Rain smacked his face as he stood within the heart of the thunder grounds. Assam was already soaking wet having attempted to shake the water out of his fur multiple times. Neither of them weren’t too bothered by it. They were neither bothered by the thunder’s roar bouncing off of the edge of the mountains. Tomohiro had forgotten how calming the symphony of nature was. It had been weeks if not months since he visited here. There was someone he waited for among the thick orchard of trees that surrounded the cleared area. As he waited for his uncle, he meditated. The inner peace that he sought out brought further away. The nightmare that seemed to thrash on his inside wanting to come out had yet again made its gesture known. He wanted it to finally die, but it began clawing at him again. Assam could even tell that something was different about his fighting partner. The tiger was greatly concerned for his master’s well being, but wasn’t sure in which way to comfort him. Assam was a great help in helping Tomo find inner peace even though the tiger didn’t know it. The Nakir believed that he may have never relinquish that fact to the tiger. He didn’t want the idea to go to the, already prideful, tiger’s head. Since they couldn’t find the rest of Assam’s family, he wanted to do the best he could to raise him to the best of his abilities.

As he meditated, the tiger joyfully played in the patch of open field. Assam would gently nudge Tomohiro every now and then. Though the Nakir wouldn’t budge. His mind didn’t even seem like it was there. Out of all the times he meditated, this had to be one of the deepest he ever been. He spent over an hour sitting in silence. Tomohiro found the closest calm he had in awhile. There were no thoughts moving through his head. The peace was almost blissful. It was great to feel this way again. This was what had been missing from him usual routines. Meditation was a great thing to participate in. His emotions were calm and there was only happiness for a long while. That was until everything started to get dark. Tomohiro took a shuddering breath as it felt like something trying to control him. His eyes would then open. A loud growl he could hear coming from his rear. Assam was in a defensive position before erupted into something else he hadn’t ever heard emerge from the young ninnekol. A loud roar emerged from his maws. This made Tomohiro’s eyes widen. The roar almost made him temporarily deaf. He could have sworn that it could have been heard across the thunder grounds.

Tomohiro stood up as he could hear light footsteps.Turning around, there stood a shinobi in a silver mask. The mask was foreign to him. It had no slits or openings for the eyes and looked to be connected to a rebreather. The two individuals just stood looking at each other. Tomohiro tried to study the individuals physique as much as he could. The figure had blood on their gloves and wielded two short swords. Tomohiro wasn’t sure of what the actions the figure would take. To prepare himself, he placed his hand on his sword and spread his legs slightly apart. No words crossed either of their lips. The figure seemed to be examining the two of them. The silence that was heard between the figure and Tomohiro. The figure grunted as they lunged toward Tomohiro. The Nakir also rushed toward the figure and traded blows with them. Their blades reflected the lightning bolts thrashing overhead.

Tomohiro attempted to hold his ground. Each strike seemed to be more powerful than the next. It had been awhile since the last time he faced an opponent with such ferocity. It made him think back to another fight he had in the not so distant past. This guy matched that individual’s movements almost like a mirror image. Though, this guy was faster and stronger. The fight went on for awhile as the stranger started to get the upper hand on him. Tomohiro started breathing heavily. His body started to get weaker. It made me realize how far he was getting pushed. He questioned if this was his uncle that was dressed like, but Kaimei wasn’t the man for such tricks that he knew of. This seemed to be more of his brother’s schtick than anything else. Haven’t locked blades with his brother before, this was nothing like his attacks. The pressure behind his opponent’s blades were of pure hatred.

The strange figure backed off as it flourished its blades. Doton started to form over the blades as he heard a slight voice come from the figure, “Tomohiro.” The voice caused him to grit his teeth. Tomohiro stood firm just like his sensei Raiu Kiyoshi had taught him. The figure came at him once more. Tomohiro was now beyond ready. Even with his body tired out and pushing his limit, he wasn’t going to back down. As the figure neared, Tomohiro closed his eyes and slid himself to the right of his opponent. He turned his blade to the sky and pushed upward. As he opened his eyes, he noticed the blood dripping down his blade. He turned around to a boot to the face as he flew backwards landing on his feet. The figure had a large open gash through their torso. Tomohiro dropped to his knees as he felt blood running down from his nose. The shinobi remembered the books he read years ago. He also thought back to some of his uncle’s teachings. It was the third element that he still needed to grasp. It was lightning element. The staple element of Kumogakure no Kuni.

