A Long Day's Training

It was time. Daiki's first week of training as a ninja of the Sand. He had been wearing his new headband with pride as he had patrolled the village with the eyes of a newly minted Genin but he could tell that he was very weak in comparison to the majority of the other Genin who roamed the streets alongside him. Thus it was time. He needed to train and become stronger. The Kazekage himself was counting on him to perform and with the impending Chuunin Exams that were on their way Daiki couldn't help but feel weak and at the mercy of the village itself. He needed to become stronger and be able to protect the village more effectively with his powers as well as serve as a better caretaker and show that he, too, can become one of the best ninja the village had ever seen. He woke up to the sounds of a gentle breeze blowing through the open window of his bedroom as he sat up from his hard bed and got to his feet before stretching his body. He looked over to his bedside counter and saw his headband laying on the hard wood, the sun outside causing the metal of the band to shine brightly into his eyes, as he decided that he wasn't going to train with it on and got on his clothes. He made certain they were the perfect clothing for training before he stepped out into the village streets.

He rushed along the roads, hopping up and running along the walls and rooftops every so often to avoid the bustling crowds, as he made his way to the training zone and rushed into zone 6 as it was the training field that was reserved for Genin. It offered a lot of versatility to taijutsu and ninjutsu trainers which was perfect for Daiki as he was wanting to learn a bit more medical ninjutsu while he was out here. He walked to the center of the field and performed a few stretches before getting down into the dirt of the ground and performed a few pushups in order to get his muscles warmed up. As he was a person that enjoyed exercise this was easy for him to do as the well developed muscles in his arms and chest were able to crank out the pushups in record time. He hopped back up to his feet and shook his arms out a bit before looking around the field and hopping up and landing down onto the water of the river of the field.

Chakra was expelled through the soles of his feet automatically as he walked along the surface of the waves. One thing that he had wanted to touch up upon was his control over his chakra as it was still quite weak even though he had wanted to become a more medical oriented ninja. He had read in the history books of a ninja who had aided the Sand in a war that combined the military might of all the village's ninja sources who was a very talented medical ninja that happened to be the Hokage of her village. She just so happened to be a Senju as well though didn't seem to have any control over the element of wood which was not uncommon for the members of Senju. He, however, wanted to be able to control the element of wood at some point and he intended to learn it during this week of training. He thus brought his hands together and started to concentrate on his chakra in order to bring it forth and out from his body before focusing it into certain areas of his body so that he could practice control and proper allocation.

As he concentrated on this task he felt the familiar sensation of falling down into darkness as he opened his eyes and saw that there was a man standing before him, shrouded in darkness even though the sun was beaming down upon his body, as Daiki shook his head and could feel his anger swelling. "Really? You want to do this now?" The man laughed and cracked his knuckles as he got into a stance awaiting Daiki to attack him. "You can never escape me. I hear you intend to train today. Do you really think any amount of training will be able to help you in conquering your inner demons?" Daiki charged at the man and threw a punch aimed at his face, the man dodging as the shockwave of the chakra infused punch caused the water to ripple, as the man then pushed the Senju back and away from him causing Daiki to perform a quick backflip in order to keep himself from falling off of his feet. "You'll have to be a lot faster than that." Daiki took got back up to his feet and started controlling his breathing as he focused his chakra around his body for use.

"This is actually a good thing... This'll give me the opportunity to grow while you act as my punching bag." The man laughed at that. "Cockiness will get you nowhere, boy." With that Daiki rushed around the watery surface, his feet causing pools of droplets of water to spring up from his footsteps, as he launched himself towards the side of the man for another punch. He had anticipated that the man would dodge the blow in some way, which he did as he moved his head back and out of the way of the punch, which caused Daiki to direct his fist down towards the water as he focused his chakra into the palms of his hands. He thus stayed above the surface of the water as he directed a foot around towards the man's head once again as he had caught the man by surprise and landed his foot across the man's cheek. The resulting blow caused the man to tumble and fall over the water, the water not being affected by the man falling down at all, as Daiki righted himself into a combat stance and observed the man with a smile across his face. "You'll have to be a lot faster than that." he said in a defiant type of tone.

The darkened silhouette of his most hated enemy got back up to his feet in a slow and deliberate manner as Daiki got back into a fighting stance while focusing his chakra once again into his limbs. He could feel a bit stronger as his confidence was through the roof at the fact that he had actually landed a hit on someone who had been a thorn on his side for a long time as well as something that was simply a figment of his overtaken mind. He couldn't see any damage along the side of the silhouette's face, if he had suffered damage he couldn't tell, as the man brought a hand up to his neck and stretched it while rolling it around in order to get the cricks within his neck out. Daiki could hear the bones of the neck as it was cracked and felt that he had just frustrated the man rather than actually hurt him and this was confirmed as he blinked and suddenly found that the man had disappeared from his sight only to be right next to him bringing a fist around towards his face.

