He slowly rose his his feet and glanced down at his hands. His entire body was charred and black, his eyes glowing white and a sinister looking jagged-toothed smile ran from pointed impish-like ear to ear. The smile only grew wider as Takao realized his attempt had been successful.

[Wordcount 1144/1000]
[Training Total: 2055/2000]

Honoo Gosunkugi (尖った炎; Hedgehog's Fire):

Too much had happened in the past few hours. Kenta Inuzuka, Takao's genin instructor and the late Hokage, had just been murdered by some unknown assailant. The members of the ANBU Black Ops investigation and analytical squad did not want to jump to conclusions just yet, but they had discovered evidence to suggest Iwagakure had some hand in the murder. It was quite the coincidence. Konohagakure and Iwagakure seemed to always have a rocky past. Dengen had attacked Kenta at the gates at on point, or that's what the rumours that circulated during the Chuunin Exams had said anyways.
On top of it all, Takao had volunteered himself for the position of standing Hokage. What had possessed him to do that? His qualifications didn't go past being beaten by Kenta once in a squad training session. He exhaled as he came to rest at the familiar abandoned training field where he spent most of his days. Takao lowered himself into a seated position and crossed his legs.

A new technique was in order. It was a technique that had lurked in the back of Takao's imagination for some time now. A technique that would not require hand seals... He knew the advantages of not needing his hands to preform a technique would be an incredible edge in a pinch, especially if he was to be captured or pinned. That is where the idea for the technique had been born.

He had time to waste while the operatives did their jobs. It would be some time until the exact cause of death would be determined. They were still gathering evidence as well. Takao had doubled the patrols around the village walls, though he had done so discreetly. The general public was still in the dark. As far as they were concerned, the night had come and gone and they were going about their daily lives. This was good. If the information of Kenta being murdered by a still unknown assailant was released, who knew what kind of panic it would cause. Hell, now they had some kid that had barely taken his shinobi career seriously for a few months as a Hokage. He lowered his head into his hands and sat for a moment in silence.

“Goddammit.” Takao said as he brought himself to his feet. The idea of leading a village kept him up all night, but it no longer had a place being on his mind. Now he was training. He needed to fit the position, and the best way to do that was to grow stronger. Takao closed his eyes and forced himself into a meditative stance while standing. He brought his hands together, though not in a hand seal. His palms were held against each other at his chest. The focus he maintained was certainly something to be admired as chakra was molded and circulated through his body simply though means of experienced control over his chakra. Takao was no stronger to manipulating his fire nature chakra, the lack of hand seals was just a small obstacle for him to cross. He would surely face much more difficult trials in the days to come.

As his chakra was molded through his body and towards his back, sparks began to form as katon-infused chakra met fresh air. Takao's back caught fire. It didn't burn his own skin or clothing. Hell, to any onlookers, it looked like one wicked full-body Mohawk made from fire. Or maybe a hedgehog's quills would be a better comparison. Regardless of their appearance, Takao released the jutsu by using a simple hand seal. He needed to replicate the results perfectly. Even if he managed to succeed once, such results were not guaranteed to be consistent.

So he tried again. His normal chakra and his katon affinity circulated through his body, mixing into one and covering his back. As chakra met oxygen, sparks formed and his back was once again coated in the flames. Yeah, he had the idea now. All he had to do was keep at it, learn to perform it faster.

He gave it another try. Chakra ran through his body, faster than the last time, and mixed with his fire nature affinity. The mixture covered his back and erupted into flames that covered his entire back, from his head to his heels. Takao wasn't about to take a break anytime soon. The fire disappeared from his back, and then reappeared. He rinsed and repeated constantly.
The chakra was mixed, the fire was formed, and then the fire was smothered. The process repeated over and over again, countless times. Takao was so used to being around fire by now it hardly even bothered him to be covered in his own fire. The sun had just begun to set over the horizon. As Takao glanced to the darkening sky, his eyes just barely shut. A yawn escaped his lips. He hadn't slept since finding Kenta last night, so a good night's rest was definitely in order.

