It hadn't been long since gattsu was last sent off the clans lands, but this time, he planned on being gone for a long while. Having only a small packs worth of belongings, and enough food to last nine days if he stretched it. The rations were stale and awful tasting, but could sit for months without worry of spoiling. The morning fog obstructed all but the first fifteen feet or so in front of him, so he made the early part of the days travel go by while singing a jaunty tune from the clan. After a few hours of walking without much more than trees and fog, gattsu finally found himself at a clearing with a large enough tree to have a vantage point while he ate. "Looks like a good enough spot." Climbing a few branches to a comfortable seat, he notices a nest of birds that is clearly being reconstructed for the umpteenth time, claw marks and branch nubs abound. "Looks like you've had some trouble, birdie. You don't seem to be much of a snack for them though." Watching through the leaves of his newfound perch, he relaxed for a few minutes, pondering about the potential applications for chakra based medicine. Freezing wounds, or organizing blood flow. It could even potentially be possibly to control someone's breathing if you were adept enough with the wind. Some rustling in the distance made the bird tense up, alerting gattsu to the newcomer to the trees clearing. "Oh, looks like we've got a lively one, coming back for the snack he missed out on earlier.

An only a brief moment, a blur of white fur darted from the edge of the clearing, making it to the tree in about a second. In mere moments, the wolf made it to the tree, and was hunched down, preparing to jump to snatch the nest. Controlling his breathing so as not to alert the animal, gattsu prepared to counter it's strike. It was only a second, but it seemed to strech to the length of eternity, in a flash, the wolf was caught by the neck, mere inches from the neat of the newfound bird. A simple but effective solution, gattsu had clamped his grip firmly around the beasts neck, allowing the hyoton chakra to flow from his fingers. "Now now, my friend is not your snack. Begone, before I make you a snack of my own." Releasing his grasp on the wolf, it fell to the ground, stunned by the turn of events. It ran back to the edge of the clearing before looking back, almost as if to get a better look at the thing that had pulled the meal from its maw. "Welp, that's all the time I have for lunch. You should probably build your nest higher up next time." Hopping down and continuing on the path he was carving, the sun nearing noon had cleared enough fog to warrant more travel for the day.

Wc 505

With the thought of the wolf and bird in his head, gattsu continued forward, grabbing a couple of sticks for practicing his icy grip. Freeze, snap. for hours he walked, testing the length to which he could apply this technique. As the day began to set, he set off to find a clearing or large enough tree to sleep for the night, knowing if he waited to long the sounds of the restless forests would keep him awake for far longer than he would be sleeping. Finding a relatively safe clearing, Gattsu cleared a spot to lay, bundling up before the cold of night had set. Marking the area with kunai and urine, to ward off beasts and bandits alike, he finally found the solace of sleep he had been seeking.

As he awoke in the morning, the clouds were thick above. knowing the day would be dark, Gattsu settled to work on physical training for his lunch breaks from here forward. wasting time saving animals would only serve to make sure he wasnt strong enough for the challenges that await him in kirikagure. As the morning became noon, the sky failed to clear, foreshadowing an early night, and possibly rain come nightfall. After finding an appropriate location and having a rather uneventful lunch, he set himself to began tree striking. Strike after strike, he counted out loud, growing in volume as he removed bark and splinters from the nearby flora, blood spattering further and further along the woods. After an hour and a half roughly had passed, he looked back upon the bloody and sappy mess he had left behind. "hope it rains tonight, stories of bloody trees might scare the townsfolk when i arrive." continuing on to search for a cave or overhang to sleep for the night, he managed to find an applicable cave after a couple hours of searching. "what luck! Looks like nothings lived here in ages. i can get a good nights rest tonight!" sleep soon found him, assisted by the light pitter patter of rain beginning to fall.    


WC:505 + 345 = 850

As gattsu slept, and the night became morn, it became very clear that the rain would not be letting up anytime soon. Knowing his rations would be tight if he lost a day of travel, he made sure his bag was closed tight, and did his best to grab a nearby branch to carry for cover. "I'm definitely making a fire tonight, can't walk for days soaked and cold." He thought to himself. After an hour or so of walking, he was soaked thoroughly enough to drop the branch, so he could keep his arms close as he walked. Nearing the time for sunset, the rain began to finally settle, as if the world itself was ready to rest. After camp was made and a fire started, gattsu began questioning the purpose of the shinobi amongst the ordinary folk.

Were they a form of law, or something else entirely? It almost seemed as if the people who refused to learn were no more than livestock, when thinking objectively. The cold began to set in quickly tonight, so as soon as the clothes were dry, he ate and bundled up for sleep. Drifting into his dreams one question grazed his mind: "I wonder how far this path will take me, and what will I learn along it?" The question kept burning itself ever deeper, as if to force his sleeping mind to pry this enigma.

As the morning sun broke the fog, the clear skies signalled for an easy day of travel ahead. The city should be within sight within a few days, and his stomach grumbled, wanting more than just the crude rations he had been keeping, salted meat and stale bread would only satisfy his palette for so long before it began to crave a home cooked meal.