With a quick movement of his body he was able to crane his back in order to avoid the punch before as he flipped over and directed his feet into the man's gut more as a push rather than a damaging sort of blow. His strength managed to do as he had wanted as the man was backed away from him, his feet sliding over the water's surface like a ghost, before he got back down onto his feet and watched as the man was forming hand seals before Daiki saw a gust of wind blowing out from where the man's mouth was in a way that it could slice his body into ribbons. Even though Daiki knew that this was all in his head every blow he had ever felt when fighting this mental demon within him felt real and he had no reason to believe that this wouldn't be any different. He thus hopped up into the air in order to get out of the way just as the gust flew past where he was beneath his feet. His body was propelled up into the air before he flipped over and with a yell came down fast upon the specter.

The man immediately backed away from where Daiki's feet were aimed, the water splashing around Daiki as he landed hard before the man, and the two engaged in a brief exchange of flying fists and feet with Daiki trying to gain the upper hand against the man with his strength and agility. His Taijutsu skills had been honed a pretty good bit over his days training at the academy but the difference in the twos skill was plain to see as Daiki could feel that he was losing ground. Before long the man went to make a sweep at Daiki's legs, causing him to flip over to his side, before he directed a foot in the form of a kick straight towards Daiki's gut. With quick thinking Daiki directed chakra into his hand once again as he stopped his descent by sticking the palm of his hand onto the surface of the water and holding himself up just long enough in order to block the kick which caused his body to launch backwards from the man. Daiki tumbled along the surface of the water as he flipped over onto his feet and shook his arm which stung thanks to the power of the man's kick.

He stood up, his clothes dripping with water from the river thanks to his knockback, as he got back into a stance and prepared for battle once more. This time, however, the man was ready as suddenly doppelgangers started springing forth from him and charged at Daiki at full speed. Daiki as a reaction to such an action decided to jump to the side as two of the doppelgangers passed by his body and he used his leg in order to trip them before he got up to his feet and started to rush towards the man once again. The water was once again disturbed by the strength he put behind his charge as his chakra flared and moved throughout his body in order to reach his hands as they balled up into fists. With a mighty swing he brought his fist around towards the man's face who instinctively was already dodging. Daiki prepared for this, however, as he brought his fist down towards the water that they were both standing upon and the power of his punch caused a shockwave to erupt all along the river's surface!

The result was the clones and the original being blasted up into the air as the water dipped away from the power of the punch causing Daiki to hover there for a while stunned by the power of his own punch. He fell down into the dip as he dove into the water and used his chakra in order to stick to the bottom of the river as he held his breath and looked up in order to watch as the water filled the dip once more and flowed along the trajected path that was made for it. He waited for the water to calm itself before he released his chakra and jumped up towards the surface. He stood up along the surface once again, coughing a bit as he got air within his lungs once more, as he looked around and saw the silhouette standing calmly a ways away from him once again. This time, however, he could tell that there was a slight smile that had crept along the man's face. This smile angered Daiki as it was a smile that told of foreboding intent.

"Amazing. You're getting stronger even in the midst of battle. This is your Senju DNA at work it would seem. Continue training, young warrior, for you'll be very interesting to watch in the coming days of your miserable life." Then the man vanished, his body fading as though it was mist in a clear surrounding, as Daiki panted from all the chakra he had expended throughout the day and he hopped off the surface of the water in order to stand upon solid ground once again. As he relaxed his exhausted chakra, the punch taking out of him more than he had bargained for, he collapsed upon the ground and panted in order to get his bearings straight once more. He looked around the field as he could feel the water of the river dripping off his body, mingling with his sweat as it sank into the dirt below him, before he climbed up onto his feet and wiped the dirt off of his clothes as he hopped up and down in place in order to get some strength back into his legs. It was going to take a while for his chakra to gather within his body again but until then he would rest for a little bit and meditate.

He thus walked over to one of the trees, the shade from it covering a good portion of the place he was walking to, as he sat at the base of the tree's trunk and let the cool air provided by the shade to wash over him and relax his body. He folded his legs into him as he brought his hands together in order to form a bridge for his circulating chakra network as he closed his eyes in order to meditate while placing his head upon the tree trunk in order to rest it. He took slow breaths into his body and lungs as he could feel his chakra slowly gaining strength and his mind swimming within the sounds of the birds high in the sky, the leaves that were blown across the field, and the air as it washed his drying body. He was tired already and he had been fighting a ghost for that entire time. A part of Daiki cursed himself for being so weak but another part of him was feeling proud at the fact that he was growing in strength as well as in control of his actions.

He had read in a history book about the Senju clan and how there was once a powerful ninja who was also a Senju that fought in the most famous ninja war. She, too, was incredibly gifted in the medical arts of iryojutsu and had strength to match her overwhelming defensive capabilities. He couldn't help but feel that he was similar to her in many ways and he certainly wanted to become like her even though they were both of different villages. Maybe with a bit more of training and determination he would get to the same level as her but it would be a while yet before that could happen. He opened his eyes and took in a deep breath before getting up to his feet and hopping up into the branches of the tree in order to hook his legs around one of the branches and hanging his body upside down. He took in a few short and quick breaths before he started to bend his back and torso in order to start repping out crunches from atop the branch hidden among the leaves of the tree.

