Author's note: I could've sworn I uploaded this hours ago, but I guess not. Behold, the last update of tonight.
It was the beginning of the second week of training. That left three more weeks until the third round of the exams. My Raiton training has been going pretty well now and generating lightning was almost second nature. I guess that's what I get for spending nearly every waking hour working on it.
After the usual morning exercises, we made our way up the cliff side once more. I think Kakashi-sensei decided I was ready to move on now, since he didn't stop at the clearing as usual.
"This seems like a good spot." He murmured while stopping in his tracks. I stood next to him and looked around. All around us were enormous trees that nearly completely blocked the sky. Although the area we were in wasn't very dense, it still didn't seem like a favorable training area. I'm sure he has something fancy up his sleeves, though.
Without any words, he began to form a series of hand seals and soon, lightning began to spark around his hand. In a blink of an eye, it shot out and morphed into the form of a hound. A tail of lightning stretched and remained connected to his hand, enabling him to continue controlling it as the lightning hound crashed through a few trees. The end result was a cloud of dust forming and our training space being enlarged.
As the lightning hound disappeared and the dust settled, Kakashi-sensei turned to me with a one-eyed smile. "Raijuu Hashiri no Jutsu. The majority of Raiton involves manipulating the lightning into many forms. It should be easier to figure out after your past training, but don't expect good results on your first attempt." He explained before turning me towards intact trees. "Now, you try. Just make sure you direct the attack away from me."
I just knew this was going to be a strain.
With a heavy sigh, I copied the hand signs and began to draw the chakra to my hand. Slightly taken aback by the sudden surge of power flowing to my arm, I readjusted my footing to get a hang of the jutsu and threw my hand out, launching the lightning along with it. Although it wasn't as menacing or graceful as Kakashi-sensei's, the lightning took shape into the hound and cracked one of the trees. As it struck, the lightning hound seemingly crashed and spread apart, disappearing into the air like Kakashi-sensei's attack did. There was barely a crack in the tree, but at least there was some visible damage. Who am I kidding, though; it was pretty pathetic.
I dropped my arm by my side before looking up at the jounin with an unimpressed gaze.
"Not bad. Focus harder on shaping your chakra and put some force into its movements. You could say the attack is an extension of your body." After giving me a reassuring pat on the back, I nodded and tried again before facing the cracked tree.
Draw chakra and focus. That's straightforward enough. Once again, the chakra flowed to my hand and lightning began to spark. In a matter of seconds, it came to life and the lightning was jumping about violently in my hand. With another thrust of my hand, it shot out and expanded, shaping into a less deformed hound this time. A few swift movements of my arm made it lunge at the damaged tree. This time, a loud snap sounded and there was a visible crack in the bark.
"Much better." Kakashi-sensei commented with a nod. As I dropped my hand once more, he signaled for me to stay as he was already on his way out of the small clearing. "I'll leave you to it."
There was only a week and a half left until the final round of the Chuunin Exams, but I still had a lot to learn. My Raijuu Hashiri could actually do some decent damage now but of course, it could be a lot better.
Kakashi-sensei drilled me in chakra control and lightning manipulation to the point that I was minutes away from passing out. On the bright side, his no-mercy training method really pays off in the long run. I felt like I had been training for years.
"Take another go at it." He half-ordered, half-suggested. As the dust settled once more, I sighed and formed the hand seals.
"Raijuu Hashiri no Jutsu."
This time, Kakashi-sensei made clones to serve as moving targets to I could practice controlling the lightning hound's movements. Over time, I've gotten the hang of starting the jutsu, but my physical control of it was still lacking. With a clenched fist and a hard strike, I had the lightning hound attack the trees, taking out a couple of them in one go.
Soon after catching my breath, a firm hand was placed on my shoulder and Kakashi-sensei gave me his one-eyed smile. I took it as a sign that training was done for the day and followed him back to the cave we set our belongings in. It was getting dark and I didn't think I could get another lightning hound out of me so either way, training would have ended then.
"You're doing well, Riku." He stated once the fire was lit. Skewered and set around the fire were four gutted fish. Though they weren't as filling, the woods don't exactly serve meat every night. "There's another trick or two I want you to learn before your match, but it shouldn't be much of a problem."
"Sounds like fun," I responded plainly while poking at the fire with a stick. Sparks flew into the air as I did and I panned my eyes upward to watch them burn out. "I feel like I'll need more than new tricks to beat down Tsura's techniques, though."
Kakashi-sensei nodded once while turning the skewers so the other sides of the fish would cook as well. "He has incredible stamina, but so do you. You're pretty agile as well. Making him work while you play it easy is your best bet, but it won't be easy."
I sighed, tossing the stick into the fire before leaning back on my hands. "A nice time-manipulation genjutsu would be helpful with that, but I don't think I'll be able to learn one in time for the match. I guess I'll just have to match him when it comes to techniques, or at least be somewhat of a challenge."
"Why else do you think I'm pushing all these new techniques onto you?" He asked rhetorically with a slight laugh before handing me two of the cooked fish. "Make sure you rest well. Training will only get harder from here."
After a morning of review and polishing my new techniques, Kakashi-sensei took me back to the clearing with the small pool of water that fell over the cliff. Once we reached the center of the clearing, he stopped and faced me as he's done many times before.
