Kurai flew over the forest below, watching the never ending mass of trees and greenery. She was on one of her routine flights over her territory, making sure everything was safe.
It was only a little while until it got dark, and as she finished her patrol, she circled back to where she knew Kuroichi was training as of that moment.
A few days ago, Kuroichi once again sat in front of the scrolls about water release, making sure to commit everything to memory. It didn't take long for him to understand everything that was written, his memory had only gotten better the longer he was in this world.
He focused most of his attention on the Water Release: Water Bullet Jutsu, as it seemed simpler to learn at first hand compared to the water wall and clone jutsu.
From the texts inside the scrolls he learned that the process of casting elemental natured jutsu was different compared to chakra neutral jutsu, mainly caused by the fact that the seals used for elemental jutsu 'automatically' incorporated changing the chakra into the required nature, like water for example.
Naturally, while the person casting the jutsu uses the seals, the chakra is molded according to the seals and the process of turning into neutral chakra into water nature chakra begins, but the person still has to internally control the process. If it is not, then risks of injury and in some cases death could very easily happen.
Just imagining himself practicing the jutsu, messing up with the tempo of turning chakra into a water bullet, and firing it before it's stable and ready mildly horrified him, so he decided to be extra careful and observe clearly what's happening when he uses the jutsu for the first time.
'I really really hope that I even have an affinity for water jutsu. If I don't, then I'd be in a very awkward position… never mind let's not think about that.' Kuroichi thought, but he quickly came back to reality and focused on the things before him.
He packed up the scrolls, quickly cleaned up and then left the direct vicinity of his shelter to go to a spot he usually uses for target practice.
The small clearing was quiet as Kuroichi stood barefoot on the earth, his hands loosely on his sides as he closed his eyes in focus. Kurai silently perched atop one of the trees nearby, her gaze following all of his movements.
He inhaled slowly, gathering chakra from his core and letting it flow throughout his body. The water bullet jutsu was supposed to be one of the simpler jutsu to learn because of it's straightforward nature, at least on paper.
Manipulating the chakra internally, molding it, helped by the use of hand seals, converting it into the water element, imagining the jutsu and it's result, and then expelling it in a condensed projectile from the mouth. However, even basic techniques weren't so simple to learn when theory met practice.
He brought his hands together in a steady rhythm, each seal flowing into the next while shaping the chakra to it's desired form. He took a deep breath and pushed the chakra upwards, directing it towards his mouth. As if done by itself, the chakra started twisting into the water element.
For a second he thought he could clearly feel the shift in texture and form, cool and fluid, gathering at the base of his throat, like a buildup before a sneeze, but then it spiked.
His eyes snapped open as his cheeks puffed up unnaturally. The chakra in his throat began to wobble and vibrate as if resisting the form he tried to give it. Now it felt like he didn't have water in his throat, but an unstable bomb just waiting to go off.
It felt volatile and unstable to him, 'Too much!' he thought, as he cut of the flow. The chakra dissipated, and he slightly staggered backwards, coughing and wiping the sweat from his brow.
Thankfully, the water bullet hadn't exploded, but the possibility was definitely there. Without proper control, the jutsu could backfire anytime.
Kurai hooted from above, a sound that clearly sounded like concern to him.
"I'm fine," he said to her as he looked up. "It's just trickier than I initially thought."
He tried again. Then again. And again. Hours passed, as the sun shifted across the sky. A glistening gleam of sweat clung to his skin. Each attempt ended in a fizzle of mist or an unstable surge of chakra. Still, he wouldn't stop and pressed on.
He forgot how many times he had tried the jutsu by then, having taken several breaks in between to fill up his chakra reserves, but eventually he felt like he was getting closer and closer.
The chakra began flowing more smoothly, slipping into the water nature with less resistance. He could feel the pressure forming in his mouth like a heavy mass. However, this time, instead of spiking or thrashing around, it slightly pulsed with chakra and rhythm, appearing completely stable.
"Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu!"
A bullet of water blasted from his lips, arcing forward in a tight form and then splashing against a mossy log with a satisfying splatter.
It wasn't powerful, but he definitely cast the jutsu correctly this time. A grin broke across his face. "I did it!"
Kurai let out an encouraging hoot, her wings spreading in acknowledgement.
This time, he directly felt the whole process of casting the jutsu, and he was mesmerized by the sensation of his chakra turning into actual water.
'Affinity…'
The word had been mentioned in the scrolls and he had already been thinking about that issue a few times before, but only briefly. Every shinobi had a natural inclination towards a specific element. Some even had an innate affinity toward multiple elements, but most people had to force their chakra into unfamiliar elements, making it incredibly time consuming and more difficult to learn.
"I have to have a water affinity" he murmured. "It felt too natural, like it wanted to turn to water."
There had been this kind of ease, despite him struggling with it in the beginning, like his chakra had wanted to become water, and his difficulty had just been in directing it in the right way. What at the beginning was a mostly unstable process, had gradually become manageable and stable enough to control it.
He imagined that the more he practiced the jutsu, the more he would get used to casting it, eventually turning into something similar to muscle memory.
He turned toward the tree where Kurai sat, and with a shrug of his shoulders said, "You know, you probably have a wind affinity, but you never know."
Kurai blinked at him, her head tilting slightly.
"Swift, sharp, agile and sometimes silent. Also you're always flying around like a gust of air. Wind would suit you for sure."
She hooted once, low and approving, as if amused by his deduction.
Kurai walked forward and took a closer look at the place where the water bullet hit the log. It had left a visible imprint and gouged out a small dent in the bark, but it obviously didn't have much power behind it.
'They're only water bullets now, but later…'
"I'll make them sharp enough to easily cut through stone."
Kurai noticed his exhaustion, flapped down from the branch and landed beside him, her black feathers ruffling in the breeze. He took a little time to recover and relax, sitting in silence and just listening to the sounds coming from the forest around them.
However, his training wasn't over yet for that day, he continued refining his newly learned jutsu.
That's what he had been doing for the past couple of days. She'd been silently watching from the side at first, just entertaining herself with this or that, but now she decided to do something about it.
She missed doing stuff with Kuroichi, while he was consumed with playing with water. 'Hmpf, not anymore!' she would have thought if she actually had thoughts in human language.
She flew over to where he was and landed close to him, seeing him standing in a clearing rhythmically forming seals and then shooting a water ball out of his mouth.
As he finished casting the next one, she dove down and started hovering close to where his head was, while hitting it constantly with one of her wings.
"Hey stop that. Hahah what are you doing?"
She didn't stop, only when he snatched her from the air, holding her tightly with care, and asked, "Okay tell me, what is up with you today?"
She gave him a look that conveyed more than words could.
"Alright, maybe I have been a little too obsessed recently, what do you want to do? It's important.. but I guess I should make sure to take enough breaks.", he said.
"What do you think about going for a hunt deeper in the forest when it start's getting dark in a little while?"
Though she didn't understand the exact words he said and their meanings, she got the gist of it by his tone of voice, the apologetic look on his face and knowing the words hunt, forest and dark.
She nodded he head, clearly ready to go whenever.
"Alright, then we should we should go now, otherwise it'll be too late." He said as he quickly gathered the few things he had lying around in the clearing and left for his shelter with Kurai. Once there he quickly freshened up, got his knife, just in case, and off they went.
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