He kept on cranking out the reps, feeling the burn of the exercise after a while, before releasing the hook he was making with his legs and falling to the ground in order to land upon his feet with less grace than he had wanted. He got up, dusting off the dirt that had flown up and clung to his wet clothing, before stretching out his legs a bit and going for a jog around the field. He wasn't going as fast as he could for that was going to deplete all of his stamina if he did so. He did, however, want to make certain he could go for as long as he was able to as his footfalls kicked up some dust with his legs feeling as though they were steadily turning to jelly. He had known that he was growing stronger physically, but this was a clear indicator that he needed more practice in stamina training as this was ridiculous in how it was tiring him out already. He would continue to run for as long as he could all while glancing at certain aspects of the field in order to distract his mind and make it so his focus wasn't solely on the jog. It would be more enjoyable that way.

He continued his jog as the breeze that blew across the field helped to cool off his body which helped to keep his spirits up as he continued along his path of the run. His calves were burning, his knees were aching, and his thighs were begging for relief as he had to have been running for what was half an hour. He soon finally stopped under the shade of a tree, collapsing onto his hands and knees as sweat dribbled down from his forehead onto the ground, while panting for air to the point he thought his lungs might burst from their need of oxygen. He soon laid down onto his back as he looked up the tree he was under in order to find just a bit of tranquility and relief from the situation. He couldn't wait to be done with training for the day so that he could go to one of his favorite restaurants and get himself something delicious to eat and while away the rest of the day with. He didn't know which restaurant or which food he'd settle for though... BBQ? Ramen? Dumplings? He didn't know which but he knew he had plenty of time to decide as he kipped back up to his feet and did a few more stretches trying to get feeling back into his limbs.

He was just about to get down and do some push ups before suddenly there was a sound of ringing steel as it was soaring through the air towards him. He looked around just in time to see a shuriken zooming right at his head. Instincts kicked in as he moved his head back, his entire body kicking into overdrive as the muscles in his legs propelled him back and away quickly, before he dug his feet into the dirt in order to stop his body from moving. He looked over to see the silhouette of the man once again as he had appeared before him in a manner that would make Daiki's blood boil. The man walked along the surface of the river's waters once again, his feet leaving no trace that he was there, as he laughed his sinister laugh that was always a favorite (not really) of Daiki's "You shouldn't let your guard down even when circumstances call for it, little ninja."

"You again? Wasn't one ass whooping today enough for you?" The man laughed. "'Ass whooping'? Don't delude yourself, boy. Even if you were to win in a fight with me all I would do is fade back into the deepest recesses of your mind. You'll need more than brute strength to get rid of me." With that said the man opened up his cloak and from out within it as though directed by an unnatural current of wind came five more shuriken all spinning like tops perfectly aimed towards where Daiki was standing. Daiki watched as the shuriken were directed by the man's incredible control of wind style and Daiki was forced to have to dodge by ducking out of the way, the wind directing the shuriken causing his hair to flutter as they flew very close to his head, before he got back up and started charging at the man once more. More shuriken started to fly out from his jacket as Daiki fell down and slid along the ground in order to dodge them and gain a bit more distance towards his target. With his fine tuning in chakra Daiki channeled chakra into his feet as he slid onto the water and got up in order to start running towards the man with his chakra flowing into his fists once again.

With a hop he closed the distance between the two as he started letting his fists fly in order to try and hit the illusory man. Even though the man was an illusion he certainly didn't just stand there in order to take any of the punches. He would duck, dodge, and weave out of the way of the fists as his body moved almost like it was being controlled like a puppet on a set of strings. Daiki knew that this was all happening inside his head but he wanted so badly to punch this man in the face. Everything that he had ever gone through that was terrible growing up was because of this man and he needed to get revenge against him in some kind of way. Might as well start with a nice fist to the forehead. Power was being channeled into his hands as he swung, more than enough strength to crush the trunk of a tree flowing into his knuckles, as the man continued to dodge almost as though it was too easy.

After a few more swings with his fist, all of which never connected, the man let out a kick that landed right in Daiki's gut causing him to move back over the water as ripples were brought up around his feet. He took in a few deep breaths in order to get his bearings straight, a mixture of sweat and water dripping down from his forehead, as he got up to his feet and continued to channel his chakra throughout his body. He moved it all along his arms and legs as he could feel himself getting faster if only by a little bit. He hopped forth with his toes and legs flexed, the water jumping along with his feet into his charge, as he ran at full speed towards the man that he bore all his hatred for. His feet created large splashes across the water's surface with his every step as his mind was focused solely on causing pain of some kind, any kind, to this man that was not really here. The silhouette of the man smiled as this was exactly what he had been going for as he watched the enraged Daiki charge at him with more force and power than he had ever seen him exert.

Daiki would hop forth and try to land another punch to his head but the man easily moved his head out of the way causing Daiki to soar past and crash a few times along the surface of the river. He snarled and quickly brought his foot down onto the surface, his chakra causing his body to stop sliding along, before he jumped towards the man once again this time with his foot coming around for a kick. The man quickly sank into the water, his body passing through the surface like a ghost, as Daiki twirled around in the air and landed upon his feet. "Stop dodging like a coward and fight me!" His rage built to his zenith he screamed out in anger towards the man as he soon heard the condescending laugh in his head once again telling him that the man was there to taunt him and not to fight him as usual. With a rise in his power he directed a punch towards the water as his fist connected with the surface causing a massive shockwave to ripple throughout the liquid.