"This technique won't deal much physical damage to your opponents, but it'll definitely give you some extra time if you need it. It's called Genwaku Kurayami." Soon after, he began to make the hand seals. For merely a second, a bright light shone from his hands and made my vision go white. I winced and slammed my eyes shut, but it didn't stop me from seeing spots. Although the effect didn't last long, I could see what he was getting at. "Think of this technique like a flash bomb. You condense the lightning and release all at once, causing a bright flash in your opponent's face. Of course, I didn't go full out on you just now. Depending on how well you can use it and when you use it, it can temporarily blind your opponent for at least a minute."
A minute may not seem like much, but every second counts in a battle. It would definitely be useful in getting Tsura to stay put while I prepare a bigger attack.
Kakashi-sensei first started me off by focusing chakra to my hands and releasing it quickly, to get the feel of it. Although I could see that the lightning was much brighter when I did so, it definitely wasn't enough to blind somebody temporarily. Soon, he told me to focus more and more chakra into my hands until they were sparking wildly. After learning how to manipulate lightning for the past couple of weeks, this came a lot more natural, which I was thankful for.
When told to, I released the chakra and the light flashed from my hands.
"Simple, isn't it." The jounin stated with a one-eyed smile. "Knowing that technique will help you get the hang of this one. It's a combination between the Raijuu Hashiri and the one I just taught you, but it's also a little bit of a double-edged sword, if you get what I mean. Watch."
Soon enough, the lightning hound jumped from Kakashi-sensei's hand. After distance was put between the lightning hound and us, it was suddenly condensed into a white ball and seemed to explode, causing another bright light to appear. This time, however, the grass around the light was burnt and smoke was rising from them.
"A larger form of Genwaku Kurayami can be used with virtually any lightning technique, but it produces a lot of heat as well. If enough chakra is condensed, it may burn your own hand."
I nodded in response before trying it out myself. Within a moment's notice, I formed my own lightning hound and furrowed my brows as I tried to condense the amount of lightning and chakra. It felt like I was trying to crush a rock with my bare hands from the amount of resistance I was feeling. Slowly, the hound-form was lost and grew smaller as the lightning became brighter. The sparks flew about more violently until suddenly, I let it slip and the lightning expanded into a burst of light. I winced from the sudden heat that stung my hand as well, but my gloves seemed to lessen the effect of it. I'd definitely need more control to use this technique.
It was hard to tell what he was thinking, but it didn't seem like I let him down completely. "You'll get the feel for it soon. Don't strain yourself too much, though. Focus, but stay relaxed. You shouldn't have to strain so much to condense the lightning and chakra. It's your own chakra, after all."
With that, he sat himself down on one of the nearby boulders – one of the few that weren't destroyed yet – to observe my progress. I nodded once and performed the jutsu once more, which got me the same results as last time. I decided then that this technique would probably take up the rest of the week.
After getting the hang of the final technique Kakashi-sensei taught me, the last few days consisted of long hours of sparring that built my endurance and ninjutsu efficiency. Naturally, I was left with bruises and cuts here and there, but nothing that would leave me unable to fight on the day of the Exams. I was always a fast healer anyway, so they probably wouldn't even be there by the time it's my turn.
There were times when he would put limits on what I could do, such as only using taijutsu or not using genjutsu. There were a few times where he's had me stay in one place while he attacked me. In a shinobi battle, just about anything was possible. I was certain that Tsura had many more tricks up his sleeve, too. Thankfully, I have a few new things to surprise him and the other Kumo shinobi with as well.
Kakashi-sensei had taught me a useful trick after I got the hang of Genwaku Kurayami, but whether or not I'd get the chance to use it, I'm not sure. It should definitely make some eyes widen if I even managed to use it, though.
"Don't let your footwork falter." He pointed out as I spun to the side, knocking one foot against the other a bit by mistake. "It's the little things that may change the course of the entire battle."
Remaining silent, I blocked the series of punches and grabbed his wrist. Leaning in so his elbow bent, I raised my knee to strike him in the gut. He blocked it with ease and with his free hand, grabbed my raised foot and threw it out, causing me to lose balance momentarily. Before he could land a kick, I regained my footing and ducked down while throwing my legs out. The spun in such a way that they attacked Kakashi-sensei's legs from behind, causing his knees to give out for a brief moment.
As he got up, I flipped back and began the series of hand seals. Just as he began to make the same hand seals, my lightning hound jumped from my hand and towards the jounin, teeth bared and ready to attack. It was no surprise that Kakashi-sensei formed one of his own and sent it after mine, causing the two lightning hounds to clash in the center. I found myself clenching my jaw as I fought against the opposing jutsu, but it was obvious I wouldn't be able to take his down.
Deciding that I wouldn't win this battle, I brought my hands together and condensed the chakra, releasing it into the explosive light that burned the grass and caused Kakashi-sensei's lightning hound to disappear as well. Looking back at him, he gave me a nod of approval and lowered his guard.
"It's getting late. Let's head back at get some rest. You need to be ready for tomorrow, after all." He stated while making his way over to me, hand resting on my shoulder.
I sighed and brought myself low enough to grip the side of the cliff to slide down. "Sounds like a plan."
Translations
Raijuu Hashiri no Jutsu: Lightning Beast Running Technique
Genwaku Kurayami: Blinding Darkness
Author's note: Training took four weeks in total with nearly every waking minute spent on training, but her progress still probably seems rushed anyway. Ah, well, I don't wanna write another training chapter, nor do I think you guys wanna wait through another one. xD The next chapter will finally be the tournament, so stay tuned I suppose ;]