He gave the technique a few more tries, with consistent results. The fire was sparked very quickly, making it optimal for the purpose. The possibilities were quite vast, and scenarios constantly flooded Takao's imagination as he made the walk back to his home. His parents hadn't even come home from their week long trip. How in the hell would he explain that he was the Hokage now?
Takao exhaled heavily as he walked down one of many dirt roads. Even as he walked down one of the lesser traveled roads, Takao continued to train the jutsu. Fire erupted from his back and then disappeared, then erupted again. The process continued over and over again. He gave quite the scare to the few villagers he passed on the way back to his home, but most of them were ignored.

He stopped at the entrance of his house. He stared at the front door for a moment before finally stepping up to it. Takao rested his head on the door as he thought, not wanting to enter just yet. He had so much on his mind, and so much had happened in the past twenty four hours. With a heavy, drawn out sigh, he opened the door and stepped inside. At least he was through training for the day.

[Wordcount: 1050]
[Training Total: 1050/1000]

Konohagakure no Sato was his home. His parents' had defended what laid behind the walls with their lives, as their parents before them had done. There was a point in time where he had acted as the Hokage, a leader and figurehead to the people his family had protected with their lives. That time had long since passed, and his place at the helm of the village was no longer necessary. Many people had taken the seat since then, even his own student.

Takao had heard of Tatsumaru's endeavors and shook his head each time the stories of his actions resurfaced. From the time of Kenta's death to his overtaking of the position, Takao knew that his days as the Hokage were limited. Not from assassination, not from death of old age, not even death were what he knew would end his reign of sorts. Takao didn't want the position. The responsibility that the title carried with it was well beyond what he was willing to take on, though he did so because there were no other candidates at the time. He'd even trained Tatsumaru to take his spot one day, but it seemed that in his absence, the preparations he attempted had fallen through when the time for action arose.

Now that he had returned, and with the adopted title of Jōnin, Takao had a new interest in training. He had never been one to take the shinobi lifestyle seriously, but unfortunately, he had seen the world for what it was. A bloodthirsty death match where the strongest win and the weaker perished. Takao wasn't going to be the weaker of the two categories. But unfortunately for him, there were many people alive that were naturally stronger than him, or naturally faster, or had been born with amazing bloodlines. He couldn't rely on pure skill to outdo them, no. His strongest attributes would be stealth, deception, and trickery. Takao would outfit himself with adaptable techniques to use in a plethora of situations. Techniques he could use to trick his opponents who would be relying solely on the strength or scope of their techniques rather than the strategy.

The field was open, empty, and perhaps the most important factors of the description; it was desolate and secluded. He was surrounded on all sides by tall mountains. He was in the center of them for what would be the first day of training, and many more would be following. The first step to bettering himself, he had decided, would be to expand on his skill, usage, and application of his chakra. His goal was to be able to use stronger techniques and to control his chakra better.

Takao seated himself within the valley, his back positioned toward the sun. His hands were brought together and his fingers intertwined to form the Dragon seal, his preferred hand seal for prolonged periods of meditation. His eyes closed and his breathing became slow and very serene. The seal made with his hands allowed for him to mould his chakra throughout his body. Takao began to gather and release chakra from one point at a time, starting with the tips of his fingers. The effects of doing so were entirely harmless to him, the amount so small compared to his overall pool that the period it took to gather and release allowed him enough time to naturally regain what he had spent. Takao's goal was not to eventually release chakra from each tenketsu at once, however. He had no intention of mocking the Hyuga and their abilities. He wanted to be able to release chakra from tenketsu at will, however, and to be specifically capable of choosing what point in his body to do so from. So he moved down each digit, concentrating and gathering chakra to that point in his body before releasing it.

He had chosen his hands because of his affinity towards fire, and his ability to use wind techniques. The two common most places to release chakra from when using techniques were the hands and lungs, and he had the least experience of the two options with gathering and releasing chakra directly from the palms of his hands. He released chakra from singular tenketsu at the moment, though some took longer to locate and concentrate to than others. From his right hand he moved up his arm. Gathering and releasing chakra, that was the extent of his training for the day. From his arm he moved to his right shoulder, and from his shoulder to his neck. From his neck he moved to each tenketsu within his head, and then back down the other side of his neck. He moved from the left side of his neck down to his left shoulder, and then down his left arm, and then down to his hand. Takao had completed the path from his right hand to his left, effectively and purposely ignoring and avoiding the tenketsu in his chest.