The resounding pulse from his punch caused the water to be spread out as though the surface had just had a hole punched into it! The water split as the force of the punch was felt like a bomb throughout the pools and caused him to fall down to the bottom of the now bare river. He took that moment to jump up from the rocky ground laid bare from the water before it all came crashing back around where he had been standing. He looked around to see if the man had followed him but couldn't find the silhouette anywhere. He landed upon the now restructured surface of the river, it's waves still clashing about from the major disturbance it had suffered, as he kept his guard up knowing that the man could appear at any given moment. He channeled his chakra along his body once more in a more defensive maneuver as the chakra started to wrap around his body as though it was a protective shell to keep him safe from any form of harm. He took in deep breaths as he did this as this was an act that usually drained him of chakra at a very fast rate.

It wouldn't be long before something happened as he looked around to see the man suddenly reappear behind him and bring around a kunai aimed towards Daiki's head. He really liked going for the head. Daiki quickly dodged out of the way and swept his legs around towards the man's legs as the man responded by hopping up out of the way of the sweep and bringing his feet down upon where Daiki was. He brought his arms up in response and blocked the double kick though it was still forceful enough to cause Daiki to sink down into the water. Daiki used his chakra to channel it throughout his feet in order to cause him to fly along the water's depths, getting around the man as he focused upon him up top, before channeling himself upwards like a dolphin preparing to flip. He splashed out of the water with force as he flipped around in the air and brought his foot around in order to bring it down upon where the man stood. The man jumped back and out of the way of the kick but Daiki was prepared for this as he landed upon the surface of the water and used his foot in order to propel himself forwards towards the man with a fist ready to punch.

The man deftly dodged once again this time with an uppercut to Daiki's chin causing him to flip over and crash into the water once again as the splash that this caused made waves that crashed along the edges of the river as the waves had no effect on the man whatsoever. This was starting to become very tedious for Daiki as he flipped over in the water and started channeling himself upwards towards the surface of the water and shooting himself out of it once more. He stopped just along the surface, his feet acting as suctions to the water's surface, as he cracked his neck and looked over in the direction of where the man was supposed to be. "I'm getting tired of this, douchebag. Let me train in peace." "What do you think we're doing?" In a sudden blinding light that came out of nowhere in front of him the man appeared and delivered a punch against his face too fast for him to see coming. After taking a bit of a tumble Daiki flipped over along the surface of the water and landed atop his feet before cracking his knuckles and preparing himself for another attack.

With a burst of speed Daiki rushed forward and got himself within just a few inches of the man before power burst into his fists once again and he directed a punch into the man's gut. This caused the man to grunt as he was pushed back along the water's surface, his feet doing nothing to perturb the water, before he righted himself and chuckled towards the still enraged Daiki. Daiki took this chance to try and get in another blow but the man expected this as he dodged out of the way and delivered his own blow in a counter attack that caused Daiki to slide along the water and onto the dirt which really didn't do too much good to his body. "You're really gonna need to get a better form of attacking rather than just charging in blindly hoping you'll get an attack off." Daiki got up slowly from off the ground and dusted himself off while trying to shake out the kinks that had developed inside his body. He took another look at the man who was simply standing upon the surface of the water as usual and, again as usual, giving his typical look that made Daiki want to puke.

He took in deep and controlled breaths, trying to get himself calm and collected, before he stretched out his legs and started channeling his chakra all along his body once again as the aura of protective chakra surrounded his body once more. "Have it your way." With that Daiki charged once again, the man giving a disapproving shake with his head, as Daiki flipped around and brought his hands together in order to form some hand seals which brought forth a few droplets of water that gathered together and began to dance across the sky towards the man. This impressed him as he had to dodge all of the droplets of water as they had transformed into sharp senbon type weapons. He jumped up in order to dodge the majority of them but Daiki was prepared for this as he hopped up with him and took the advantage of the sky in roder to deliver a punch directly into the man's face. The strength behind the punch would cause the man to soar across the sky down into the ground as he sank directly into the dirt and out of sight.

Daiki flipped over and landed right where the man was supposed to crash into but didn't due to him not really being there as Daiki stretched his neck out and began to focus more chakra across his body. He could feel his control over his chakra growing as his muscles were taking to the training well enough to become stronger from it and his brain was starting to take to it too as he could feel his mind sharpening. "I'm not getting any faster... but I can feel myself getting stronger. Maybe there is a method to the crackpot's madness." After a while he sensed that another attack from behind was coming as he dodged just in time to avoid yet another kunai that was directed at his head. "Why do you keep trying to attack me there?" He used the momentum of the dodge to land a kick right in the man's gut, causing him to fly back, as Daiki flipped over and prepared his fists for another attack. "You're starting to get very predictable here." The man nodded and stood up straight as he put his hands in his cloak. "Which is what I was going for."

