Nobu's Rigorous Training Regiment!

Day 1:
Opening his eyes after a night of refreshing sleep, Nobu immediately turned his thoughts towards todays training. It was going to be a day of intense training with multiple techniques, those of which included several high impact Taijutsu moves. It was going to be a long day for Nobu. No, it was going to be a VERY long day for Nobu. Hoping out of bed Nobu cleans himself up, tosses on his clothing, ties his Sand headband tightly firmly around his head, and heads to the kitchen to grab a bite to eat. He also decides it best to raid the house, finding every bottle he can and filling it to the brim with water. Nobu really didn’t want to dehydrate from all of this training if he could help it. Then, without wasting any time he heads out.
 
While in the village Nobu would pick up several empty buckets and then find any source of water he could, a hose, a fountain, maybe even a pool or oasis. Where the water was from didn’t really matter, but if he was going to practice any water style jutsu’s today he was going to need it. Plus, worst case scenario he had even more water to stay hydrated. Hauling all of this water to the training grounds felt almost like it was a bit of training in and of itself. He could be having fun at the festival, enjoying free food and games. He could get to meet his fellow Sand shinobi and make some new friends. “No. I need to train. Koroshi didn’t let me join this village so that I would be unable to protect it.” Renewing his resolve, Nobu finished his trek to the Training Grounds, waving to a few villagers as he strolled by carrying all of the buckets on sticks across his back.
 
Nobu finds his way over to his favorite training spot, the one where he was training that first day. The one where he had first encountered Koroshi Uchiha, the Kazekage and the man that would change Nobu’s life. Setting the water down, he starts with a basic warm up routine. Two hundred crunches, followed immediately by two hundred push ups, followed then by one hundred single handed push ups for each arm, and finally followed by ten laps around the perimeter of the training grounds. This got Nobu’s blood pumping, heart racing, and sweat starting. Just what he had expected the warm up to accomplish.
 
Without missing a beat, Nobu began to start practicing his kicks. Low kicks, mid kicks, high kicks, the placement of these practice kicks was mostly to get his body used to the ranges of motion. Thinking that he needed to intensify this practice he increased the speed to his maximum. He didn’t want to let his sweat dry, as that just meant that the Taijutsu training wasn’t difficult enough to truly accomplish that which Nobu sought. Remembering back to his encounter with Ryu, he had declared something that he meant every word of.  He repeated these words as he was training now, fueling his desire to push on, “I am Nobu Sen Katto and I aim to be the best Taijutsu expert there ever was!” A rush of adrenaline kicks in and Nobu’s strikes continue to grow faster and faster.
 
“There has to be a way to link these kicks together, much like the Sand Whirlwind, in order to maximize the use of my momentum in these kicks.” Nobu thought back again to his training with Ryu, remembering the efficiency of those moves. He had to replicate that level of efficiency with an even greater amount of speed and force. “Should I start high and work my way down? Hmm. Or I could try and start low and work my way up… Well, I guess I will have to try both and see which one works out.” Again without hesitation Nobu begins upping the intensity of his attacks, this time starting with a jumping roundhouse kick that flows into what would be a lower kick to the legs. He tries this out for several minutes before he sees what might cause issue. He kept reaching the ground before he could make another attack. While two kicks chained together were nice, he knew that those that were better at Taijutsu could get several attacks to flow together off of a single motion. This frustrated him a great deal, probably more than it should have. While what he had managed so far wasn’t bad, and might pass for adequate taijutsu to someone else who focuses on Ninjutsu or Genjutsu like those he has encountered so far, he wasn’t trying to achieve ‘not bad’. He was trying to be ‘the best’ at using taijutsu. Nobu Sen Katto would be a name other Taijutsu users would look up to as a model, a name that would strike fear into the hearts of anyone who would dare try and cause trouble in the sand village…. No, in HIS village. “Maybe I should try to strike in an upward motion instead, I guess.” He would say as he finishes a flurry of kicks.
 
