Private Survive, Adapt, Overcome [Training]

[Kaji Hirohito]

Kaji woke with a start, sweating profusely as he came back to reality. The horrific image still fresh in his mind. Shaking his head and wiping his eyes, Kaji set about his morning routine. Thinking back...

It had been a week since he had been discharged from the hospital. His wounds were mostly healed or at least tended to. When he returned home, the first thing that he had expected to receive was a slap upside the head and a long, painful lecture on how dangerous and stupid it was to go out into the wild alone. Lectures about how he could have died out there and never been found, about how he should never leave the village without a partner, bla bla bla...

Instead, what he came home to was something that he was not at all equipped to handle. Their house was a disaster and his mother was an absolute mess. Everywhere he looked there were empty tissue boxes and trash bags piled high with their used contents. Almost every square foot of horizontal space was stacked high with paperwork, letters, and messages. As it was, his mother had guessed that he had left on his journey to find a rare and valuable root. But rather than sending a missing persons request to the village council, she took her time, trusting in the ability of her finely trained son. But as one day became two, and two days became four, she allowed herself to overflow with worry. The very idea that something had happened to her one and only baby boy was devastating. She sprung into action, sending letters, unearthing old friendships and calling in old favors all in the name of finding her son. Or at the very least, finding what was left of him. Again and again the thought brought her to tears, taking time off of work to devote every single drop of her energy to his recovery. So, while she would have liked to visit Kaji in the hospital, upon hearing that he was in bad shape but still alive, she had passed out from a mixture of relief and concern. It had all been too much for her to handle, so she had been relocated and confined to her bed to get her some much-needed rest.

So it was much to Kaji's surprise that when he was reunited with his mom, that she was open with him fully. Her concerns, worry, love, and care all washed over him like an emotional blanket, and in no time he was weeping and sobbing along with her. Their relief providing the emotional security they both so badly needed. As long as Kaji had ever known his mom, she had always been strict, cool, and uncompromising. But now she was, weeping into his hair and sweetly hugging him to death. It was like she was a different person. However, the fact remained that the stress had deteriorated her heath massively, and that she wouldn't be able to walk for at least a few days. So that was where he spent his last few days, tenderly caring for his sick mother as she recovered her strength.

WC: 528

 

[Kaji Hirohito]

Life had changed, but not in a philosophical or metaphorical way. To Kaji, every interaction with his mother felt entirely new. For as long as he'd seen his mother, had never once been the sappy type. Every hug felt as if she was afraid to let go, like he would disappear before her eyes. She would fuss over him day and night, clinging to those moments of familial love. Sometimes, Kaji would even catch his mother turning away to pinch herself, like some part of her still believed him to be a figment of her imagination. It broke his heart to see the state that he had left his precious mother in. So from that point onward, Kaji vowed to cherish every moment they spent together.

Today, though, was special. Ms. Yua Hirohito would be seeing her doctor and therapist all throughout the day, leaving Kaji to his own devices. Without anything else to do, it was a perfect opportunity to train...

Kaji left the house with his lunch in hand, taking special care to ensure the house was properly locked before his departure. His destination was the Vespian Coliseum, a place of wisdom, humility, and growth. It was a long walk, but the proposed pay off would be worth the extra effort. For the second time, Kaji arrived at Shinbatsu's path; the giant statue's gilded crests still gleamed like rings of pure gold as they gleamed in the morning sun. Stopping for a moment to acknowledge the imposing figure, Kaji mused at the words left at the statue's base before proceeding into the recessed arena.

It was as if he had never left, wall to wall he found groups of athletes and strongmen. However, he had no interest in lifting weights today. Politely pushing his way through the crowd, Kaji searched for the small dirt field where he had fought once before. Though it felt like a lifetime had passed since then, in reality the event was still recent. So it was surprising to Kaji when some of the patrons from that day recognized him. "You there! Young man!" , a manly voice rang out beside him, "You back for more?". But unlike then, Kaji was only startled by the remark and cheerily replied, "Nah, not this time. Besides, I'm not trying to get my teeth kicked in again!". To that, he and a few others shared a hearty laugh before continuing. "So, where are you off to? Anything I can help you with?", one of the more bulky men inquired. "I'm tryin' to find that little practice arena from before, where is it?", he answered. "Oh my! Right this way young man, but I'm afraid you'll have to set it up.", the first man replied.

