Hearing the alarm start to ring, Mizuto immediately encased the horrid thing in a layer of sand to silence it. Rising from his soft bed and rubbing his eyes, Mizuto switched off his alarm and looked at the clock. Seeing he had awoken at 3:00 am, Mizuto gave a sad smile to himself. Turning on the shower, Mizuto began to undress. "Here's to another long day of training. If only controlling my Sabaton wasn't so much work, then this would be way easier. Enjoying a long, hot shower, Mizuto stepped out and began to prepare for his day. After putting on his pants, shirt, and his boots, Mizuto looked at himself in the mirror. Deciding he didn't need to look attractive to train, Mizuto tied his headband around his arm. Picking up his gourd, Mizuto crept down the hallway so he did not wake his slumbering family. Placing the gourd by the kitchen door, Mizuto began to make a couple sandwiches and a jug of sweet, sweet tea. Placing the items in a box, Mizuto placed the box in his bag and washed his hands. With his bag in hand, Mizuto tied it to his waist and slung his gourd across his back. Closing and locking the door to his small home, Mizuto chuckled to himself. "Maybe when my training today is over, I could look for an apartment of my own." Shrugging, Mizuto began to wander out of the Sabaku clan grounds. Even at around 3:30 in the morning, the streets of Sunagakure was still packed with people dressed in all sorts of colors and styles. Jumping up on a building to bypass the huge crowds of people, Mizuto calmly jumped along the lines of building, passing many other shinobi along the way. Reaching the Southern gates of the Village Hidden in the Sand, Mizuto entered the long line of people waiting to leave.

After waiting in line for what seemed like an hour, Mizuto gained clearance to train in one of the training grounds outside of the village. Taking his identification back from the sleepy guard, Mizuto started his slow walk from the gates to the Sand's Domain, an area filled with sand and raging sand storms. With the sun still an hour away from rising, Mizuto gave his lunch a quick check to see if it was still edible. Seeing that it was neither affected by the heat nor crushed, Mizuto closed the box and secured it again. Starting to see the spinning tornadoes of sand, Mizuto knew he had reached his destination, dangerous as it may be. Placing his box under a rock overhang to keep it moist and cool, Mizuto moved to the center of the training ground. Kicking away a scorpion, Mizuto sat down on the soft, cool sand. Putting his gourd onto his lap, Mizuto allowed it to collapse into sand. "Ok, what should I get started on first?"

Shrugging, Mizuto figured he could start off with the work that was the easiest. "Well, why don't I practice a little of my sand manipulation." Raising his hands, Mizuto allowed the sand to flow between them. Making simple shapes, like palm sized pyramids and cubes, Mizuto allowed the sand to fall back to the ground. Commanding the sand to circle his hands, Mizuto gave himself a small grin. Picking up speed, the sand flowed around his hands, switching between resembling bulky gloves and thin mittens.

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Training Doton D>C
578/1500 words

Chakra:

Techniques:

After using his ability to make gloves, Mizuto began to draw the sand into a cloud in front of him. Now amassing a good sized mass of sand, Mizuto slowly let it swirl around him. Letting around 5 cubic meters of pure sand swirl around him, Mizuto had managed to create a mock sandstorm around him, letting the sand now move very fast. Standing up, Mizuto then practiced walking while keeping the sand storm rage around him. Still rather formidable, Mizuto knew he had only a tiny funnel compared to the monstrous twisters of sand that raged in the distance. Scowling, Mizuto allowed the small funnel to slowly peter out, depositing the sand around him once again. Channeling the sand beneath his feet, Mizuto allowed it to raise him up on a platform created entirely by sand. Now held 10 feet by 2 small pillars directly underneath each foot, Mizuto watched as the sun peaked out slightly from behind a sand dune. Enjoying the view for a minute, Mizuto forced the sand to lower him back to the ground. Stepping off, Mizuto decided it would do some good if he practiced some of his jutsu. Reforming his gourd around the sash and strap on the dune, Mizuto left it where he could find it later. Looking around, Mizuto found a snake slithering across the dune, searching for prey while it was still cool out. Concentrating, Mizuto formed hand signs while channeling chakra to the earth. Feeling the sand and soil respond, Mizuto watched as the snake was suddenly gripped by a hand made of sand. Feeling the snake slither and wiggle around trying to break free as if he was holding it in his own hand, he smiled. Glad his new jutsu seemed to work out on the first try, Mizuto could already see it's applications in combat situations. Holding the snake for a few seconds, Mizuto released the jutsu and allowed the snake to wriggle free. Disappearing over the dune, the snake had seen enough for the day and fled to his hole. Watching the snake crawl slither away, Mizuto admired it's ability to live so easily in the barren desert, a landscape very few animals, or people, could survive in every day.

Summoning more sand into his palms, Mizuto bit his tongue. Attempting to recreate the snake he had seen entirely from sand, Mizuto had an idea. "Huh, Sand clones, that seems like a good idea. Why hasn't anyone thought of this before? Guess this guy's gotta do all the hard work for this clan." Checking his handy work, Mizuto groaned. The model he had made looked less like a snake, and more like a bread stick. "They never said the life of a shinobi was easy. Boy, am I glad this ninja gig worked out. I can't see the life of an artist in my future." Crushing and wiping the pile of sand with his foot, Mizuto flowed his chakra around him. Now pushing his limits, Mizuto forced nearly 10,000 kilograms of sand to rise around him. Now sweating heavily, Mizuto attempted to create a protective dome of sand around himself like he had seen his fellow Sabaton users create. Struggling to keep the sand suspended while he created the dome, Mizuto dropped his hands and dropped the sand with a muffled thump. Falling on his knees from the exertion, Mizuto gasped for breath. 'Still not powerful to use that technique, but what am I doing wrong? Is it the density I'm getting wrong? I guess my Suiton skills still need some work to get that right.'

Getting to his feet, Mizuto was still pretty amped to try his techniques. Wiping his hands of the sand sticking to his sweat, Mizuto decided to try a new technique. Forming a small mound of sand, he tried to create a sharp spike shooting from the pile. However, the spike he created was more of a pillar, dull and very loosely compacted. Snarling, Mizuto kicked the frail spike, spreading the sand into the wind and blowing it away. Racking his head, he tried to figure out where he had gone wrong again. 'That sand was really dry, and it mustn't have been able to keep it's shape. Once again, looks like my Suiton needs some real work.'

Mizuto wiped his brow to get rid of the sweat that was starting to build up. Deciding he was done for the day, Mizuto retrieved his box of food from under the rock. Sitting next to his gourd in the rising sun, Mizuto ate his sandwiches in silence. Pushing away lizards and scorpions that tried to get closer with his sand, Mizuto finished his breakfast in peace. Wiping his hands, Mizuto slung his gourd over his back and picked up his box. Walking through the desert, Mizuto drank some water from a small oasis and avoided the giant sand tornadoes. Reaching the gates, Mizuto smiled. He had done good work today. Walking back to his house, Mizuto threw his gourd onto his bed, unconcerned about it's well being. Stripping off his clothes once again, Mizuto walked into his bathroom to take a shower. Standing in the lukewarm water, Mizuto went over his day of training in his mind. Feeling the water get cold, he shut off the water and dried off. Not bothering to get dressed, Mizuto fell into his bed with glee to take a nap. Tired from his morning of training, Mizuto fell asleep as the sun shined down on the desert village.

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Training Doton D>C Completed
1510/1500

Chakra:

Techniques: