Polishin' the Guns [Training]

[Uchiha Satori]

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[atrb=cellspacing,4,true][atrb=cellpadding,5px,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,400,true][atrb=style, background-image: url(http://i.imgur.com/Vrs56.png); border-radius: 0px 30px 0px 0px; -moz-border-radius: 0px 30px 0px 0px; border: 5px solid #222222;] It was that time of the month again. Training time! Satori set out early at dawn, knowing that the training grounds wouldn't be in use for this time of day. Since he planned on giving his body a workout, he left all of his equipment at home, taking only some cloth to use as a handwrap to protect his knuckles. Konoha's usual warmth radiated throughout the training grounds while the sun just barely peeked over the horizon, casting an orange hue over the area. Sato lazily wrapped his hands in the cloth before walking over to one of the three wooden stumps that rest in the middle of the training grounds and slammed his left fist into one to test the strength of the binding. There was little pain, so he shifted into a fighting stance and jabbed at the stump with his right, then went in for a left hook. The hook hit the stump with enough force that it shook, but otherwise appeared unharmed. The Uchiha continued pouncing at the tempered wood until his knuckles had split, staining the handwrap with crimson. He sighed softly as he fished more of the cloth out of his pocket, giving his hands a second layer before shifting into a fighting stance again... only to drop it a few moments later. Aimlessly punching trees would only get him so far, so he decided that it was time to do a bit of mimicry. A small burst of chakra activated his Sharingan as he dropped onto all fours, taking the stance that Inari was so fond of. To be perfectly honest, he felt that the stance was a bit awkward and unwieldy to use... especially considering that unlike Inari, it was fairly important for Satori to leave his hands available should he need to preform a jutsu. On the other hand, the point of this training was to make it so that he was less reliant on nin and genjutsu in the first place. Sato lashed out with one of his hands towards the bottom of the stump, leaving a gash on it as his nails scraped it. Although not nearly as 'crafted' as Inari's, his fingernails had still been filed into small points. After hitting the stump a few more times, Sato shoved both hands against the ground and whipped around while lifting a leg to slap it into the stump near it's crown, about where the neck would be on an average-sized man. From this position he pushed up further, trying to balance on one hand... only to awkwardly topple onto the ground. He'd attempted to imitate Inari's movements, specifically that of the Kitsune Shippo, but his body just wasn't up to it at the moment. Instead, he preformed an ukemi to quickly hop to his feet, now taking the stance of a Gouken practitioner- one arm held behind his back near the waist while the other was curved a bit, extended towards the middle stump with his fingers held together, pointing towards the sky. His feet came together perpendicularly at the heel, as if he were preparing to play a violin. Unlike Inari's style, Sato had much more experience with Gouken. Although he wouldn't consider himself an avid user of the style, perhaps that would change once he became more adept at Taijutsu in general. From this stance, the Uchiha lunged forward, slamming his left elbow into the wood before leaning over, whipping the left leg out to catch the stump in the side as a followup to the initial strike. With the combination complete, he leaped back a few feet to widen the gap between the target and himself so he could reassess the situation. "Much better. Sorry, Inari, I just don't think playin' fox is for me." He suddenly dashed forward, kicking off into the air to preform a whirlwind kick, just barely missing the top of the stump before landing on the one foot, spinning around to thrust his foot back and slam it into the wood, causing it to shake again from the force of the blow. Again, Sato pulled back once the attack was completed, stretching out a little now that that part of the workout was finished. "Next is... a hundred laps around the lake, I guess." He sighed softly, but he'd made a promise to himself... so there was nothing to do but to just go for it. The Uchiha slowly walked up to the edge of the lake before taking off, jogging at a steady pace as he followed the riverbank. The first few laps were easy, but he was already starting to feel the first tinge of fatigue at the eight, having already somewhat worn himself down with the shadow sparring. By the twentieth, Sato had started to pant softly, droplets of sweat forming on his forehead. By the fiftieth, his robes were heavy with water, brow slick with sweat. Even though it was foolish, he'd started to run by this point, desperate for the torture to end. By the seventieth, he had to stop and hunch over, hands on his knees while panting heavily. "T-This... this is some dumb bullshit... who would even want to do this to themselves?" He tried to start running again, but his muscles were sore and aching, making it feel like he was carrying around lead weights. Still, somehow he managed to grit his teeth and press forward, returning to the planned exercise. On his eighty-fourth lap, Sato's jog slowed to a mere hobble. He tried to keep going, but the sweat-soaked clothes were holding him back. He slowly raised an arm to the sky, gasping for air while trying to press on... only to collapse on the grass, panting roughly while muttering curses at whoever 'invented' this hell called physical exertion. [Dialogue Color]: Text [Word Count]: [982/--] — give in, to the shadows that keep calling for you tonight obey the shadows cry