The sun began to creep over his shoulders as his meditation droned on for what was probably hours. He had a naturally bad perception of time, so having no means besides the large ball of burning light in the sky to tell what time of day it was didn't help. This kind of activity no longer bothered Takao though. In his youth... meaning something like a year or two ago, Takao would fall asleep after twenty minutes of meditation. Though, to be fair, he would fall asleep if he didn't move for twenty minutes and kept his eyes closed. Meditation was calming, and unfortunately, that kind of mental state put him to sleep almost immediately. But now something had finally clicked in Takao's head, and he knew it was time to take this a bit more serious. Plus it helped that he was actively channeling his chakra throughout his body, which was a bit more than simply sitting without moving.

After he released his chakra from the last tenketsu on his left hand, he moved to his feet. This area was possibly the most difficult to release chakra from, especially in localized, singular points. It was the furthest from a person's chakra epicenter and also the least commonly used for techniques, with the exception of the surface walking practice. However, a shinobi's general versatility was what would win battles. His opponent could have techniques capable of leveling a village, but if he was versatile enough with what he did have, he would become the victor. That was what he believed anyways, he had yet to put the theory into practice.

So there he was, in all his glory, sitting almost completely without motion and just bouncing his chakra around his body. The pathways flared up as his chakra was transported about, slowly making it's way up his right leg. Each tenketsu was targeted, chakra was gathered to it, and then released from it, one at a time. It was a time consuming, dull, and boring exercise, yet it was necessary to bettering himself. His control over his chakra and how he moulded it, moved it around, and released it was slowly increasing.

Meditation had consumed his day as the sun graced the sky with the last illumination for the day, setting the clouds ablaze with shades of orange and purple. A low, deep, and throaty grumble pierced the otherwise deafening silence of the small concealed valley.  The tall mountains that surrounded him on every side offered the perfect seclusion for training. He detested the idea of being spyed on during that type of activity, especially if it gave somebody an edge over him, so the location was ideal. Ideal for the time being, at the very least.

Takao slowly uncrossed his legs and opened his eyes, a groan of relief escaping from his throat as he stretched his legs over the ground. His hands grasped on another as his arms raised into the air, stretching as many of his stiff muscles as he could. After a good moment of moaning from the relief of stretching he fell onto his back, and his exhales turned into sighs of relaxation. Even if he was only doing a few basic stretches in his seated position, the stimulation felt great after hours of sitting without moving much. Takao had concentrated chakra to each of his tenketsu one at a time, then released it. Each tenketsu in his body had been used over the hours of his training.

His eventual intent was the be capable of gathering and releasing chakra from any tenketsu in his body with ease. To be able to do so would make using jutsu much easier to use. But for now, his training for the day was done. He slowly and painfully brought himself to stand, groaning and exhaling to his feet and all the way home.

The following day...

A new day offered up new opportunities to train and make progress in his personal advancement endeavor. The valley would be his training spot for the day once more, and for many more days to come most likely. He made the leap down into the valley and landed at the grassy bottom with a muffled thud. Takao chose a new place to sit and meditate this time, mostly because he didn't bother to remember where he was sitting the previous day. It didn't quite matter to him then, and it certainly didn't now.

He crossed his legs and lowered himself to be seated upon the grass. His back was straightened and his hands were brought together, fingers intertwining to form the dragon hand seal. It didn't offer any kind of advantage to the type of training he was doing, it was simply his preferred hand seal for moulding chakra. Today, he had a different plan for training. Instead of releasing chakra from one isolated tenketsu, Takao would be targeting two tenketsu and gathering chakra at both points at once. To start, he would choose locations directly beside each other.