Suddenly he was right in front of Daiki with a kunai ready in his hand and this time he was going for one of his legs. Daiki quickly got his leg up and managed to get it out of the way just in time before the steel would've pierced his leg and caused some damage. This caused Daiki to get out his own kunai and block the man's before he could try and take another swing at him. The two kunai would clash, a few sparks flying down from the clashed steel and sinking out of sight into the ground, as the two would glare at each other while looking for control in strength against the other. "Maybe now that I'm predictable you can actually learn how to counter attack instead of just trying to get in as much damage as you can in one fell swoop." Daiki grunted and broke the clash between the two as he started to flip back and away from the man and onto the solid surface.

"Yeah you just keep doing that. I won't hold it against you." He readied his blade for another strike just as the man was charging at him with his own blade poised. Daiki responded by forming a few hand seals and focusing his chakra into the water around him once more in order to bring up a small wall of water between him and the man. "You think that'll stop me? You don't like to learn do you?" The man simply passed through the water wall as though it wasn't even there as Daiki shook his head at his own stupidity before bringing up his kunai to meet with the man once again. The two kunai would clash as the man this time overpowered Daiki as he was brought down to a knee as the man looked down upon him with a satisfied look on his face that always made Daiki hate him all the more. "Outside forces such as these can't affect me. Only direct contact with you can stop me." He kicked himself off of Daiki's clash and got a bit of distance away from the enraged ninja as Daiki took in a few deep breaths and started giving chase.

The two would have a battle of kunai clashes, the blades coming into contact with each other again and again causing the resulting sparks to fall into the water the two were standing upon, as Daiki would form hand seals in order to surround himself and the weapon he used with chakra. He would try to protect himself from the opposing consciousness of his mind yet would find that it offered very little protection from the man as his every attack hit home like a ton of bricks. He was forced back and onto the rocky surface as he had to do a few flips in order to cushion the blow of crashing into dirt again. "There you go... You're starting to adjust to the fight and are instinctively taking the proper measures to learn and adapt. If only you were just a bit stronger you'd be able to do a whole lot more damage than you can presently." Daiki took in a deep breath in order to control his chakra flow once more and directed it once more into his hands and feet in order to get a bit more power into his limbs.

"So all this time you mean to tell me you've been training me? You expect me to just believe that after everything you've done? You're only here to torture me." With that he charged forth once again and this time when the two of their blades clashed Daiki's kunai would slice straight through the man's kunai which caused the man to have to dodge out of the way and bring around a leg in order to kick him directly in the head. "Oh don't be so dramatic." With that kick Daiki would be forced to slide along the river's surface and flip around along the waves causing him to have to put his feet down and stop himself from sliding too far. "If you can't even see what it is that you're fighting than you need my help more than you realize. It's about time you start accepting that." Daiki shook his head in order to get his mind corrected before he brought his hands around and formed a few hand seals as he could feel the wounds he had sustained were being healed quickly thanks to his Senju cells. Power flowed along his body before he got up to his feet and brought his hand around to focus chakra into his closed fist and double it's chakra output.

With a jump Daiki leapt into the air as he came down upon where the man was on the river's surface as he brought his fist down and the man dodged just in the nick of time. The result of the punch caused much more to happen than a simple shockwave. The force of the punch was now resembling to a blast wave as the water was blasted completely out of the river and the edges were blasted away into large chunks of rocky debris that scattered everywhere and hit the ground in a powerful thud. The ground shook with a powerful tremor running through it as Daiki sank to the bottom of the river bed and jumped up in order to get back to solid ground and allow the ground to settle. The man watched the results of the punch with a sense of glee as Daiki watched the water come back together in order to form the river back whole once again. "Yes this is good. You're starting to learn how to really get into your groove of controlling all this strength that's at your disposal."

With a deep breath, the water settling down after a while and filling in the gap that he had just made, he stood up and tried to control himself in order to get a better understanding of his control and power. He had strength and he had plenty of chakra but he couldn't go on about this for too much longer as this was taking a good amount of his stamina to continue. He cracked his neck, getting the kinks out of it once again, before stretching out his limbs and letting his chakra flow along his body in order to get it ready for more of the fight than he felt he was ready to go through. This was going to be a doozy but at least Daiki was starting to understand the flow of how things were going a bit better now. "So... Are you going to continue training me by being an asshole or are you going to take on a new approach to this as you've been telling me to do?" The man laughed and before Daiki knew it he was standing right in front of him again with a kunai poised and at the ready once again.

It was a clash of kunai once again between the two as power flowed into Daiki's kunai as he tried to gain ground between the two of them and the result was not only sparks of fire that came from the steel of the kunai but also the sparks of chakra as both of the blade were coated in them causing the chakra to break off and fall to the ground in order to mingle with the water they were standing upon. As the two clashed once again Daiki would channel his chakra into his fist from time to time in order to try and hit the man with a full power punch. Every time he thought he could get a good shot in the man would dodge again and again which only served to anger Daiki and make him try harder in order to get one good punch in to the man. This proved to be fruitless as the man would jump up and kick Daiki away causing him to slide back once again and form a few hand seals as he did so. Water started to flow from the river and surround his fists as he charged forth towards the man once again.

