It was a day or so since Etsuo last had to travel in to the land that was known as the Thunder Grounds, an area known for being very deadly for anyone that tends to travel into them from constant threat of being struck by lightning. However, it would appear to be the place that the young Yukimura decided to leave his puppets behind while he had to carry an escaped prisoner back to prison on his back. He was very lucky to never have to actually fight such a prisoner on these grounds, the lightning seemed to have done the job for him instead, knocking the prisoner out cold for a long while. Once again, his objective today as he approached these dark lands was retrieval, the retrieval of his two puppet fireflies, which he hoped were still in good condition due to the unpredictable nature of the thunder grounds. Shortly, he would be entering the thunder grounds and a race with chance and his own life would begin, right off the bat. "I really wished that I could of found some kind of a specialist to these grounds, but there appears to be no such thing within this village." He would say to himself, as it all began.

The young Yukimura, also faced one more important problem as he entered the thunder grounds and cursed at his stupidity before and during this life or death experience, that he has faced before, and is currently facing once again. Etsuo had no map, and no marker that would give him a clue as to where his puppets might be, so he might have to scout through every inch of the area, before he even catches sight of where they might possibly be located. With the advice of his father, and those that have ventured into this land many times before, and made it out alive, he hoped to remain safe, and within one piece. The area, in all honesty looked like a wreckage from all the things that have tried to make it through or survive on these ground, with the places that plants grew, and even more, where living plants grew, seemed like places to make a lucky guess that they are generally safer than the other places. Etsuo, one he was deeper within, would use one of the spots that he identified to rest while he moved along, it was best to be rested than exhausted since he could be finding himself in a much more dangerous area with little to no signs of a safe zone to be found.

Etsuo began to recall all of the natural dangers that he has faced across his short life, and in all honesty, none of them can truly compare to the fierce and sudden power that a strike of lightning can make. Very much so, in these grounds, if the first strike didn't kill you, doesn't stop a second one from coming around and finishing the job for the very first one. After reflection on such, Etsuo reminded himself of his goal here, and he would eventually set himself out on the search once more to finding his two puppets that were lost in these grounds.

WC: 536
Speed
D-2 to D-3 450/450
D-3 to C 86/525

"The annoying part is that this can never be an easy or simple task, even for the strongest of shinobi from any of the villages, in all honesty, I would love to see any of the Kage try this themselves." He would go on to say to himself to keep himself from thinking about his death as he searched for his puppets within the thunder grounds. Etsuo kept his hopes as high as he could, and his speed none the less, the same expectations, trying to not have his body found in the same place for even two moments, much less two seconds. He was starting to recall how truly far he had chased the prisoner, once he actually located him within the area, lucky for Etsuo he could retrace the place that he had entered and exited the thunder grounds, so he did have some general idea of where the puppets could be found. There was no way of knowing if he was right or not, until he was actually within the area, and was able to check the spots, himself. In which case, if they were indeed not in that area, he would have no lead on the location of the puppets. The young Yukimura believed that was one of the few things that could make this task much easier than it needed to be as, he could quite possibly find them as he dashed through the area, and as he easily make his escape, just by retracing his exact same steps in at this point.

As he drew further in though, his hope in that theory grew more and more unbelievable, by the moment, there was only so much more to the area, and his luck of chance was growing larger and larger, of getting struck by a lightning bolt. Etsuo reminded himself that the puppets also might not be in the best of conditions, based, on the fact that the lightning could of struck them or not over a day's worth of time, he dreaded if he had to repair or recreate them from lightning damage, but it was much, much better than losing his one and only life. Quickly, however he was drawing closer to the dead end of his estimates, eventually he would be crossing the line into unpredictable locating, quite similar to that of finding a pin needle inside of a haystack, which within itself seemed extremely impractical to do.

It was however, at this end though, that Etsuo Yukimura would smile at his success, as right before his eyes as he dashed ever so quickly, was his two firefly puppets. Both of them seemed to have survived the day at least intact, they were to be found in the same position that he had left them to be found. He would have come to thought that within the Thunder grounds, he did not have to worry about anyone moving or stealing his puppets, as there was very few that even risked traveling through the grounds. After he got the puppets picked, he would go on to turning around and retracing most, if not all of the steps that he has already taken to finding his puppets. Etsuo would also take the time to rest at the exact same safe spot as before, making sure that he could run the best that he could, especially since he was now carrying the recovered puppets with him as well. It was times like these that Etsuo truly did wish that he had some sealing scrolls on him to carry the puppets better, he was going to need all his speed, strength, and endurance once more to make it out of here alive. Another thought that came to his mind, was the fact that his sharigan truly wouldn't help him in this situation for once, something that he often entrusted would help him in all situations, was not seeing even a single use, this time around. It was after this thought that Etsuo Yukimura would resume to the very end of his journey.

WC: 677
Total WC: 1213

Speed
D-3 to C 525/525
C to C-1 238/575

Etsuo Yukimura's journey into the land known as the Thunder Grounds was finally coming to an end as he was coming upon that of the border for the area, and shortly there after, would cross it. This truly did mean that his life had stepped into a much safer place, after taking two journeys in to and out of the place, with everything that he had still intact. He would go on to slow his pace down to that of a walk as he was leaving the area, far behind him as he was heading towards the village. Etsuo hoped that he would never have to go back into that place for a long while, but as he walked away, he smirked and thought to himself, that next time though, he would be much better prepared, even if luck did not happen to be on his side. Once, the young Yukimura found himself within the village grounds again, he would go on his way across to talk to all the people that had helped him in his journey to retrieve his puppets. They were the people that made his journey, the huge success that it was, so he would go on to thank each and everyone of them that he could find as he was doing so.

By the end of the day, Etsuo Yukimura would return to his home, where his father was waiting on him, and he would tell his father about the adventure that he had taken, and the people that helped him make it back to tell this story alive. Things were starting to look much better for the young Yukimura, compared to how he was long before, he now held a smile on his face for much longer than a frown, he liked being around others, more so than being alone. His father took notice of this and smiled even when his son was leaving him in the home alone, doing whatever it may be that he set himself to do, even if it risked his life, he believed in his son, and what he was capable of, so he looked forward to each story, and tomorrow.

[Exit Thread]

WC: 362
Total WC: 1575

Speed
C to C-1 575/575