Some might take a breather after all of the intense training that Nobu was doing, and he wouldn’t judge them for making such a choice, but that choice was taken from him as soon as he declared that he would be the best. Nobu would immediately reverse his motions, now striking low to high. At first this felt off, as Nobu would have to fight against gravity while trying to perform the kicks. Instead of looking at this as a bad thing, he instead looks at it as though it was one more obstacle to be overcome on this road of his.  Still, even with his positive outlook on things they were not going as smoothly as he had planned. After he had started to train his legs to exert more force to counter gravity, he realized that the kicks just weren’t generating the desired effect. Maybe he was doing it correctly, but he didn’t seem to think so. Your biggest critic will always be yourself, and so Nobu continues to practice the technique for easily over an hour, sweat now pouring from him like there is no tomorrow.
 
A friendly boy no older than maybe eight or nine walks by Nobu, likely a student at the academy here practicing just like he was. A look of concern was in his eyes and Nobu saw it clear as day. Nobu looks at the boy asking,
“What is it young one? Why do you have such a look on your face? If somebody picking on you, or wronging you? Would you like me to handle it?” Nobu didn’t stop his training even while talking to the student.
“No, nothing like that. It’s just…” the young boy pauses as if trying to find the right words to speak without offending his elder, “Well, it is that it is really hot out here. Between the intensity of your training and your heavy clothes you are going to end up dead out here from a heat stroke! All Sunagakure Ninja are taught this! Didn’t you learn at it at the academy? Please, rest for a while and have a drink. I see you have plenty of water, so go get some.” At the end the young boy had lost most of his reservations about what to say to his elder, instead letting his feelings control the words spouted from the kindest of hearts.
 
Nobu, stunned by the kids words walked over and reaches for the boy. The student flinches, but Nobu mean s him no harm, instead ruffling the young ones hair. “You know what? You are completely correct. I can’t become the best Taijutsu user ever if I die here and now while training. Thanks little man, you really helped me see the error of my ways. I guess I just got too caught up in my training to realize I was working so hard.” Nobu heads over to his bag filled with all of the bottles of water offering one to the young student. He merely shakes his head and waves goodbye, running off towards the village. “What a nice kid, concerned for the well being of others. I wonder if he is going to be a medical shinobi later in life.” Nobu says before sitting down on the rock and sipping his surprisingly still cold and refreshing water.
 
After about twenty or so minutes of rest and recuperation, Nobu finishes what remains of that bottle of water and begins to train again. Starting with a series of rapid strikes, he warms up again before going into the intense stuff. As soon as the blood was again flowing, Nobu would continue his training of what he thought would be an advancement of the Sand Whirlwind technique. After the rest Nobu’s body was performing quite well, at least for now. His movements seemed to be faster, and more fluid, gaining more and more momentum to place into the next attack in the series. Before he knows it he manages to get three kicks in succession, one placed low, one placed in the middle, and one likely to be a head shot. This time he seemed to almost float as he did the move, the momentum doing exactly what he had hoped it would. He did it!
 
Grinning, Nobu would try and practice the technique some more, hoping to gain further insight into the move. Despite completing it once though, he wasn’t able to replicate a perfect version again. Again, frustration set in on Nobu. Why wasn’t it working? What was being done differently? With great annoyance Nobu kicks up a bunch of sand.
 
Remembering that he needed to keep his emotions in check, Nobu begins to meditate and take in deep breaths. He sits on the rock and begins to quietly calm himself, not wanting any sorts of mishaps to occur that would cause Koroshi to regret allowing him in the village. He thinks of peaceful thoughts, his mind placing the calming images and sounds of a rainstorm vividly within the confines of his imagination. The rain droplets pour on him, something that not everybody would fantasize about but something that Nobu had thoroughly missed from his younger days, before all of the negative things of his life had sunk their filthy claws into his joy. Finally he got this annoyance out of his system, and got back up ready to train once again.
 