Takao's energy flared with each movement of his chakra. Similar to how he began the training the day previous, he mimicked the process and started in his right hand. Two points in his hand were chosen to gather his energy to, though it took some deep concentration and hard work to achieve the results he was looking for. The release was invisible to the naked eye, even to Takao. The only indication that it had worked was the feeling of his chakra escaping from two isolated points in his hand. From his hand, Takao began to move up his arm. He chained the points in succession, releasing chakra from one group and then switching to another while still keeping one of the previous two in the new group. It was more like bouncing chakra around in his arm now, but the practice and results were all the same. Slowly he worked his way up his arm, releasing chakra from each point he could find. Eventually he moved up his arm to his shoulder, and then from his shoulder to his neck, and then from his neck to his head and then back down the other side. The process was mirrored on his left side, moving down his shoulder to his arm, and then finally to his hand.

What felt like minutes of progress had actually taken him hours outside of his subconscious concentration. The sun hung overhead now, beaming down the heat directly upon him. His chosen attire for the day, the most noteworthy pieces consisting of a black tank top and gray trousers, kept him from overheating during his meditation. As chakra was released from the last tenketsu in his left hand, Takao released a long exhale. That was the first step of the practice, and now he was moving on to the next. Releasing chakra from two points at once, on different sides of his both. He wanted to attempt releasing chakra from a single point within both is left and right hands at the same time. This was a bit like looking left and right at the same time, yet a bit more... possible.

He strained himself to concentrate on the two different locations at the same time. He could only build up the chakra in one point a time, rather than both points simultaneously like he was aiming to do. Each attempt he made ended up as both a success and a failure at the same time. He managed to split his chakra in two and send them to the different locations in his body, but not as quickly and simultaneously as he would have liked. Takao's attempts burned away the day again, leaving him stiff from all the sitting for the second time. He groaned as he pushed himself up onto his feet and stretched his arms, grumbling inaudible slurs of frustration under his breath all the while. He didn't finish as late in the day as the day prior, yet most of the daylight had been burnt already. For now he'd label the session as a failure, as it was in his eyes, more or less so than it was in actuality. Although Takao had succeeded in his initial exercise, which was concentrating chakra to and releasing it from two localized points at once, he had failed at separating the chakra and releasing it simultaneously. Oh well, he thought. Tomorrow was a new day.

Another new day offered him another new opportunity to train and better himself. Reflecting upon his earlier endeavors in advancing his knowledge and skill with ninjutsu, Takao had decided to bounce his chakra around inside of him like he was a living pinball machine. He had concentrated chakra to certain specific points in his body, at one point singling out individual points to gather to, and then releasing it. This was how jutsu were preformed, only on a much smaller and much less useful scale. This was also a common practice for new shinobi, though they target large clusters of those points rather than individual points. Takao had also worked on gathering and releasing chakra from two singular points at one time on different sides of his body, though his attempts never went further than his hands. He would expand on that training someday, maybe during the morrow, but there was a different plan on the agenda today.

Today wouldn't be spent sitting for hours, moving chakra around his body like he was back at the academy. No, today's training would be a bit more exciting and a lot more... explosive. The valley was his location of choice for the forth coming destruction he would inflict upon the face of the cliffs. Chakra was a bit like a muscle. The more you used it, the stronger it became. Performing a technique over and over again, perfecting the ratio of stamina converted to chakra, and the repetition and practice of the hand seals until they were like a flash of lightning were all part of training that every shinobi indulged in, yet few truly saw mastery over. Many thought that being able to perform the technique without fail was good enough, that was their idea of mastery. But not for Takao, his idea of mastery was reducing the amount of stamina he needed to the absolute minimum. There was no reason to use more chakra than necessary, nor was there a reason to use more of his energy. He wanted to perform the technique using the bare minimum requirements while still keeping the power of the technique in tact, even if it only left him with enough energy for a second's longer sprint. It was coming down to a science at this point.

The thud of his boots crunching the grass beneath him as he landed in the valley bounced off the cliff walls and echoed slightly. He pulled the blade he kept on his belt from it's scabbard and gave it a light toss into the air. As it fell back down toward him, he caught it between his thumb and index finger at the tip of the cutting edge, then flicked his wrist and sent the cutlery spinning toward the nearby tree. It stuck into the bark with a thuk, deep enough inside the wood to keep it from moving as Takao removed his outermost upper garment and tossed it over the handle, leaving him to train in his black slacks and tank top. The garment was fine during meditation, though the past few days had been a tad cooler, but his intended training today was a bit different, and would be heating him up a good deal.

Takao had inherited an ability from his father that was quite unique to the two of them. Unlike his mother the parents of his father, the two of them possessed the ability to mould chakra inside their chest and lungs without the need for hand seals. This was a significant advantage in battle, being able to release high level breath techniques that would have otherwise taken a long string of hand seals to complete, in a matter of seconds. Seconds. He could incinerate somebody inches from his face in a heart beat, should such an opportunity present itself. But there were other techniques that were not done in the lungs or chest, and they required hand seals. Keeping himself from getting rusty with both styles was one part of his regime. Today he would be performing techniques using hand seals.

His hands were raised and his palms pressed together. Each finger intertwined with another, contorting and twisting into a sequence of formations. Each new position his hands entered flared his chakra up and moulded it, an ample amount gathering from the pit of his stomach to his lungs. As he inhaled, the chakra mixed with the oxygen in his lungs and mixed to a volatile consistency, igniting his lungs into flames, yet he didn't move at all. The flames slowly disappeared in his lungs, though they weren't being smothered. His chakra wrapped around the fire, encapsulating it in a sphere of his energy. The sphere split into five different directions, condensing the fire further down until they were glowing orange. He exhaled them like spitting seeds into his hands, yet they never touched his flesh. They hovered in his hand, each orb spinning individually as well as rotating in his hand. The individual spinning kept their perfect spherical shape, his chakra carrying their form with every movement.

Takao raised his right hand, the hand that held the constantly in motion spheres of volatile chakra and fire. He pointed the palm of his hand toward the face of one of the cliffs and fired off a single sphere, giving it propulsion in the direction with a bit of chakra. It soared through the air without a noise and collided with the rock, breaking the chakra and releasing the flames in an eruption of fire and destruction. The flames exploded into a beautiful display of pyrotechnics, climbing the face of the cliff as far as they could before naturally dispersing. A second sphere was fired, and a similar effect was achieved. The bright light the flames gave off reflected onto Takao's skin, further illuminating the growing smile on his face. Not many things excited him like this kind of destruction, the kind that could only be birthed from flames. As the flames died down a second time, he fired off two more orbs with a few seconds between them. They collided one after another, detonating into a demonstration of combustion. The face of the cliff shook and groaned from the concussive nature of the explosions, and just before the last of the flames died off, the last of the spheres was fired into the thick of the flames. It reignited them and sent a plume of heat and flares of fire into the sky, nearly coming close enough to singe Takao's own hair, yet he never moved an inch save for dropping his hand.

His only regret was that he couldn't perform the technique again sooner, though well aware of the fact that channeling chakra to the same spot over and over again in rapid succession could wear out the tenketsu. They needed time to recover, which meant another technique was needed. For now, the Great Fireball technique would do. A technique that originally belonged to the Uchiha, but over the years, the secret of the rather simple technique had become common knowledge and a staple to anybody that used fire release techniques. Takao probably wouldn't even acknowledge somebody that had an affinity toward fire until they were able to perform the technique to perfection. One seal was made and held, the Tiger seal. His chakra flooded out of his stomach and into his lungs again, choosing to target different points than the ones that had just been used. Another deep breath was taken, though this one was held for the duration of the preparation for the technique. Chakra spilled into his lungs and mixed with oxygen, igniting the energy aflame. This time there was no shield of chakra to condense the flames, they would be coming out in their pure, unsullied beauty. He parted his lips and raised his right hand, curling his index and middle finger to create a funnel of chakra between them. As he exhaled the flames, they took the form of a stream upon hitting the net of chakra in his hands, focusing them in one direction. They soared through the air and collided with the rock face, the pure concussive nature of the dense flames colliding with the rock face actually shook the ground and ate away at the rock.

