Mission and Jutsu Training:

Meeeeh. This one at least had some point to it. Give the kiddies somewhere to go that wasn't a massive pile of trash; and maybe they'd stop acting like the village was a giant dumpster. He wasn't even sure that most of the younger kids floating around had seen a working swing in their lives. Sad; really. The clan had a proper playground area hidden away inside one of the larger caverns; full of swings and climbing structures and hanging bars and the like. They where perfect to teaching the younglings to balance and climb; keep them moving and interested. Happy.

Gods be damned; the parks where a mess. They where just... skeletons. Empty dirt filled with trash and rocks; dead or dying trees; grey walls covered in graffiti. It was disgusting. How the village had fallen into such disrepair. It was unconscionable. The only good thing was; now that spring had arrived (early; but welcome), they where able to get supplies in from the surrounding valleys again. That meant wood, and in great abundance. The civilian clans in the great forests had cut vast tracks of land leading up to the opening of the passes into the village; and the shipments where flowing free enough. There was material to build with again; and workers coming in to work the ore and stone mines again. Iwa could jump into the spring construction season finally; and it was time someone worked on the smaller constructs that where always missed. Parks; community gardens; communal areas in general. The lifeblood and happiness of the village was finally going to be addressed.

Houjin was no construction man; but he could repair fences; replace small benches; the little things. Even a bit of stone work; if needed. He was more focused on replacing the trees and some of the more basic equipment; getting some seating areas restored; and replanting the gardens. He'd asked for the palates of wood and stone and replacement soil to be delivered before noon; so he could work in the afternoon when the sun was shining over the stone fences that enclosed the park. It was there when he arrived; good enough for him.

First task. Dig out the rotting posts and removing the old and dead brush from the area. Or rather... light it on fire and burn it away. That worked. Nothing wooden was salvageable anyway; and the chains and what not where too rusted to really be used again. He'd need to replace then no matter what. Simple enough to get going: he'd just use his whips to get the crap burning; and earth jutsu to put it out. Easy, really. The fire chakra was focused to his hands; first creating small balls of fire before being formed into what appeared to almost be bullwhip grips. Houjin's feet shifted as he assumed a stance; twisting and rotating his body around in circles to work up momentum. His arms lifted and began to almost flail in relation to the rotation; the flames warping and leaving behind long, thinning trails of fire as the whips grew. This continued for several moments before the first strike; a split second of movement halting and a throwing movement made with his arm sending the flames forward in a way closely resembling a normal whip; just without a classic CRACK! Of the whip breaking the sound barrier. With his flame whips; the only sound was the merry crackle of the flames; even a slight roar as they moved through the air. Given how dry and desiccated everything was; it was little wonder that it erupted in flames without much effort. This task was repeated several times; until all the dead trees and old wooden equipment was on fire and disappearing into ashes. Yummy to watch; dangerous without supervision.

Although given how fast the flame where eating up all the fuel... yeah. This wasn't going to last long. Damn. His inner pyromaniac had been pleased for a few moments. Too bad; it was over already. Nothing but random piles of embers and empty holes remained after roughly 5 minutes of burning; which left him set to continue.

A small knife was all he needed to cut the ropes holding the bundles posts together; letting him get at them and start arraigning. He'd need to drop about a couple dozen to repair breaks in the fences; as well as laying the bases for new covered areas and the like. He'd half hoped to work two at a time; but the larger posts where just to heavy for him. He'd have to drag or roll them; then somehow lift them just enough to drop into the old holes.

He managed to drag 5 before giving up that folly; it was killing his back and shoulders; and it would have burned him out before he could even come close to finishing the project. He'd just grabbed one end and dragged the posts along the ground until he hit a hole; then lined up the ends and lifted until it slid in; walking the post until it was upright and back filling the extra space with a quick kick and a small burst of earth chakra. Now... now he needed to roll them along the uneven ground; which was alright until he hit obstacles. Fuck, those where fun. Somehow haul the logs up high enough to clear; and then make sure he didn't drop it and break it. Seriously time consuming. This continued for quiet a while before he had them all; a skeleton of a park already starting to form. He'd spent the better part of three hours just on post setting; now was the time for the real work.

Or fuck that. Jutsu abuse. It'd cut the time down significantly; and safe his aching back from more useless bending. Dance of the Dragons: Earth Row Upheaval. His newest little friend. He'd seen references to the dance in the clan's library; but never seen anyone use it until a few weeks prior. One of his elder cousins was using the dance to form out the edges of a new partition within the clan's main food garden; where they where planning to try out a new variety of summer melon vine. A simple enough jutsu; the dance nothing complicated, and the release of the earth chakra was reliant on timing more the skill.

Houjin's style was Capoeira. Capoeira was nothing but timing. This was his kind of jutsu. The movements... yeah. He'd gotten that the first time he'd tried. There was almost nothing to it. Releasing the right amount of chakra... that was a tad harder. Earth wasn't his specialty; he tended to ignore that he was even capable of using it. But damn; give him something useful and he'd finally gotten an itch to use it. Likely be the last earth technique he'd pick up for a looooong time; the element bored him for the most part; too much brute force and not enough flexibility. He needed to move; needed the flow, needed the speed that fire gave him. But... if he could find a few more of the clan dances like this one... he could reconsider.

Back to the topic at hand. He moved around the small park; using a stick or his foot to mark the lines he needed to create before actually using the dance. This way he'd have a visual marker for where to release the chakra; instead of just guessing while he was moving. Never smart.

Drop into the start stance and focus... let the music flow into his mind... let it fill his body... relax... let it take control... and....

Move.

Around he went; body and limbs twitching and moving in time to a song only he could hear; the beats and the notes fueling the dance into a flurry of movement and bursts of power. The first few lines where haphazard; the angles where wrong, or else too short. Some where even waved; others where never even created. But after a few minutes; the timing of hos body and the dance synced; allowing him to create more and more of the lines; and from them the boxed areas; and even into the neat rows of earth for the gardens; before he finally fell out of the dance. His body was tired; and he couldn't maintain the graceful movements needed to keep it up anymore. The Jun Chi fell over in a heap of panting tiredness; dizzy and worn out but happy enough. He'd gotten the timing down, finished the jutsu, and done a decent job of getting the park set up for the next wave of repairs. Tomorrow the next group would come through and build up the equipment; fix the breaks in the fencing; maybe even start planting the new trees and flowers. He'd left a skeleton; but it was a damn fine improvement. What he had now; that was the sign of progress; versus a show of death.

He needed some food, some rest, and a damn shower. Dirt, ash, and sweat did not mix well. Ew.

Spoiler: