Earth Release for Dummies (Miyamoto, Kaos, NK)

The sun shone harshly upon the desert village below. A gust blew by her short, brown hair, rustling it slightly. Suzumebachi adjusted her glasses. Her kikaichu buzzed beneath her skin, not in nervousness, but in anticipation for the day ahead. She hummed to herself. Today would be a good day to train- she had recovered from her soreness from a previous intense training session, so she was ready to undergo another. The Aburame had focused primarily on sword techniques and other bukijutsu, but... She scratched the side of her head, staring out the glossy window of her small apartment. She needed to learn some other tricks, too, or else she'd end up as a one trick pony. She knew she was proficient in earth release, but the bug user figured knowing another element would be useful- she narrowed down her choices. Lightning would be good with her metal weapons, but on the other hand, she didn't want to fry her hive, even accidentally. Fire had a lot of combat potential, but it couldn't be used defensively as easy as other elements... Water was an option she considered for a good long while, but ultimately, she decided that she liked the final option the best- earth. She could use earth both offensively and defensively, and theoretically, should she study enough, maybe she'd be able to house her kikaichu inside earthen constructs temporarily. She put a finger on her chin, though her high collared shirt stopped her skin from making contact. She stretched hugely, and she felt her spine pop as she did so. She figured it might be a good idea to head to Hoshigakure's archives. Perhaps they might have something of interest there she could pursue. General information on doton shouldn't be restricted- it wasn't like bakuton or any of the first Hogokage's secret jutsu.

She opened her window with her left hand, and using the surface walking technique to stick to the wall, she carefully closed the glass pane behind her. Leaping from rooftop to rooftop was like second nature for her, and she eventually found herself approaching the main city squares. Politely, she descended the side of a particularly large building, keeping her eyes open for her target. Aha- she took a sharp left, and within a few minutes, arrived at the library. A librarian took one look at her headband and walked her in to the non-civilian section- she'd need a keycard to access the more classified information, of course, but that wasn't what she was here for. She grabbed a few books off the wall and plopped them down in front of her. They categorized earth release jutsu, earth release in general, as well as advanced elemental theory- she figured that four books on the subject would be a good place to start. Opening the nearest one, she began to flip through the pages, interest clear on her few visible features. She remained reading at a relatively quick pace for around half an hour before she found something she was looking for.

"Earth release is one of the five basic nature transformations, allowing the user to manipulate the very earth itself for their own purposes. Although typically used defensively, techniques with this element often have a wide variety of applications, from changing the composition and density of the earth around them all the way to creating their own dirt, mud, and clay for offensive purposes. Typically affiliated with the now destroyed Iwagakure, where it was very common, users with this nature transformation are relatively common throughout the shinobi world. Earth techniques are typically strong against water release, being able to absorb the liquid, but weak against lightning, which can split the ground apart."

She stopped reading there, tilting her head. If she recalled correctly, her primary affinity was strong against lightning. It would be nice to have a backup in case she was facing someone who specialized in lightning release techniques... She exhaled through her nose. Her right cheekbone tickled slightly as a small insect crawled over it. A quick scan showed that it was one of hers, and a relatively young one- it had literally been born yesterday. Humoring it, she let the small creature buzz down to her hand and sit on the table beside her as she flipped through more books and scrolls on her subject of interest. She continued to peruse the information for around thirty more minutes before she closed the thick tome and pushed it aside, careful not to squish her little friend. She peeked at the windows outside, thick sunglasses blocking most of the bright light. It was close to noon now. Perhaps she should try going outside? She might meet someone out there who could teach her more about doton in general, plus she could practice channeling chakra into the earth. Well, it was better than nothing, which was what she had at the moment.

She hummed to herself. Suzumebachi would spend another half an hour in Hoshigakure's archives, then she would head to the training grounds to search for someone else who could teach her her chosen element. Nodding to herself, she unfurled an ancient looking scroll and began to read. Time passed slowly as she did so, and by the time she was finished, the young kikaichu had flown back up her sleeve and entered her body through a pore on her wrist. She closed the paper scroll gently, careful not to tear it. It was a short scroll on the history of doton and doton users, but there was a noticable lack of information on how the nature transformation actually worked. The young Aburame hummed to herself, tilting her head. After a few moments, she stood up, pushing in the chair that she had sat on neatly back up under the table. She needed some fresh air, and some time to think. She walked slowly back towards the archive entrance, wondering what she'd find. Who knew? Maybe she'd get lucky with a teacher or something...

WC: 1,000
Total WC: 1,000

Miyamoto had been out doing his usual night training in preparation for his upcoming Jounin interview. The night was a comfortable time for him, there were fewer interruptions from other people inside the village, plus being around nature made him feel closer to the ones he had lost. As he took in the chakra energy from the world around him he was able to perceive how certain little creatures moved about inside the world around him. He had just finished his basic martial forms before picking up the sword of his fallen comrade. Moving slow and deliberately he would cut through the air without making a sound as he normally would since he learned how to move silently from Valen Akari, the new Kage...his most recent...and distant master. However, the training soon drew long and as the moon hung high in the air his secret training spot was revealed in the wildlife reserve as the clearing was illuminated by the pure moonlight. He looked up at the moon wondering if he made the right choice in his last few missions...he could have just left the village, he could have become just another wandering sword looking to leave his story behind somewhere else, but to who...he knew his family legacy...the Terumi name was all his as far as he knew, he could try to change it perhaps... With a sigh though, he turned from the moonlight and went home for the night so he could get some rest and get to it all again in the morning.

As he arrived home he was able to use surface walking to get up to his room at his family house, he snuck in without a sound and once inside he would undress and lay down before the sweet embrace of sleep took hold before giving way to the nightmares in his head.

The sun would break through his window at about 7:03 a.m. that morning as he would quietly rise from his troubled slumber and dress for the day. A simple training gi and usual shinobi tools in their pouches he would walk downstairs to find his mother was already gone as usual and there was a breakfast made for him and left on the counter; scrambled eggs, sausage, and toast with sliced apples. He had matured, but he was still just a teenager that did not know how to act like a kid anymore so the little joy he took in life was from things like this. He ate in quiet solitude as he meditated over his usual teachings to clear his mind; a cup filling to the brim but never overflowing before silently being lifted and poured onto the earth and watch as the grass would grow into new life. It was all metaphorical of course, but it was the easiest representation to clearing his head that he could think of. Once he finished he cleaned his plate before setting it on the drying rack and leaving the house for the day and heading to the library for a few scrolls on how the Jounin of the village performed during their various exams.

Once he arrived at the library he was like a ghost as always, checking out a few books, keeping an eye on the people, and never missing a single step as he walked through with confidence if he was seen. As he was leaving he noticed a few new faces to make note of...a particular one that caught his eye was a dark glasses wearing tall coat sporting figure that was reading books on training for the earth element. He said nothing though as he left and made his way to the training field for his exercises.

Once he arrived he found his usual spot by the oak tree as he would begin to raise all of his chakra affinity signatures to the max before trying to reduce them in an ebb and flow style of trying to control one's chakra. This would continue on even if onlookers came by and peered at him, of course, a strong sense of oppression from five different chakras would bear down on anyone within at least a five-meter radius. Outside of that it would be easy to find where he was inside the village as he was just doing usual training.

WC:721