As the flames cleared and Takao's lengthy exhale came to an end, he observed the damage. The stone was burnt and singed, and a crater was left where he had hit. He inhaled and the smile returned to his face upon seeing the damage. One of the perks of his family was their pure affinity for fire. Nearly everybody in his line of blood had an affinity for fire, and over the years it had grown stronger. He reckoned that the rank classification of the technique he had just used must have been one lower than the actual power.

“Let's try one last thing before I take a break. I've always wanted to give this a go...” Takao brought his hands back up and intertwined his fingers, contorting them to take a new position every second. A sequence of five formations in total were done, and as the last seal was formed and held, three clouds of puffy white smoke appeared on either side of him. As they cleared, three perfect replicas of himself stood at his side. Takao stepped forward, closer to the crater in the vertical cliff face that he had made moments earlier. He turned to face the clones and gave them each a mental order. They shared a nod between them and Takao wasted little time.

Immediately after finishing the sequence of hand seals to create the clones, he began another set. It was a bit lengthier this time around, but for good reason. He released chakra from multiple tenketsu over a period of time, coating his body with chakra. The chakra, mixed with his nature affinity for fire, formed a layer over his skin and clothes. He looked to the clones and gave them the mental signal that he was ready. They all formed hand seals in unison, two of them mimicking each other and the third forming only a single seal. Takao's eyes closed and he soon felt a warmth over his body, which turned into seering heat. He opened his eyes to see bright fire in front of him, and on each side. It consumed his vision entirely, all he saw was hues of red and orange. He flinched at the sight at first, as was human nature, but soon came to relax. Even though it felt like his skin was burning, he still stood without the slightest of movements, save for a growing smile.

The flames cleared in moments, and the clones were gone. Another large crater and something like ten smaller indentations surrounded him, where the techniques that the clones had used had landed. He looked down at the skin on his hands to find it black as charcoal. His entire body was charcoal black, burnt by the flames, yet he moved fine. The armour began to fall apart piece by piece until the normal colour of his skin returned, albeit a bit red from the heat. The armour had been destroyed by the pseudo B Rank techniques, yet Takao was fine. That was about as safe as voluntary self immolation went.

Chakra: 330/400:

The morning was quiet, the streets empty, and the sky booming with the sound of thunder. A storm had been brewing overnight, and finally decided to show itself in the wee hours of the morning. Rain didn't often deter shinobi from their duties, though some were a little less inclined to work in it than others. Many of the villagers that were usually out and about had chosen to stay indoors rather than risk an illness, leaving the roads empty and few shops open. The environment was especially harsh and quite undesirable for shinobi who utilized their affinity for fire in their techniques, yet there were many who still ventured out into the thick of the weather for their daily training regime. Takao, unfortunately, was not one of those people.

The opportunity to stay indoors was just too good to pass up. His apartment offered him a beautiful view of the rural side of Konohagakure, especially from his spot at the bay window seat. A warm drink, a book, and the cat that laid on his chest and, coincidentally, on his book as well made for a rather relaxing day. Takao listened to the patter of the rain against his window and the quiet purring of the feline he was petting ever so slowly, as to not aggravate the already temperamental beast. His apartment was located in one of the more rural and secluded areas of Konohagakure, and his neighbors were all adults or around his age, so the noise was fairly minimal. His apartment was quite nice too, the size worked for him perfectly. It wasn't a particularly large apartment, but he wasn't a particularly large or spacious guy. His bedroom was simple, the bay window seat being his favorite spot along the north wall. Following along the north wall, a bit to the left of the bay window seat was his dresser, and then at the northern most part of the west wall was the sliding doors to his closet. Moving just south of the closet was his bed, fit for two yet he was single, with two nightstands equipped with drawers and lamps. Back along the east wall was a chaise lounge chair and small table, and directly across from the bay window seat was a bookcase and the door to the living area. The carpet of his bedroom was white and soft, the room seeming to be without even the slightest speck of dirt or dust. Despite being somewhat lazy, Takao hated poor living conditions.

