Continuation from first trainingThe sound of wood smacking wood echoed through the forested mountain as Enja continued his training. It had been fifteen minutes as he was doing it and it was already exhausting him. It wasn't just about speed or accuracy-- it was about endurance and keeping it up. It was easy to get tired with so much twisting, turning and moving of different locations. Either way, Enjin was already breaking a sweat.
His movements were linear and he had to keep being able to change at a moment's notice, not to mention keep an eye on where he stepped and to keep an eye on the block that he was trying to hit.
However, at that moment after he struck the block hard, he finally slipped his step. His foot didn't stick with the wooden pole and he fell. The drop was less than a foot but it still threw him off. "
Damn it! " he swore as he jumped back up, but not before the block came swinging around and hit him on the back.
It felt no different than a light hit by an object. The block was not heavy but it could of been if you added for more training purposes.
Getting back and swallowing his pride, he continued the exercise. He figured a good half hour doing this would improve his sense of accuracy and speed. Again, and again, he wacked the block but the harder he hit it, the more erratic it moved. It would at times swing completely around and come at him from behind.
As he was training, someone else was approaching. A young woman with brown hair as she strolled through the woods-- to discover the training grounds and Enja working hard there. He was too absorbed in his activities that he did not see or hear her coming.
She gave a soft chuckle and approached. "Hello, Enja." she said.
Right after he had hit the block, he heard the voice. "
Huh? Aki?! -- WHOAH!!" Enja lost his balance from the surprise. He was about to fall off but he quickly spread his left leg out to a further post to stop his fall.
Sadly though as he got up, he was soon met by the block as it came swinging back and hit him square in the face! Though no more harmful than a twig to the face, it was enough to make him lose his balance and he went tumbling down with a crash!
Aki gasped, then laughed as Enja was sprawled on the ground, a few of the dull posts against his back as he laid out there with a bit of pain. She entered a laughing fit to see him like that.
"
Ow... he replied with a sense of sarcasm towards her as he pushed himself off them and glared at her. "
Very funny Aki. What are you doing here anyway?" he asked, a hand running through his hair to clean out some dust that got in his head.
After calming down , she smiled. "Well... the Master said that you came back from your first shinobi class and I wanted to congratulate you. Its a surprise to see you training so hard-- since you are always so lazy and sleeping the day away."
"
Geez, color me a bum why don't cha?" he growled back at her, not exactly liking how she spun her words. He dusted off his hakama and vest and slowly rose back up, walking off the pain in his back from landing on it.
"Oh relax. I'm just kidding. I think what you are doing is great." she said with a smile. Enja looked at her a moment and blushed, before turning away, embarassed that she saw him fall. "Anyway I thought you could use something."
"
Naw, I'm good. I don't need any help training. Besides, I am not suppose to have any help here." Enja replied, trying to sound tough and strong.
Aki leered at him, seeing through the deception. "Oh don't give me that 'I can do it all by myself-macho act.' I am not that kind of girl to fall for it," she replied, but Enja didn't voice any admission to her. With that, she reached into her kimono and pulled out something. "I just wanted to give you THESE."
She then held out a series of small brown pieces of paper. There were several pieces, all the same cut and style. Turning to see them, Enja looked at them with interest.
"
What are they?" He asked.
"These are chakra paper. They are paper slips made by a tree that is infused and nurtured with chakra," she explained as she approached him. "Using these slips, one can see what their own chakra nature is. You do know what that is right?" she asked, her tone playful on that last part.
Enja blinked as he tried to recall chakra nature. "
Chakra nature... you mean elemental powers a shinobi can control?" he asked.
AKi nodded eagerly. "Yes. The paper will respond to your chakra nature as one of five abilities-- Water, Fire, Earth, Air, or Lightning. Fire burns the paper, Lightning wrinkles it, Water makes it soggy, wind slices through it, and earth makes the paper crumble. " she explained. "It's simple. But I think I already got a hunch on what your element is, hot head. "
Enja made a face at her. Though she was cute, she loved to give him a hard time and lip. Without really a thank you, he took the paper from her as she offered it and looked at the sheets. There seemed to be nothing special about it to his eyes. "
Alright, I'll bite But at least tell me how to use them right?"
She smiled, trying hard not to laugh so much any more. "Simple. Simply focus your chakra to your hands and fingers. The paper will do the rest. It responds with the very presence of your chakra so just give it a try." she insisted.
"
Fine... I'll do it," he admitted and sat down on the ground. He sat cross-legged as he wanted to focus his chakra as best as he could. It was a habit from his previous stuff with the shrine. He gave a deep breath and took the first slip of paper. Holding it up in front of him, he began to draw up his chakra.
It felt strange moving his chakra from one place to the next, but he drew it slowly, just visualizing his energy as a reddish glow till--
FLOOSH! In less than five seconds, the paper caught fire as it was close to him. Almost startled, Enja jolted back and let go of the paper, causing its fire to engulf it and vanish in a puff of smoke and embers.
Once again Aki laughed, finding his expression funny. "I knew it," she stated, "Fire was totally your element. I had you pegged."
Enja once more made a face at her, finding that she was so amused about him acting so surprised. He turned away, as if not caring. "
You say that like it's a bad thing."
"Not at all. It suits you well-- and that is a good thing." she said. Enja turned curious to her, seeing her smile. "Feel free to use the other papers as well. " With that she turned and proceeded back towards the forest path, leading to the temple. "Keep up the good work. I'm cheering for you, Enja"
As she left, Enja felt a bit embarrassed but accepted her greeting. Seemed that she really did want him to succeed. Clearing his head of her surprise, he returned to the slips of paper.
With each time he drew up his chakra, the paper burned with ease, flicking and becoming embers in the wind.