Water would coat his knuckles as he threw his fists around trying to deliver a punch to any part of the man's body that he could reach, the man once again proving his skill at dodging by getting out of the way of every single punch that came his way, as Daiki continued to focus his chakra and power all throughout his body in order to grow stronger. As he did so he started focusing a different flow of chakra throughout his limbs which aided in his healing capabilities as well as offensive capabilities. His hands were narrowly missing the man now as he was getting faster and more in tune to the battle before suddenly the man did a sweep kick that came out of nowhere causing Daiki to fall to the side and crash into the water's surface. He didn't stay down for long however as he brought his hand down and used it to maneuver his body back around onto his feet all while using his own legs to swing around and try to hit the man in some kind of way. He missed every kick, of course, as the man moved back and away from Daiki just as he righted himself and renewed the water weapon along his hands.

With a deep sigh Daiki gathered his strength into his body through the form of chakra once again in order to continue the fight that was really starting to take a toll on his body as he could feel the dregs of remaining chakra within him were dwindling. "You need more stamina... You're starting to become sluggish and that can be quite the fatal danger for you were this to be a battle to the death. If I'm not mistaken you received a transplant not too long ago that is supposed to help you out with this stamina problem of yours." Daiki scoffed and got back up to his feet as he was stumbling on his toes now. "If I only knew how to control it that way but I don't." The man shook his head while giving that laugh that rang out along Daiki's head once again. "You need to concentrate more, little boy, or else..." Suddenly the man was by his body once again as he delivered a powerful punch that caused Daiki to fly back with a grunt of pain and he tumbled along the ground in a heap.

Daiki was a bit slow getting to his feet this time, the cells in his body going to work in order to stimulate the injuries he sustained from the tumble, as he got up to his feet and tried to focus his chakra once again but found he was having a very tough time controlling it as his muscles weren't really acting the way they were supposed to. "What did you do to me?" The man laughed. "Nothing. This is your just body going past it's limits in order to continue the fight. You're starting to understand what it means to be a shinobi." Daiki took in a few deep breaths while concentrating on the remaining chakra inside his body one last time and he brought his hands up in order to get ready for the final parts of this duel that had been going for far too long. The man calmly walked forward towards him as Daiki tried to relax his mind and body for he couldn't allow his anger to take control of him again as it would mean too little for the circumstance.

It was here that he would suddenly feel a surge of power from deep within as he could feel something channeling it's way through his body and focusing his chakra along specific spots of his hands and feet once more. He looked at his arms and could see his skin becoming darker before reverting back into their natural tone as he could feel more stamina flowing into him. This caused the man to stop and smile. "Ah there it is. I was wondering when your body was going to finally take to it's new kidney." Daiki could feel his body becoming stronger as his stamina returned with a vengeance and he got low upon the ground and charged upon the man once again. The man got into a stance with a shuriken and tossed two of them in Daiki's direction as Daiki responded by jumping and twirling his body through the air in order to avoid the shuriken as it all flew harmlessly past him. he directed a kick in the man's direction as his foot would connect into his stomach causing him to glide backwards across the water. "Feel a bit stronger already?"

Daiki got up to his feet and charged once again, forming a few hand seals again as he directed a more powerful sort of chakra into his fists, as he tried to punch the man once again. The man dodged of course which is what Daiki was expecting as he brought his other fist around and hit the man square in the side of his stomach once again. The man was blown back from the punch as he knelt down, placing a hand along the water's surface to steady himself, as a bit of light and color started to take to his body from the point of contact of Daiki's punch. The man stood up straight and chuckled. "Ooh... Now you're getting the hang of this. Time to go to work with your new power wouldn't you say?" The man started to charge once again but Daiki was prepared and ducked the incoming kunai before he brought a foot up that caught the man unaware by the chin. No color spread from the point of contact this time but he did have to flip in order to land back onto his feet safely as he ghostly landed before Daiki rubbing the spot of contact.

"Nice kick." The man suddenly vanished once again and reappeared right beside Daiki in order to deliver a kick of his own right into the side of Daiki's stomach. Daiki grunted as he took the force of the blow which caused him to skid across the water's surface as the water splashed along his feet and shins. "I'm getting very tired of this song and dance you damn parasite. I'll get rid of you and get you out of my head finally today." The man laughed at that as he walked across the water's surface directly towards Daiki with his own hands taking on a glow around them. "You'll have to try a lot harder than you've been trying to do that." With that the two went at each other one more time. With Daiki his fists were more controlled as he used his own strength in order to punch back the fists that came his way from the man's own fists. His strength was actually proving to be at a stalemate with the man's fists as he tried putting more power behind his punches but the man responded by taking the same actions.

With the force of the punches came the stirring of the waves as the power behind them caused shockwaves to spill out and stir the waves they were standing upon as Daiki would break the contact between the two and jump up in order to gain some distance and catch his breath. With that done he would go back in and try to get a few punches past the man's defenses to no avail as the man seemed to know exactly everything that Daiki was thinking throughout the battle enough to block every attempt that Daiki made in order to get the upper hand. "You're still not getting it, little boy... You want to defeat me? You're going to have to defeat your own mind." With that said the man picked up and threw Daiki as he soared across the sky in order to crash against the trunk of a nearby tree and he fell down to the ground. He got up to his feet slowly and was astounded that that didn't hurt as much as he believed it was supposed to as he felt around along his back and could feel that his skin along his back had hardened amazingly.