So there he sat, laid on his window bed with one leg hanging off, the other bent, one arm behind his head and the other petting the cat that laid on his chest and kept him from getting up. His head was turned to look out at the light forest through the window, yet he couldn't see much behind the rain on the window and the slight hint of his reflection. Takao stirred slightly to sink into a more comfortable position and disturbed the feline on his chest, who slowly got up, turned around, and hopped off his chest and onto the floor, then outside the room. He huffed and sat up, grasping the open book and closing it as he tossed it onto the nearby corner table.

“Well... Now that I went through the effort of sitting up, I might as well get some training in.” The reluctance in his voice as he spoke to himself was abundant. There were days when Takao would take up early in the morning and be out the door, eager to train for the remainder of the day. Then the gloomy, rainy, depressing days rolled along and all he wanted to do was stare at the window until he fell asleep. Unfortunately for Takao, today was one of those days. By some miracle he had managed to stand himself up and actually take a few steps before slinking down into a cross legged seated position and bringing his hands together to form a hand seal. If he couldn't go out and blow up nature to shit, then some indoor chakra meditation would suffice. His fingers were intertwined and contorted to form the dragon seal, which he held and would hold for the duration of his meditation.

Takao's eyes closed slowly, filling his vision with darkness. His breathing became calm, routine, and controlled. The first of his breaths were deep and slow, yet it quickly became natural after a few moments. The seal he held let him mould his chakra through the pathways that existed in his body. The destination of his energy was to gather at specific nodes in his body, known to him and all over educated shinobi as the tenketsu. They, along with the hand seals that moulded the chakra, were what allowed shinobi to utilize the magic of their world. Jutsu. Destructive, supportive, or defensive. No matter what they were meant for, it could be argued that they were the best and worst things to ever come to be. They caused wars, and they stopped wars. They killed and they healed. They put some in peril and they saved others from peril. No matter how you looked at it, the positivity of shinobi techniques for the general well being of humanity as a species was very seldom. Nonexistent even, some radicals would argue, yet they were essential to the survival of entire peoples.

Without powerful techniques and equally powerful shinobi to use them, there was a point in time in history where each of the villages would have fallen. Many people would have died, and many people had died because of them. Thankfully and fortunately for Takao, he was a bit more selfish than that. Surely he had morals, he wouldn't go around slaying people in the streets, yet he didn't quite care for the well being of anybody that wasn't in Konohagakure. Well, to be completely honest, he didn't give even the slightest of shits when it came to the people of other villages, unless they were of some benefit to him or the village. Their support in a war, for instance, would inspire him to care about them. But ultimately, the only people he was loyal to the death with were the people of Konohagakure.

The thoughts that flooded his mind soon faded, leaving only the ambient white noise of his apartment to fill his head. His chakra began to flare up, and soon it was traveling through the pathways of his body. Some to his left hand, and some to his right. The chakra traveled through the pathways and passed through the tenketsu nodes, starting from his stomach. He was very specific, and very careful to form a single pathway. This exercise was about control, not speed. If he was to truly master the way his chakra moved throughout his body and give him a better understanding of moulding his chakra, it needed to be done right, regardless of how long it took.

The exercise was repeated with various different parts of his body over a span of a long time. He had been sitting long enough for the rain to have calmed down, and for his cat to have snuck back into the room and seated itself in his lap, yet he was too far into his meditation to notice or care. Takao just sat there with his legs crossed and his hands forming a single seal, bouncing his chakra around inside of him. When he needed to mould chakra in a different way, he changed hand seals. It became a process, a routine. Certain and specific parts of his body were targeted, and chakra was sent to that part of his body. Soon the two tenketsu nodes he targeted at one time became three. Then they became four, and they continued to increase until the small groups of tenketsu nodes had turned into clusters.

After some hours of training, Takao's eyes opened and a lengthy, exaggerated exhale escaped from his lips. He glanced down at the feline in his lap as he broke the seal and sighed as he stood up and brushed him off.

“Alright Toki, let's get somethin' to eat.”