Chapter 36: Wind!
{Training ground #21, Konohagakure}
{5:01 PM, 25th Jan 13 Yrs ANB}
{3rd Person POV}
Ren arrived at the training ground his mind was still going through the requirements and the path to be an official sealmaster. Although that title wasn't recognized by his blocks or system or whatever it would still open up a lot of paths for him.
Hayate sensei flickered at him the moment he arrived at the training ground, he knew he wasn't late so he wasn't worried.
"So what did you find, anything interesting?" Hayate sensei asked.
"I found out my elemental affinity is wind," Ren shrugged but he noticed Hayate sensei pausing for a brief second, "what is something wrong?"
"No, Wind is good, excellent actually if you apply its pure form and combine it with kenjutsu. It's just that wind is very uncommon in Konoha, even though we are very close to Suna, not many civilians travel between our two villages making it very uncommon to have in our village. Heck, even lightning is more common than wind..." Hayate muttered.
Ren realized the problem with having an uncommon element, "So you probably don't know how to go about learning wind manipulation." Ren asked getting a nod from Hayate sensei.
"It's alright I have a friend who is a master in wind manipulation so I'll ask him for help, don't worry about this stuff for now," Hayate spoke getting a nod from Ren.
"Alright, now time for our sparring session, you are only allowed to use Strong Fist and Illusion Fist. Sparring is the fastest way to learn so are you ready?" Hayate asked.
"Ready..."
The spar started the moment Ren replied, from a relaxed position Hayate jumped at him at max speed and a jab was in his face just moments later. Ren dodged back but he lost the advantage of controlling the rhythm, for the next 10 minutes the two of them went back and forth sparring with Ren mainly just using Strong Fist.
'Strong Fist is easy for me to get used to since it has just one mode which is to go fast and to go faster. Though to truly use it to its full potential I might need to increase my STR.'
...
"Hah...Hah..." Ren panted as he looked at Hayate sensei, he wasn't breathing as hard as Ren but Ren noticed he hadn't had it easy.
"It seems you are more suited for Strong Fist after all," Hayate spoke as he looked at his student, the spar shouldn't have winded him normally but he was suppressing his inflammation with chakra and that takes a lot out of him.
"Yeah the katas do come easier, I understand the variance in speed too but it seems like Strong Fist is not suited for slowed-down attacks. Whenever I try to feint with it I feel like my punches lose power." Ren replied, it was an odd thing to feel, Strong Fist seemed like a powerful taijutsu at first but its weaknesses were quite clear as well. Unless you are moving at the max speed your attacks lose power, somehow the taijutsu style manages to channel the tense nature of your muscles when they are used in overdrive to power up the attacks.
"Exactly, Strong Fist is a simple taijutsu style but even still there have been only two shinobi from Konoha who have managed to use it to its fullest potential." Hayate replied, "Unless you are dedicated to molding your body into a weapon through countless hours of exercise and hardships, you won't be able to use Strong Fist effectively. That's why many Konoha shinobi don't like to learn this taijutsu style."
...
'So Strong Fist is the taijutsu that could use the advantage in stats that I have over my peers right now, but if I try to fight someone faster than me then the end would be the same as using the academy taijutsu style at a very fast speed.'
Ren was a little upset but learning Strong Fist was still better, he could still grind the Strong Fist instead of the academy taijutsu style and focus on learning Illusion Fist.
'Now the only problem with that is that even though I went through the katas for Illusion Fist several times, I haven't gained a corresponding skill.'
"Now what do you think about it, I'll leave the choice of learning taijutsu style to you. Rest for a little bit and we'll go have another spar." Hayate spoke he coughed a little as he stopped using his chakra to suppress his inflammation. Ren's eyes immediately flickered to his chest and his baggy eyes.
"Are you okay Hayate sensei?"
"Yeah don't worry about it, It's just an injury from a past mission. I normally suppress it with chakra when fighting but it flares up from time to time... are you ready?" Hayate asked.
Ren jumped back and nodded, his full focus was on Hayate sensei's movements as he carefully tried to memorize everything he did as the two fought. Now that Ren was focusing more on Hayate sensei he noticed that sensei was not only using Illusion Fist but whenever he did do a direct attack he always used Strong Fist.
'Illusion Fist seems like a mix blend of Strong Fist and some other taijutsu style which Sensei managed to integrate together, I remember he did say something about it but I'm sure he didn't mention the other taijutsu style. Maybe I need to learn the second taijutsu style as it could be a requirement to learn the Illusion fist...'
The spar continued as both of them observed each other, Ren was still using the Strong Fist but instead of attacking, he was using it to disengage and move around while observing the various patterns of Hayate sensei's attacks.
'...Strong Fist, Strong Fist, a feint and then a sweep, Strong Fist, a concealed punch, a grapple, Strong Fist, Strong Fist, Strong Fist...'