Surely enough, the border ropes for the arena were stowed in a wide metal box against the wall. Bidding the hospitable fellows goodbye, Kaji set about finding a space to train that was large enough to work. Along the way he spotted a chakra training dummy, a disposable target used to train destructive ninjutsu at an affordable price, of which he grabbed three. Finally he found the perfect spot to train, it's occupants having courteously volunteered their space and time to help him lay the border ropes and place the dummies. That was one thing he always loved about the Vespian coliseum, they always knew how to make a guest feel welcome.

WC: 568

 

[Kaji Hirohito]

After nearly meeting his demise whilst trying to acquire a rare herb in the treacherous mountains, Kaji had nearly perished. He had fallen off a cliff, broken his arm, been attacked by wolves, started a forest-fire, intentionally caused a landslide, and nearly starved to death on the slow return home. All of these events had possessed a room in Kaji's brain, where they lived rent free whilst they tormented him. The nightmares were beginning to become unbearable, so he chose to confront them. He challenged their existence and sought to rid himself of these fears through training and combat. The preparation for which would be the subject of today's bout.

Despite having been near death naught but a week earlier, he had felt stronger upon full recovery. This strength would not go to waste, he decided, and so he set about the task of requisitioning jutsu scrolls from the academy library. Though Kaji was not willing to leave his mother during her recovery, the perks of being an apprentice to an influential teacher came in handy. Every day or so, he had managed to acquire, read, and return a select few scrolls that possessed the key to his freedom.

His first jutsu to practice, Combustive Seal, was designed to allow the user to scribe explosive note-like traps into terrain. The traps are triggered by proximity and allow the user to also seal a different fire jutsu within it as an alternative. Placing the seal several paces to his left, Kaji infused the dummy with a minute amount of chakra, just enough to trigger the trap. Then, grabbing the dummy by it's neck and waist, he threw it into the sealed area. The first time the dummy skid across the ground not triggering the trap. The second time however, the ground underneath the dummy erupted violently as he gently lobbed it into position, ending the dummy cartwheeling straight upwards a short distance.

"Perfect, Now for my next trick", Kaji muttered aloud drawing his dual trench knives. Standing only slightly displaced from the dummy's landing zone, Kaji watched as it hit the ground with a dense thud. Hefting the human mock-up above his head, he drove the thing spike first into the soil. Planting it upright allowed the thing to stand a little over head height from Kaji, perfect for an exercise in taijutsu. Taking the time to practice and achieve the correct posture, he sprung forward, slashing up and outwards with his blades. A Cross Rip if you will, displayed a sliced "X" like pattern across it's chest between the burns. It wouldn't be able to take much more punishment, but that was fine, Kaji ha brought spares. Without holding back he cleanly bisected the dummy using the Full Circle technique. A simple taijutsu where one precisely moves to accommodate a singular, full circle swing that may hit multiple targets at once.

This went on for a significant amount of time, as Kaji practiced himself in hypothetical positions where he might be ambushed. It wasn't overly difficult to think like a wolf, but it was disturbingly predatory. The thoughts of which required him to dredge up the horrific memories of what had occurred in that cursed forest. But if he ever wanted to settle the score and rest easy, he would need to go to great lengths to perfect the strength and techniques required to hunt the hunters. But as the sun began to set in the burning orange sky, he was finished. The constant infusion and expenditure of chakra, and the execution of their subsequent jutsus had left him exhausted and sore. So, with the help of what few patrons had remained to watch him out of curiosity, they collectively stowed any left-out gear and departed.

As it was, the two which he had met this morning were still present, and they graciously walked him home. Along the way, they lightly inquired about his training, and the motivations behind it. With nothing else to do and a long way to go, he told them the full story, from start to finish. The men were mildly shocked and horrified that a child might experience what he had, and survive. Upon reaching Kaji's home, the men respectfully acknowledged his strength of will and presented him with a small golden medal on a steel chain, engraved with the words: "TO EXCEED AND EXCEL ~ IS TO LIVE ~ IN RAIDEN WE TRUST". And with that, they bid him goodnight and left.

Elated, he rushed up to his room, proudly donning the medal in front of his mirror. A short time later, Kaji greeted his mother at the door, taking custody of her care from the wonderful nurse's aid that had helped Ms. Yua home. Reunited with his mom again, he was in the best mood that he had been in a long while, and made a delicious chicken noodle soup for dinner as they exchanged stories.

WC: 823
TWC: 1919

RP-only reward: Small, First Place Weightlifting Medal.

(END OF TRAINING)
(THREAD LEFT)