“Maybe I should try another technique, one to take my mind off of this one for right now. Clearly at this very moment it is out of my reach, but I’m sure it won’t be long before I have it mastered. I WILL be the best Taijutsu user ever, after all.” Nobu smiles and gives himself a nod of approval. He wasn’t going to give up, no matter how long it took. He truly had believed in his words. “But what technique should I try and learn now? Hmm…. I know! I could have sworn that I saw someone almost vanish how fast they were going. Maybe I should try something along those lines. But the question is, how am I going to build up that kind of speed? I sprint all over the place every day and I still cannot move as fast as they seem to be moving.” Thinking for a while, Nobu begins to come up with all sorts of odd ways in which he could build up his leg strength, but resistance training seemed to be the thing that he kept going back to within his thoughts. Looking around, he saw that there were quite a few large rocks that he could prop up on his back and exercise with. As soon as he got ready to stand and begin this training, he had an even better idea. “I know what I could do! I can run back to the town and get some training weights, put them on, and then run a circuit around the village until I make it back here.” With this, he was off. He left the water at the training grounds, figuring that folks seemed friendly enough not to take his water while he was absent. He sprinted to the markets like there was no time to lose, not paying mind to anyone that he had passed this time.
 
Stopping quickly in front of a stand, he asks the shop keeper in a winded voice, “Where… can I find…. Some weights to attach to my…. arms and legs for training?” Catching his breath he waits as the clerk scratches his beard and thinks for a minute. “Well, you could always find some training gear at Kogi’s store down the way…” the man says as he points down an alleyway before adding, “Just don’t mind his behavior. He’s a bit…. Odd, to say the least.” He lets out a hearty belly laugh before adding “Ah who am I kidding? That guys outright weird, but he has lots of stuff and he’s the closest shop that might have what you are looking for.” Nobu quickly thanks the shop keeper before dashing down the alley as quickly as he can. Kogi’s store. Kogi’s store. Where is it? He thinks as he dashes past several residential properties. Was this store really in this area? Just as he almost made it all the way down the alley he sees a sign that just reads “Kogi’s”. It didn’t look at all like a shop, and Nobu had reservations about going in the place, but mustering up his courage he knocks loudly on the door.
 
“Come in, come in. It’s open young one.” Nobu hears in the voice of what sounds like an older gentleman, the sound not very loud at all. How did this Kogi know that Nobu had arrived? The door was closed so he couldn’t have seen the young man. Did the other man tip him off? No that couldn’t be it either. Nobu had ran here with all the speed he could muster. There was no way that man could have gotten word to Kogi faster than that. Puzzled, Nobu slowly opens the door, it making an ominous “Creeaak” as is swings open. Slowly, Nobu walks in. He looks all around the ‘store’ that was really just this man’s house it seemed, but there were different things lining the walls. Weapons, armors, strange unlabeled jars with much of their contents hidden. These along with so many others were all over this eerie house. A strange old man seems to sit alone in the room, slowly rocking back and forth on a rocking chair.
 
Before Nobu could ask a single question the man piped up, “I sensed your chakra presence. That’s how I knew you were out there without being able to see you.” Was this man also able to read minds as well? It was almost as if he had known what Nobu was going to ask prior to his asking. “Well, what have you come here for, kiddo? Did you want some hard candy?” The man laughs as if he had just told the funniest joke there ever was, only stopping due to a coughing fit. “No, but why are you here? You obviously seek something, so speak up boy!” the man called Kogi says in a rather rude tone of voice.
 
“I came seeking something to aid my training, something that will help me develop my physique. I am looking for-” Before Nobu can finish the man chips in cutting Nobu off.  His voice lowers to almost a whisper, but easily loud enough for Nobu to hear in this quite old house, “You lookin’ for ‘muscle supplements’? You know, steroids?” Steroids? Nobu had no idea what this strange man was talking about before he burst out laughing again, this time even harder than before. That shop keeper was right, this man was rather odd. “Naw, I’m just messin’ with you. So, you looking for anything in particular? I have all sorts of odds and ends in this here shop.” He says this as he gets up from from his chair and heads over to a cupboard. As soon as he stand up a cat hops down onto the counter from a ceiling beam above and eyes up Nobu, before letting out a small ‘meow’. “I know he’s young Tickles, but a customer is a customer! Get outta here and stop trying to scare away every new person that comes ‘round here, you dang cat!” The cat, almost as if it could understand quickly made its way into another room out of sight. “Ignore anything he said to you. It was all lies, I swear!”
 
“I need some ankle and leg weights, heavy ones at that. You know, something that will really help my training.” Nobu quickly gets out before any other oddities come out of the mouth of Kogi. “Why didn’t you say so sooner?” He reaches into the cupboard and pulls out some heavy training weights. He drops them only the table with a hard thud.
“Well, what do I owe you?” Nobu asks as he begins to reach into his pockets for some Ryo.
“Don’t worry about it. These old things aren’t worth nothin’ to me and so long as you promise to bring ‘em back I don’t mind if you use ‘em.”
“Thanks so much mister! I’ll be sure to bring them back!” Nobu yells on his way out of the house. Despite being an odd old man, he sure had a kind heart.
Nobu quickly straps the weights to their respective areas and notes the difference in effort needed to move. These were exactly the thing he was looking for, and he was going to make the best of this. Like he had prepared for earlier he began a sprint around the village at top speed, only ending when he got back to the training grounds. For all the effort he was putting into this, the speed at which he was going wasn’t all that impressive. He felt noticeably slower and more sluggish. He knew though, that training with these on would make him significantly stronger and faster. He wasn’t ending there though. Moving over to a large nearby rock, Nobu picks it up and hoists it on to his back, securing it with some rope he had found at the Akari household.
 
The overall weight now was immense and Nobu thought that his legs would buckle, but they did not. Starting with a brisk walk around the training grounds Nobu would begin his weight training. The strain on his legs was intense and each step caused Nobu to consider stopping this nonsense. “No, I want to be the best! In order to be the best, you must train the hardest! You must overcome all obstacles placed before you to block your path!” Eventually, after a dozen or so laps around the grounds, Nobu had grown accustomed to the weight on his legs. That was good, because it was about time he started doing some serious training.
 
Now Nobu wasn’t just walking around the training area, he was doing lunges. His body was on fire, but he didn’t care. All he could think about was growing stronger, getting faster, and becoming the best. No amount of physical punishment would be enough. If he could deal with the pain onset by the chakra of the bijuu within, he sure as heck would be able to deal with any and all of the pain here and now. After making several laps around doing lunges, Nobu would then turn to squats. He would only do maybe a hundred or so, as he hadn’t been counting due to the fatigue rapidly catching up with him.  He needed to rest, that much was certain, but he also wanted to get the most out of this day. He wasn’t about to give in now and so he performed another lap around the area. “If my legs are burning, I will just have to switch to training my upper body!” With this said loud for all to hear, he drops down to a piece of stone and begins doing push ups. At first they are slow, his body now tired from exertion on top of not being used to performing under these conditions. Eventually he starts to pick up the pace before his body just gives out.
 
Nobu slowly removes the straps he had attaching the large stone to his back and crawls to his feet. His body didn’t want to move at all, no matter how much he tried. After a few minutes of standing there without moving he musters up the will to move, all the while keeping the weights on his arms and legs. He drags himself to the village and back into the Akari family home before collapsing on to the bed. Within moments he was out cold.
 
Day 2:
 