With a relaxing of his chakra his skin went back to it's original form as he took in a few breaths and channeled his chakra along his body once again in order to form a few more hand seals which caused the water in the river to swirl around and soar through the air towards him and surround him much like his chakra aura did. With this water he would form a few more hand seals as the water would jut out and make it's way rapidly across the air for the purpose of crashing into the man who just stood there as calm as could be. He sank into the water before the water could hit him and the water crashed into the river only to shift along with the river's tide and flow in the way as it was supposed to. With that being done Daiki channeled chakra back into one of his fists, the fist growing hard as steel as his skin darkened, and he directed a chakra infused punch into the ground yet again.

The power of the punch would cause the ground to splinter and crack as a hole formed where the punch landed. It wasn't anything serious but it was enough for Daiki to grab a part of the ground with his hands and pull it apart in order to reveal in the earth where the man was hiding. "Found you." He thus dove into the crack that he had formed and tried to punch the man once again but he sank into the ground further causing Daiki to have to jump up and out of the hole in order to try and find him wherever he may have turned up. He didn't have to look for very long as he looked to see that the man was standing on the surface of the water once again. As Daiki watched the man he could see the light of the punch he had landed earlier was keeping it's constant shine but wasn't spreading which gave Daiki the idea that he needed to help it spread if anything was going to come of this fight. He got down into a stance, channeling water and steel into his hands once again, as the man got out a fresh kunai from his robe and got into a stance of his own.

This battle had gone on for too long. Daiki could sense it and he needed to get it finished as soon as he possibly could. But how? 'So the only way that I can defeat you is if I first defeat my mind?' His thoughts would focus upon these words as he closed his eyes and tried to focus on his chakra in order to direct it into his brain. He had a feeling this is what he was supposed to do but he had no idea if it was going to work. He opened his eyes and concentrated once again and found that his chakra wasn't quite up to snuff in taking care of whatever the man had placed within his mind. He looked over to the man who had flipped up a log from out of nowhere and was getting ready to toss it at Daiki as Daiki knew he had to prepare for what was coming as he got down into a stance and started to focus. The man would throw the log with full force towards Daiki all as Daiki closed his eyes once again.

With a series of deep breaths he concentrated most of his chakra through his body, his moderately developed muscles tensing up and becoming infused with the energy that traveled through them, as all of his chakra made it's way into his fist causing a small blue glow to surround it. He focused his eyes into an imaginary target directly in the center of the center log as he continued to concentrate and condense the chakra surrounding his fist into a more denser and stronger aura. 'Focus your chakra into a single point and fine tune it into an unstoppable force that can't be denied... Concentrate...' With a little more concentration the ball of chakra glowed brighter as it started to cause the air surrounding it to shift which in turn caused Daiki's clothes and hair to sway gently as well as the grass beneath him. 'Flow like a stream... Blast away like a tsunami!' And with that thought he brought his fist hard and fast around as it connected with the log right where he wanted it. The result was astonishing as the log wound up splintering into hundreds of pieces as they all flew towards the man who dodged like a puppet on a string once again.

Daiki took this chance to focus on his brain's chakra output once again as he could feel his chakra flowing into his brain in order to pinpoint what exactly it was that he was looking for. After a while of focusing he heard a whoosh of air once again as he moved his head back in order to avoid the incoming shuriken that flew by his head as he flipped over and got back onto his feet in order to get out a kunai in order to prepare for another incoming attack. Power coursed through his body once again as he rushed towards the man who was charging back towards him with his kunai poised and ready to strike. The two would clash as the sparks would fly and float down to the ground as the grass beneath them would catch it but not be affected by the sparks as they weren't real except only in the mind of Daiki. He knew this. He felt this. But it all certainly seemed extremely real.

He directed a punch directly at the shadow's face but the shadow proved too quick as he merely sidestepped the punch strong enough to cause a whoosh of air to blow away from his fist. With a slap the shadow sent Daiki flying back face first towards a nearby wall but with great athletic skill he managed to flip around as his feet cushioned his stop before he used them to propel him off the wall at high speed towards his target once more. This time he would bring his hands up in order to form a few hand seals before two more of him would appear out of nowhere and aim their own punches towards the confident shadow. The shadow didn't even dodge this time as he knew the two clones were simple illusions before he brought his hand around and gripped the real Daiki by the neck and shoved his face into the ground. Daiki was getting frustrated; not only was he reliving yet another defeat at the hands of his greatest enemy but he was having difficulty fighting this guy within his own imagination? The figure gave a slight menacing chuckle as he mashed Daiki's face into the ground a bit more.

