Tomohiro stood on a rocky plain outside in the wilderness. He had received a raven from a man who wished to teach him something that what was seemingly out of the ordinary for his clan. The young shinobi crossed his legs and began to meditate as he waited. The Nakir clan were well known for there katon abilities and swordsmanship. Tomohiro wasn’t exactly sure what he else that he could get out of it learning something new. It was a new element.

Many of the Nakir he knew traditionally didn’t find new elements or just couldn’t get the hang of it to begin with. For a clan that spent many years underground, you would have thought that they would have developed in more ways than just learning swordsmanship with heavily focus in doton. Tomohiro wasn’t sure what to think. The cold early morning wind cutting across his face as he meditated caused him to open his eyes. Was there truly any purpose for learning a new element. He wondered if he would be able to even learn a new element anyway. What power could he truly gain from learning a new element. There were plenty of doors that would open up by learning a new element. Especially, when it came down to barriers.

There cold dry air pushed his hood back and continued to sit and wait. It wasn’t until a few moments later that he heard footsteps past the slightly blowing of the wind. Tomohiro looked around and didn’t see anyone at first. He quickly rolled onto his hands and propelled himself forward. The young shinobi took a deep sigh as he turned around and faced the direction of the footsteps that were coming up behind him. His bright purple eyes looked to see a man that stood a little taller than he did. The man’s full beard was braided at the end. A long ponytail hung over the man’s shoulder as he approached in him in what seemed to be old samurai armor. Tomohiro waited for the man to speak before he would engage in conversation. As far as he was concerned, this could be a trap.

The man stopped about three meters from and watched Tomohiro with black eyes. Tomohiro noticed that the man had facial features similar to his own. He still kept up his guard because he wasn’t to sure of the man’s intentions. Though, he had hoped that this was the man he was waiting over. Tomohiro didn’t like people to sneak up on him. The man could have easily took him he had the skills for it. Though, he wondered why they both stood there and stared at each other for so long. It wasn’t before too long the man started laughing.

“Tomohiro, it’s been awhile. My have you grown. I’m guessing you don’t even remember me do you?” the man started.

“Sorry, can’t say that I do.” Tomohiro replied with a raised eyebrow.

“It figures. I’ve been gone for so long that you wouldn’t remember. Nakir Kaimei. Your mother’s brother.”

Tomohiro thought back to his youth. He did have vague memory of a shinobi with a village flak jacket that looked very similar to how the man looked now, but then he didn’t have a beard. Tomohiro hummed in a low tone. He wondered where his uncle had been all of this time. Though, he didn’t want to intrude on the man personal business. Tomohiro was quite interested and would persist to ask anyway. There was no harm in asking. It wasn’t like he really didn’t want to know.

“Uncle, where have you been all these years? You did say that you would help me train when I got older. I didn’t expect this was what you meant.”

“Tomo, I figured you would ask. Though, this is just between the two of us. The last conversation with your mother, I thought about leaving the village. As you know, there aren’t too many Nakir that leave and ever return. I married a woman from Konoha before I joined ANBU. ANBU was one of the reasons why you didn’t see me for so long. I then retired after being with ANBU after ten years. Decided to travel with my wife after that.”

“I see,” Tomohiro said with a scowled look.

“Don’t give me that expression. You love who you love. I couldn’t help it.”

Tomohiro was in a moment of awe. He truly wondered what would make him marry someone from a rival village. If it had been any other village, it wouldn’t have been a problem within his clan. His mother definitely said that Kaimei was a rebel in his youth. The events that were explained to him made since, but he wondered what he learned as he traveled. There were now so many questions that he had. Though, he figured that he would get them answered in time. Tomohiro came for training. It was not like he was here for anything else, but to learn.

“So, what do you have to teach me anyway?”

“I’m came here to teach you Doton. Do you think that the clan has spent generations after generations underground and didn’t gain something other than the Netsugan? There are quite a few of us that learned other elements, but choose to withhold that knowledge from the higher ups of the clan. Come closer and I’ll teach you something that will help you defend yourself against suiton techniques.”

The young shinobi walked closer to his relative to see what the man had to show him. As he approached, Kaimei placed his hand on Tomohiro’s shoulder before kneeling to the ground. Kaimei placed his hand on the ground and caused dust to rise up from the earth. The dust started to swirl around the man’s palm. As the earth began to crack. The length of the crack began spreading to a meter in length. The man then stood back up and looked at Tomohiro with a brief smile for taking a step back and sitting down. Tomohiro just stared at the crack and then back at his new sensei.

“Tomohiro, this is your training. You’ve been in the mines long enough that you should be able to sense the dirt beneath you. First, you place your hand on the ground and use your chakra and to get a feeling of the earth beneath you. Then, you will use your chakra and combined that feeling of the earth to manipulate it. Force your chakra into a straight line from side to side. If your chakra isn’t consistent, it will look like the earth is shattering instead of creating a small crevice. Try and do that from there you should be on a good start to learning doton.”

“Alright then,” Tomohiro said in a monotone.

Tomohiro reached down and felt the earth beneath his hands. The ground was cold and hard. He closed his eyes and focused his chakra into his hand. The dirt around his hand began to slowly right. The earth seemed to feel connected with him after a couple of minutes. The ground beneath his hand began to shift. The ground began to form a crevice beneath his hand. The crevice was less than half a meter. Tomohiro opened his eyes as he started to witness the ground cracking beneath his hand. He continued to try and hold it, but the ground began to shatter.

“There you go Tomo, keep at until you get the crevice as long as mine. Try it again.”

It took a couple of hours of passing as Tomohiro attempted to get this right. Controlling the chakra was simple and easy since it was something they were taught from an early age. Though, it was trying to use it with doton that seemed to be a bit problematic. Tomohiro eventually caught one and was able to create a crevice that was a bit longer than Kaimei’s. The shinobi then clapped his hands. Good, you finally got the hang of it. I’ll continue to walk over the details.

The day then went on as Tomohiro and Kaimei trained in the use of doton chakra. Tomohiro had learned some new things about the inner and outer workings of doton. There had been a lot of interesting things that he didn’t even consider when using doton. Based on what he was learning, he had decided on how he would morph this into an actual strategy. Using doton would also benefit him in his swordsmanship. This worked out because he wouldn’t be held down by only katon now. There were lots of ideas he gained from Kaimei. He actually cracked a grin. He was quite excited that he was able to gain some experience from a more seasoned shinbi that wasn’t part of his immediate family.

“You’ve done well Tomohiro, now let’s go get something to eat. I can’t wait to see what kind of jounin you will become.”

“Thanks, I appreciate your time. I could go for a drink,” Tomohiro would responded with a slight bow.”


[Thread Exit]
WC: 1552

[1500/1500 words for secondary element: Doton]

52 words unused