...
The spar lasted for another 10 minutes and by the end of the spar, Ren was slowly getting used to the rhythm. He stopped getting baited by Hayate's feints as often and was slowly getting used to reading the flow of the spar. He still had to dodge and weave in front of Hayate Sensei's attacks but just the level he gained in Strong Fist indicated to him that he was growing rapidly.
Hayate saw the smile that appeared on Ren's face and so he decided to kick things up a notch. He started attacking faster and became more unpredictable all of a sudden and although Ren took a couple of hits in the next second the smile on his face didn't fade.
'At least his mentality is tough, he won't be bamboozled by the missions and the blo-... again who is it now,' Hayate dodged back and looked as Asuma Sarutobi flickered in the training ground. Hayate was surprised by the surprise visit and he immediately became vigilant and asked, "What happened Asuma?"
The bearded man was smoking a cigarette so it shouldn't be something too serious. Asuma looked at Hayate and nodded before he turned around and surveyed Ren, "I heard from the brat's little girlfriend that he has a wind affinity so I came to check it out."
Asuma shrugged and Hayate took a sigh of relief, Ren on the other hand heard the word wind coming out of Asuma's mouth and looked over curiously, "Is this your friend who you spoke about being a master in wind manipulation?"
"Yes, Ren this is Asuma Sarutobi, I was a year behind him in the academy. He is the Jonin sensei of team 10."
'Ino's sensei?' Ren thought and then he bowed slightly, "Asuma sensei"
"Well," Asuma spoke before he pulled out a chakra paper from his pocket, he extended the paper towards Ren who took it and channeled chakra through the paper. The result was the same as before, the paper neatly separated into two leaving behind two equal pieces of paper.
"That's good and quite a strong affinity too..." Asuma murmured as he looked at the two equal pieces of paper.
Ren realized that this was an excellent opportunity and immediately took a step towards him and bowed, this time a little more than before, "Asuma Sensei, please teach me how to master wind."
Asuma took a deep puff and chuckled, "Master wind huh!" Asuma grinned and spoke, "Alright brat I'll bite, I'll teach you the basics but you can only practice it in Hayate's presence. Practicing wind is although not as dangerous as lightning or Fire nature, it could be pretty dangerous..."
"Understood Asuma sensei." Ren easily nodded although he wasn't planning to abide by it, it doesn't hurt to agree.
"Alright now go grab a couple of leaves from any tree," Asuma waved him away and Ren ran towards a nearby tree.
"I was going to ask you about it later," Hayate spoke as Ren rushed away.
"It's alright, I saw the chakra paper in Ino's hands and couldn't resist taking a peek," Asuma looked at Ren and sighed, "You know I wanted him on my team, but that old man blackmailed me into forming the next generation Ino-Shika-Cho..." He grumbled.
Hayate chuckled as Ren rushed back, he was holding a bunch of leaves in his hand and presented them to Asuma. Asuma plucked one leaf from his hands and then started speaking, "I'm sure you have already read about the elements in the library, and if you haven't check it out later. I'll just explain to you what wind does, just like Fire burns, lighting shocks, or penetrates depending on the style of Lightning you want to practice. Wind cuts, remember wind always cuts, the sharper your wind-natured chakra deeper the cut."
Asuma showed Ren the intact leaf and then put it into his palm, he put his other palm over it for a few seconds, and then after he removed his hand the leaf was slit into two pieces, "when changing your chakra nature into the wind, the main thing you need to understand and think about is grinding your chakra against each other. Think about your chakra as two sharp rocks that grind against each other until it has a sharper edge. That's what your ultimate goal is."
"Check out a book called 'Understanding Types of Chakra' it should be in the genin library. It contains theory behind why each element is the way it is and that way you would be easily able to understand how to make your chakra sharper." Asuma finished his lecture, he then looked at Hayate and spoke, "though he needs to learn the water walking exercise to have enough chakra control to even attempt transforming his chakra into wind natured. Unlike Fire and Water natured chakra, Wind, lighting, and Earth all have a higher focus on the minimum requirements."
"Yeah I know, I was about to teach him water walking later today," Hayate spoke and Asuma nodded as he left.
"Thank You, Asuma Sensei" Ren shouted not knowing if he heard him or not, he then turned towards Hayate sensei who was smiling a little at him.
"You can check out that book tomorrow, now come on I'll teach you how to walk on water..."
...
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AN- Still working on figuring out a correct way for all chakra nature manipulations. If anyone has any suggestions then leave them in the comments!!
P.S- 12 extra chapters on Pàtreon at - P.atreon.com/Version_401
The story is on a short Hiatus of 3 days and will be back on 1st. I wanna take a small break to recharge. See ya soon!
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