As soon as that happened Daiki wrapped his legs around the man's arm and used his chakra to strengthen his legs in order to get himself out of the grip and flip around back onto his feet all the while focusing his chakra into his brain in order to try and shut a certain section of chakra flow down inside it. As he did this the man got back up to his feet and charged at him once again as Daiki could tell he knew what he was planning and dodged out of the way of the kunai that was coming down upon him from up high. The two would battle with their kunai, the ring of steel echoing inside Daiki's mind along with the light of the sparks that flew flowing across his eyes, as he tried everything he could in order to stop the man from getting an advantage against him. This was proving to be very difficult even though the two had been battling for what had to have been nearly half an hour and Daiki took an advantage when he saw it by grabbing the man by his arm and swinging him around in order to throw him full force towards the same tree that he had been thrown into earlier.

The man passed through the tree as he passed through everything that he had come into contact with which was Daiki's cue to really concentrate and channel on the chakra point within his mind. He had to really struggle with this as sweat poured down from his forehead and his Senju cells were working into overdrive in order to make certain nothing bad was going to happen to his brain as a result of his exertion. Until finally he felt it. The chakra in his brain suddenly crashed and unraveled as he felt his body relax and the man disappeared from his vision completely. He couldn't feel his presence anywhere anymore as he collapsed onto the ground out of exhaustion and he felt his chakra relax completely as his muscles were screaming at him from all the exertion he had just put them through. He was in pain all over as his DNA was steadily trying to reconstruct his torn muscles in order to get them functioning once again. He couldn't stay here on the ground forever after all as he took a few minutes in order to rest himself up and get back home.

He closed his eyes and breathed in through his nose in order to smell the grass that he was laying upon, his ears picking up the sounds of the wind that flowed all around him and brought fresh smelling leaves along his body every so often, as he allowed his body to rest for as long as it needed all as the sun was starting to set in the distance. The field was becoming slowly covered in the shade of darkness as the air was becoming cooler and was blowing over his sweaty body which brought a level of pleasure across his body as well as relief for certain parts of his skin. He could hear as the birds were chirping in the distance all as the earth settled and the water became clear and gentle flowing once again as everything settled from the battle that Daiki had just had with himself. The grass tickled his nose as he rested before finally he decided that his body had gotten enough rest and that he needed to get up and start walking home before the true soreness of his exercise started to overtake his body. He could tell that when the crash came it was going to be a really hard one.

He thus placed his hands on the ground underneath him and pushed as he raised his body up to his feet and he exerted all his power into standing up to his full height as he looked around and used the nearby tree in order to keep himself from falling back down. He got everything that he had come with quickly as he walked along the road slowly that led back into the village from the training field. He stumbled along the path, choosing ones that were less populated by people so that he wouldn't look like a weirdo stumbling everywhere, as he made his way home which took him several minutes due to how tired and sore he was. He opened his door and walked into his apartment, closing the door behind him and locking the door, as he tossed everything onto the kitchen counter that was next to him and walking into the bathroom while getting his clothing off and turning the shower on.

As he stepped into his shower, taking breaks in order to sit down and wash while having some semblance of relief from being off of his feet, as his mind wondered into his memories in order to see if he had forgotten anything due to his latest stunt. He closed his eyes and let the hot water of the shower coat his body as he could feel a calm washing over him both on the outside and the inside. This was actually serving to reinvigorate his mind set and body as he soon opened his eyes and washed his hair getting all the water and dirt that had gathered inside his blond hair as he watched it all flow off his hair into the drain before him. He then got up to his feet and washed the rest of the dirt off of his body and turned off the shower before grabbing a towel and drying his body off while again stumbling out of the shower. He looked up to see that the mirror was fogged up due to the mist that had gathered all along the mirror's surface so much so that he couldn't see himself or any sort of reflection from the mirror because of how steamed it was. He wiped it down before turning on the water in his sink and getting his toothbrush ready and began to brush his teeth. His teeth was definitely in need of it due to the dirt that had accumulated along the surface of his teeth. As he did so thoughts of what he had gone through for the day cropped up into his mind as he couldn't help but feel that he still had quite a ways to go before he would be done with his nightmares and trials. He would make certain of that.

He finished brushing off his teeth and spat out the toothpaste along his teeth before cutting the water off and standing there for a while in order to get feeling back into his legs before walking out of the bathroom into his bedroom in order to collapse onto the top of his bed. The fan over him was on at full blast as his entire body was bare for the cool air of the fan to hit and air dry his body. 'That was so much of a waste of energy I don't know how much rest I'm going to need. I'm freaking tired.' His consciousness soon fell deep into the dark and faded away as his thoughts went back to the man that was the ire of his nerves and emotions. 'I found myself a victory against him today... but I can still feel him... I haven't totally cast him out and I will need to do more before I can achieve that goal.' He moved his body in the bed, getting his legs underneath the covers, as he repositioned his pillow under his head in order to get his body into a more comfortable setting. 'Just you wait you bastard. I'll conquer you one day. I promise.' And with that his consciousness fell fully into dreamland, his body immediately taking to it's tiredness and following suit with his mind in shutting down, as he gave one final smile in victory.

WC 10,506

Claiming 105 stats (55 in chakra and 50 in strength), activation of Hiyu kidney (+25 bonus to vigor), and the techs Chakra Scalpel, Internal Severance, Bloodletting Tech, Chakra Absorption, and C rank version of Block.

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