Wc 850 + 301 =1151

Today Gattsu jogged, shadowboxing as he went, imagining the opponents he had sparred with before as children. Mostly crude boxing, the matches usually degraded into little more than slug-fests quickly, leaving the one who hit harder or could take more punches as the victor. When the sun had finally risen to its highest point, Gattsu stopped for lunch, begrudgingly eating the rations that seemed to taste worse as he went. Another afternoon of fading fog, only to be met with its eventual return at dusk, as the temperature began to fall. The night remained uneventful aside from the chilly weather, but something was off. it had been quiet for a while, even the natural chatter of the forest had stopped for a brief reprieve.

He gripped a kunai with his right hand as a wolf dove from a nearby bush at him, lunging for his flesh. When the second attack came, it struck true, getting more than a nice grip on Gattsu's forearm. Knowing if he let it run it would come back, gattsu struck with the kunai, aiming for the throat. The first strike seemed to find hold for a moment, before letting loose as the this fur of the beast was shaven short by the blade. The wolf, noticing the counter attack, began to pry his arm away from his body, using its legs to push harder off his chest. Bleeding, and wincing from the pain, gattsu swung the blade in a second time, hoping to soon feel the beasts heart stop. Almost as quickly as it began, with a loud yelp and the scattering of the nearby birds, the sweet solace of victory found its way into his hands. He would need to cook this soon, if he intended to eat it, and could use some of the fur from the wolfs body to make a temporary bandage for the bite.

The meat was rich and flavorful, even if a little game-y. With a full stomach and a handful to eat in the morning, he found rest only a few minutes after. The next morning, he found himself with half a fur. and enough cooked meat to last at least though the next night. knowing the bandages would need changing, he cut up the pelt into strips before stuffing it with his other belongings. The next day saw to more tree punching at lunch, with shadowboxing as he traveled, anticipating his next bout. The fifth day had been uneventful, but tending to his wound and training was more than enough excitement for a short while.

WC:1151 + 431 = 1582

The sixth day was spent quiet, from the time he awoke. cloudy, but not raining, misty, and yet not dark. The land seemed calm, and should make for an easy day to walk off the pain. Rather uneventful, the day progressed as expected. Shadowboxing and tree rending, gattsu began to notice he was leaving less and less blood as he had went. "Learning not to hurt oneself while attacking was quite important for developing a strong swing" Gattsu thought, smiling at the lesson he'd found, but yet to master. As the day quickly came to a close, so did sleep after using the last of the fur for bandaging the mostly scabbed wound. The camp fire crackled happily through the night, although the night had been calm otherwise.

The dawn of the seventh day awoke with a large crack, as winds had picked up while he was sleeping. with the falling and breaking of branches, gattsu knew today he'd need to be moving quick. "Kiri cant be that much farther, I bet ill see it in another hill or two." Jogging briskly, and avoiding heavily swaying trees, gattsu found his path, moving quickly to try to shorten the time before he'd get to a set of walls to protect from the winds. After a few hours of nothing more than adrenaline based running and punches flinging liquid through the air, Gattsu crested a hill to finally see the roofs of the kirikagure settlement. Nearly as quickly as he arrived, he found himself on the inside of a local inn, offering to wash dishes or clothes to earn his room. After some brief negotiations, and a hour or so of cleaning, Gattsu finally found his bed in the walls of kirikagure. Sleep would be great tonight.

When morning had finally dawned in kirikagure, Gattsu set forth on making good to his deal with the innkeeper. Chopping wood for the fires, helping cook for the occupants, and busing tables to ensure he'd have a place to sleep for the next few days. At nearly 4, the kindly innkeeper finally released him to do his deeds within the city. Asking a local for the information for the school, he quickly found the way to the shinobi in charge of the school. Explaining his predicament, the shinobi agreed that his best course of action would be to find another genin or two and try to convince someone to train them, if my intent was any more than running D-rank missions for the rest of my days. Agreeing, Gattsu set off to find any other people he could learn alongside, or at least some work to tie him over.

As Gattsu searched, he found that it was probably far to late in the day for him to be out searching. best to try and finish earlier the next morning. When he arrived back at the inn, he took to chopping excess firewood, so he'd need far less in the morning. The inn keeper noticed the exertion and offered to let him off the hook for tomorrow if he filled the ledge they used as storage. Nearly 2 hours into the night, he found his job complete, feeling his way to the bath, seeking the bed that would come soon after. Cleaning himself, he took extra care not to scrape the scabs from his arms, knowing that doing so would be likely to bring in scarring. "So, the city is as nice as they said. I can only hope the kindness of the people is just as plentiful." After drying for a few moments in the mirror, gattsu dried off with a towel, and dressed himself in his readiness for sleep. It had been a long day, and would be an equally long one tomorrow. The bed felt even warmer than the night before, almost as if inviting him in. After only a brief moment, Gattsu's breathing slowed, and he drifted off with dreams of fame and power.


[Exit thread]
1582 + 669 = 2251

Training Strength from D-0 -> D-3 (750 * 3 = 2250)