Nobu groggily opens his eyes, his whole body stiff from the training the day prior. He thought about staying in bed for a while longer and taking the day off, but this was not the type of thoughts he could afford to have if he wanted to master taijutsu. Still wearing the heavy weights on his wrists and ankles, he grabs a quick drink of water before heading out for the day. Looking up he realizes that he must have woken up late in the day, the sun already high in the Suna sky. Maybe a day of light training then instead. His body was aching, but he figured that he could practice something that wasn’t as demanding as Taijutsu. He was going to finally try and learn some water ninjutsu. Still weighed down, he made his way into the village to get some more buckets of water, noting that he hadn’t even had the chance to use them the day before. With gusto he propped the buckets up on to his back and made haste to the training grounds once more. His body worn down, he didn’t move as fast as he had the day before but he made it a point not to dawdle. He stopped by the Academy on his way to the grounds, waving at the unnamed boy he had met the day prior. “I’m here to pick up a scroll containing some low grade water techniques. Am I allowed to do such?” Nobu would ask the current teacher at the school. Nodding and returning to addressing the class, Nobu scours through the jutsu scrolls. “Water Style: Water Replacement Technique sounds like it could come in handy, oh, and so does this Water Style Hidden Mist Technique! I could use it to hide.” Then Nobu thought back to the Powder Chakra within him and how difficult it was for folks to see through it. “Hmm, well at least a cool mist will keep my body temperature low while I train my Taijutsu skills.” Grabbing the scrolls he finished his trek to the training area. “Alright, this says that it needs… Five handseals huh? How hard could that be? In order they were ‘Tiger → Boar → Ox → Dog → Snake’ and so Nobu would quickly try and replicate the technique. He witnessed several jutsu’s that were much more complicated that all the while moving about the training grounds and dodging attacks from their sparring partners, so he didn’t think all that much about it. Just as quickly as he had attempted the jutsu he had failed to produce results. “Water replacement, huh? Wonder if I actually need to be struck to know if it has worked…” Looking around Nobu sees nobody in his general area and those few off in the distance all had sparring partners already. Well, looks like I’ll just have to try and hit myself. Picking up a small nearby rock, Nobu would throw it up in the air and aim to hit himself with it on the way back down. It was a small enough rock that Nobu doubted it would cause any real damage, so he quickly focuses his chakra and repeats the handseals. Just as he completes them he is smacked in the head by a quickly moving rock. The jutsu did not work correctly this time either. What was he doing wrong? It couldn’t have been that difficult, could it? No, it is not that it was difficult, only that Nobu had not been used to training ninjutsu techniques. He was far too used to just having to increase his physical body to fully grasp the difficulties of truly wielding the chakra to form different jutsus.
 
Not letting this get him down, he rubbed his head, splashed some water on his face, and tried again. This time, he would try to focus the chakra like he had with Koroshi, truly attempting to mold it to his will. Repeating the handseals once more, the rock looks as though it will strike true. Just then, Nobu can look upon the rock striking into the head of what looked like him, only to be dispersed harmlessly into the sand below as water. One technique down, one more to go. He looks over at the remaining scroll lying in the sand before he is struck hard in the gut. It wasn’t an attack from a person, but rather an attack from within. Hunger pangs tore through him, Nobu then realizing that he hadn’t eaten that day. One can’t train so vigorously on an empty stomach, else your body will start to wear down.  Heading back into town, Nobu returns the scroll and grabs a bite to eat at the Festival. He hadn’t done as much today as he had hoped, but he had gotten at least one technique down before calling it a day.
Again, Nobu crashes to the bed without as much as a pause. He is still wearing those training weights.
 
Day 3:

Nobu almost doesn’t want to move again today, but the rest from the day before has caused his body to feel a tad better today than it had the day before. It was about time for him to start training, and since his body had begun to feel better it would be another day of Taijutsu. He was sprinting to the training grounds before he had realized that he had grown accustomed to the weights and was moving almost as fast as he had been without the added weight. Considering this a win, he ran to his rock and began training with them on. His move were just like before, quick and aggressive. Within moments a flurry of strikes would have struck the intended target, but he felt as though it still wasn’t “just right”. So, continuing to practice for another couple of hours, Nobu felt as though he finally had the technique mastered, and with the training weights on as well. This had Nobu very excited, but as he had promised, he needed to take the training gear back to Kogi’s store. Without even taking them off, he dashed into town as quickly as he could. It wasn’t long before he reached the alley he had been down just two days prior. Making his way all the way to the end, he knocked on the door and opened it before the old man could say ‘come in’. With a big smile Nobu would thank the old man and for almost a minute talk his ear off about the great help it was to his Taijutsu training. The old man just listen and smiled, waiting for Nobu to get it out of his system. Once the excited youth had calmed down, he would drop off the weights back to their rightful owner and make his way back to the Akari home even faster than he had been before. 


(Exit Thread)
Total WC: 4662
Claiming:
Great Leaf Whirlwind 3250/3250
Water Replacement Technique 1000/1000
273 Towards Lariat 2727+273= 3000/3000
23 Stats