Tomohiro knew it was risky and he may have been better of using katon, but he was already pushed to his limit. He formed three hand seals as he focused chakra into his blade. It started as a spark. Before he knew, Kenmei had started rumbling with the sound of thunder. Lightning raged from the weapon as he tried to control it. The figure wasn’t going to wait around much longer. The being lurched toward him with great speed. The figure’s back then arched with what seemed like cracking bones. Kaimei Nakir stood with his fist in the figures stomach and sent the being into the air. The man drew his own katana as raiton calmly flowed through the blade. The blade was then calmly pointed at the being and the lightning extended upward empaling the masked figured. Kaimei then allowed the opponent to hit ground. More bones could be heard cracking as the figure made contact with the solid earth beneath them. Tomohiro gave his uncle an odd look. His uncle sighed he drove the blade through the center of the figures back as it ceased its moving. The gold mask cracked to reveal a face that was deteriorated. Tomohiro looked closer and realized that what ever the thing was, it was already dead from the start. The blood on his own blade he noticed had already clotted. Tomohiro wanted to speak, but withdrew himself from doing so. Though, Kaimei spoke in his place.

“Tomohiro, I wanted to see where you were with your training. It seems like you were quite ahead of where I thought you were. Congratulations.”

“You knew what this thing was?"

“No, but I wanted to see you fighting when it counted. Your blade work isn’t totally Nakir, but it’s not totally something else either. Seems like you’ve created a hybridization of two very different kenjutsu styles. Using the important parts of two different styles and using them when needed. Though, at the beginning of your fight. You stuck with one style and it worked. It wasn’t until you started switching back and forth constantly that you screwed up. I suggest you pick a style and abandoned the other. There’s no reason you should have been in that situation to begin with.”

“So, you were paying attention. I thought you weren’t going to show up. How very Nakir of you to sit back and watch me struggle.”

“Watch your tone, boy. Even though it’s monotone, I know what you were aiming at. Any who, I guess we’ll go ahead and finish your training. I’m going to have to investigate this...thing later. It definitely had been dead for an extended amount of time. There was no heartbeat coming from it. The fact that it said your name has me interested.”

“Alright, let’s finish the training.”

Tomohiro forced himself to his feet and made his way closer to his uncle. His uncle first sat down before motioning him to sit. The two sat for while as Kaimei walked Tomohiro through focusing his chakra again. He attempted to walk through his training steps again. Going through the basics wasn’t anything new to him. Perfecting the basics built formed a foundation that was hard to unearth. The more you practice, the more you hone your craft. Tomohiro couldn’t say how many times that he went through basic fighting stances before they became natural. He couldn’t say that he cared too much for doing it, but this was to improve himself. There was no getting around this. Learning doton seemed to be a lot easier than honing the use of raiton. It could have easily been the fact that the two elements were the exact opposite of each other. One was based on a strong connection with the earth. The other was based on something that he hadn't gotten the hang of yet. To him it was focusing on destruction as well as trying to gain a firm control. It was similar to katon, but it wasn’t as free flowing.

He was exhausted. The fight and training had quite drained him. Assam noticed the struggling Tomohiro was going through, but he kept his distance. The tiger figured that he didn’t want to be in the way. Tomohiro hadn’t even gotten around to training Assam in any elements. It was probably time that he started. At this moment, he needed to focus on himself. The tiger already had a long way to go before he would be combat ready. The time they had spent together had been great, but he deep down didn’t want to Assam to get too involved with combat. Tomohiro seemed to be acting like an overprotective parent. Assam was young, but the tiger would need to learn eventually. There was very little free time that was available to him. He would have to make time to do what he needed.

Tomohiro stood up drearilly as he couldn’t take much more. The energy felt like it had been sucked out of his body. He bided his uncle farewell until he was able to see him again. The younger Nakir would make his way home to get some rest. Tomohiro noticed that he was starting to get sick and it was probably part of the reason he was getting tired so easily. He would later find himself sitting on the side of his bed with his palms on his forehead. Assam attempted to comfort him, but his efforts were in vain. The dark of night had set in and he went to sleep. It was the only thing he could think of doing. His eyes closed as he lies on his back. Assam hopped into bed with him and rested his head on Tomo’s legs. They both fell asleep in a peaceful slumber.

A couple of days past as Tomohiro spent most of the time in bed. He woke up and sat still on the side of the bed. There was a bit of effort for him to get up. Assam ran into the room as he stood. The tiger started to rambunctiously run around the room jumping around playfully. Tomohiro then began stretching the rest of his limbs. There was a smile that sprang on his face as he petted the tiger. Assam’s tongue flicked across Tomohiro’s wrist as he scratched under the tiger’s jaw. The Nakir then moved to push up position on the floor and begin doing push ups. After about 10 sets of 30, pushups. He did one last set with Assam on his back. Standing up, he stretched again before he went to bathe. It was his plan to go back to the thunder grounds and train some more before he truly thought himself able to use his new element.

