Cursed Training

[Shougou]

Shougou walked slowly out towards the great marsh of Kirigakure. This was the first training he had undergone since he had recovered from his little experience with Akira and he was a still a little unsteady on his feet. Letting out a sigh he thought to himself, Ah geez, if I keep falling behind on my training when stuff like this happens there's no way I'm gonna win that tournament. Shougou had changed his from his usual attire into something more suiting for the climate. His basic standard issue pants remained the same however he had removed his chuunin jacket and head band in favor of a loose, black sleeveless T-shirt. Swatting a mosquito away from his face he wondered how anyone could come out and train every day in this kind of muggy heat. I'll take crisp, clean mountain air any day. he thought. As he stretched Shougou looked around his training area, inspecting the ground make-up and the condition of the trees. Any earth I try to make will just get absorbed by this shitty bog. he thought, poking at the ground and watching as his finger was sucked deeper as soon as it made contact. It's more of a liquid than a solid. he realized as he pulled his finger out, the odd sucking sensation making it surprisingly difficult. Bringing his arm up to his shoulder where the cursed seal was he thought, Maybe I should try to figure out how to control this thing more... Once during his examination after returning to Konoha it had somehow activated causing the destruction of the hospital room as well as nearly killing one of the nurses. Leaping up into the air Shougou tried to imagine Akira's smug face and the feeling he had while trying to knock his hat off. "Rotten bastard could have killed me with his damn games." he spat, bringing his fist crashing through the trunk of one of the trees on his way down. Pulling his hand from it the tree collapsed and fell over, getting swallowed by the muck on contact. Looking over at his arm he saw that the seal had spread from his shoulder to near his elbow. Then again, he did give me this thing. Time to really open up and see what this thing can do!

Punching out a bunch of trees Shougou suspended three of them in a row hanging above the swamp. Sitting in a tree next to them Shougou tightened his wire to ensure that the trees he was currently using as well as all the one's he had stocked up on would sink into the mud. Content with the status of the wires Shougou lept up form his spot driving his knee hard though the trees, blasting through them like twigs. "Oh yeah!" he shouted, pieces of wood whizzing by him as he flew towards the ground. As he landed he sent a burst of chakra towards his feet allowing him to jump back up into the tree's before he was swallowed by the mud. But I bet this thing can do more... he thought, the power coursing through his body, emanating from the seal on his shoulder which was by now had reverted from the insignia of Akira's organization back into it's original Heaven Seal form. Letting the rest of his tree's swing free (there were around ten but the trees in this area weren't all that strong so it was morel like five regular trees, about a foot thick each) Shougou readied himself for a second attack. Leaping form his perch Shougou spun around mid air to bring his shin shattering through the trees, sending debris everywhere as he once again chakra jumped his way back to his original perch. "Now THAT'S power!" he shouted triumphantly. Inspecting his handiwork, Seven....eight, EIGHT! Dammit! Still not strong enough. he had only broken eight of the ten total trees he had set up. By now the curse seal had covered his entire body. Falling to his knees on Shougou's hand flew up to his shoulder as a wave of pain shot throughout his body. Damn! I've only been using this thing a little bit and the seal is already starting to react to the cursed seal.

Picking himself up Shougou thought now would be a good time to test how much his chakra was enhanced by the seal. So far he knew it obviously greatly increased his speed and strength (although not as much as it had that time it was initially activated) but he wanted to see the effects of it on his ninjutsu. Once he was released from the hospital in Konoha Shougou had set about trying to learn as much as he could about the cursed seal in case there were any nasty side effects Akira had failed to mention. So far he hadn't found many, just the usual wear and tear of any jutsu that gave temporary strength, but what he had found concerning elemental affinities is what really caught his attention. Apparently his seal, the cursed seal of heaven had an affinity for Katon jutsu. Growing up Shougou was taught at an early age how to manipulate earth with his kekkai genkai to enhance his Taijutsu. But it wasn't until recently when he had been finding greater needs for ninjutsu did he really push into it. But now that he had found his cursed seal responded most to Katon jutsu he borrowed a few scrolls from the library and began practicing a few new tricks. Leaping high up to the top of the tree he was standing on where the branches were baked dry from the sun Shougou snapped off a twig before landing back in his original position. Focusing his chakra in the palm of his hand Shougou tried to increase the heat of the twig as much as he could. Focus, focus... he thought channeling more chakra into his hand. While chakra manipulation came almost naturally to Shougou he had never created something form nothing as Katon jutsu did. His Doton merely dealt with manipulating what was already there into what he needed it to be. Looking down Shougou noticed that the cursed seal had begun to creep it's way up his arm and across his chest without him even realizing it. I need to learn to keep that thing in check when it needs to be. he thought, just as the twig suddenly burst into flame. Well alright then. Lets try something bigger shall we? he thought, pulling one of the scroll he had "borrowed" out of his pocket. Looking over it quickly Shougou practiced running though the hand signs a few times before replacing the scroll in his pocket. Inhaling and focusing his chakra in his mouth Shougou ran through the hand signs as fast as he could (which wasn't all that fast) before bringing his hand to his mouth and expelling a jet of fire, Katon:Goukakyuu no Jutsu!! Allowing his hand to drop to his side Shougou plopped down onto the branch he was sitting on. His "great ball of fire" as the jutsu description had said was more like a puff that flew a few inches from his face be fore fizzling out. So much for that... he thought. Looking down at his hands he saw that the cursed seal had receded. Thinking back, it had been gone when he was running through the hand signs. Standing up with greater determination than before Shougou once again went over the hand signs in his mind, the curse seal beginning to flow over his body. Repeating his gestures from before Shougou inhaled and, Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!!!! This time a great fire ball did erupt form his mouth, still not much bigger than a six foot diameter but that was still something to be proud of! Well, it seems that I have a while to go yet with Katon jutsu without the help of the cursed seal, but I'll get there before the tournament I think! he thought as he collapsed onto the branch once again.

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I'm just adding the stats in the absence of Geddy since I need them before the tournament starts

Strength: +4
Ninjutsu: +2

This post has been edited by Shougou on Jul 25 2008, 04:05 PM

[Geddy]

Sure. I guess I'll also allow you Katon and the following jutsu:

Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu
Katon: Housenka no Jutsu
Katon: Karyuu Endan