After he fed himself and Assam, he made his way back to the thunder grounds. This area was mostly rocky and covered with earth pillars. Assam started play with a butterfly. Well, Tomohiro looked again and realized that it was actually a moth. He sighed as he sat down on the rocky ground. In his mind, he mulled over what his uncle taught him. Tomohiro had the basics, but there was something that he hadn’t attempted yet. It was a risky idea, but he would attempt to try it nonetheless. It was do or die time. Uncle Kaimei would look down on him if he didn’t figure out what he was doing wrong. Tomohiro would sigh as he stood up from the meditation stance.

The Nakir stood with his feet slightly apart and focused his chakra in his hand. He raised his hand into the sky as he held his concentration. Grey flames covered his hand as he continued to stand there. The Nakir started to get upset, but he persisted on. The flames in his hands slowly started to convert to lightning. He continued to hold his hand in the sky. There was something he was pushing for, yet he didn’t understand what it was. The lightning started traveling down his arm. The lightning started out blue then began to shift to grey. The grey lightning resembled his grey flames in color. It actually made him smile a bit as he continued focusing the raiton chakra into his palm. Then lightning came down and struck the middle of his hand. He felt the lightning as it coursed through his body. His body was covered in grey lightning. Everything seemed to be in his control. It was amazing. The feeling of the energy questioned how this affected him. Assam seemed to stare and sort of had a brief moment of excitement as he coughed up a moth wing.

Tomohiro finally understood what he was doing wrong. What he had been lacking in his control was just his misunderstanding of what he was trying to do. The new found ability made him question what he could do with it. The Nakir moved to a running start position and decided to run. He dashed in between the rock pillars like it was nothing. Changing directions became a lot easier. Tomohiro nodded his head in acceptance of the ability. The lightning that covered his body seemed to dissipate. Tomohiro then dropped to one knee as he began gasping for air. It was a bit more than he could chew. Assam called to him as the tiger became concerned where his partner had gone. The tiger eventually tracked down his position and attempted to lick Tomo’s face, but quickly backed off as there was a slight spark that even Tomohiro felt. The tiger whined as he laid down next to him. Tomohiro actually enjoyed the experience. Though, he definitely would need to perfect it.

The Nakir and his ninneko took a small rest as Assam laid on top of Tomohiro’s legs. The tiger received a belly rub as well as good scratching behind the ears. Tomohiro didn’t take the time they spent together for granted. He loved the tiger as much as he did his own sister and brothers. Assam really helped him remember what he needed to fight for. Tomohiro wanted to continue training. His dream remained the same. The dream that he sought to be one of the strongest kenjutsu users in Kumogakure. Though outside of that, he still seemed like he needed a guiding hand or something to lead him in the right direction. He wanted to do more for the village, but he wasn’t sure how. What was left for him to do. He figured that he would ask someone who was of higher rank than he was. Tomohiro didn’t just want to be another run of the mill shinobi. He wanted to prove that he was capable of being able to handle greater responsibility. Tomohiro knew that he would have to prove himself to the current raikage. The last time he had seen the man. They were in a cellar fighting against cultist. Tomohiro was disappointed that he wasn’t able to do much then. He was definitely outclassed and outmatched during the mission. It was a pitiful first showing and he would need to make it up to him.

Tomohiro stroked Assam’s fur a few times before forcing him to stand up. It was time to go request a mission. The last mission he went on was under Lord Hastur and that mission didn’t turn out well. Tomohiro had more to prove than he truly thought. He didn’t want to schedule a meeting with the raikage. Daremo was a really busy man that he didn’t want to bother. Tomohiro also wasn’t sure what he would tell or ask the man. The Nakir sighed slightly as he started to feel a bit depressed. There was no reason for him to be down or upset. Tomohiro just needed to trust those around him. He decided that he would take on more mission to try and put his name out there. He wanted to show his worth to the village. Whatever it took, he would do what he could with the power he currently had. His thoughts were interrupted as a dove flew down toward the two of them. Assam’s eyes lit up as he started to move into a pouncing position. Tomohiro looked toward him and said quietly, “no, Assam that’s not for eating,” before reaching up and letting the dove sit on his finger. Tomohiro reached to its leg and pulled off a small parchment. He noticed that it was one of his clansmens doves. He read the parchment before putting it in his jacket pocket. The parchment laid out details that it was time for him to increase the strength of his doujutsu. The mission would have to wait.

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Raiton Training: Nothing to C-rank [3000/3000]

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