{Training Ground #10, Konohagakure}
{12:17 PM, 5th Apr 13 Yrs ANB}
{3rd Person POV}
Ren arrived at the entrance to the training ground that was assigned to team #10 and it didn't take him long to find 3 people lying on the ground dozing off. Slightly amused at their synced breathing Ren stood in front of Asuma sensei who was already looking at him.
"It's been a while Asuma Sensei," Ren greeted as both Shikamaru and Choji opened their eyes in alarm, Asuma looked at Ren with narrowed eyes and spoke, "Show me."
Ren unsheathed his sword and held it horizontally in front of him, in a second the whole sword was glowing blue as a stable layer of chakra covered the blade. Asuma stood up and walked closer, he bent forward and looked closely at the wind chakra covering the sword.
"Interesting..." Asuma muttered as he leaned back and looked at Ren who stopped using {Chakra Flow} and the sword went back to normal, he swung the sword upwards and put it back in the sheathe.
"So what's the next step?" Ren asked, he had seen how destructive wind chakra could be, and considering that it would be his primary weapon he was interested in honing his advantages.
"How long can you keep up {Chakra Flow} on that sword of yours?" Asuma asked.
"Uh, around a minute..." Ren replied he was also quite concerned about that point but then he figured when his chakra reserves improved he would be able to maintain it a lot longer.
Asuma sighed and motioned him to hand over the sword, Ren obliged and Asuma held the sword the same way Ren did just now. A blue-colored chakra layer covered the sword again with its reach extending a lot longer than when Ren used {Chakra Flow}.
"What is the difference," Asuma asked as Ren looked carefully at the whole sword, the chakra seemed stronger but Ren could sense that something was off about the way the chakra moved on the blade.
"You are mixing wind chakra with normal chakra while using chakra flow," Ren spoke and then realized he was being an idiot, he was so immersed in perfecting wind chakra that whenever he was using {Chakra Flow} he was using pure wind chakra to coat all over the sword.
"I was using {Chakra Flow} with pure wind chakra which was a waste as I only needed to apply wind chakra at the edges and the tip, the rest of the chakra could be normal chakra thus making me waste less chakra," Ren spoke as Asuma nodded and gave the sword back.
"Yes, although you won't be able to do it as easily as you just explained it, but with time and experience you will be able to even just use wind chakra at the places where your sword makes contact with your opponents," Asuma spoke and then indicated to the various portions of the sword where most people would block the sword.
"Highly refined pure wind chakra becomes almost invisible so in a pressured high fight environment and if you have enough control over your chakra you could use just a tiny amount of wind chakra and manipulate it to move around the sword mid-fight," Asuma spoke, his eyes had a shine that Ren had trouble placing on the older Jonin's face.
"Still that is the epitome of wind chakra manipulation that most wind users try to achieve but very few have been able to do it, you need almost perfect control over your chakra and high proficiency in wind chakra manipulation along with ultra-fast reflexes to be able to do so," Asuma spoke before he pulled out his uniquely-designed trench knives.
"That's why I use these, they are specifically designed to help with {Chakra Flow}, and at the same time, they have a small surface area so during an intensive fight I don't burn through my reserves in under a minute. I had these made when I was a chunin because I didn't have as much control over my chakra as I have now, and in time I have gotten used to this fighting style." Asuma spoke as he hung the trench knives back on his waist.
'Right, during a fight burning through my chakra in just a minute by trying to completely cover my sword in wind chakra isn't a good idea. Asuma sensei's method seems like a good idea but I don't think I will be able to afford those custom-made trench knives...'
Stolen story; please report.
Ren went through his options in his mind, at least his situation wasn't as bad since he already had a chakra blade that helped him in mastering {Chakra Flow}. The situation could simply be solved by leveling up {Chakra Flow} to max and at the same time refining his chakra control and mastering wind manipulation.
"I understand, thank you Asuma Sensei," Ren bowed slightly and then asked, "How do I further refine my wind chakra manipulation, I was able to complete the leaf-cutting exercise."
"I know," Asuma nodded as he looked at Ren once again then shrugged, "There is a whole systematic way for you to master your wind chakra manipulation, you have already managed to cut the leaf which is the first step, the second step consists of cutting a flowing stream of water or a river into two. After that, you have to divide a waterfall with wind chakra and then you can move on to cutting more solid materials like wood and then stone to further refine your wind chakra's lethality."
Ren thought about the training plan and then nodded, he waved at Shikamaru before running out of the training ground in the direction of Training Ground #21.
...
A quick run later he arrived at the lake that was present in the training ground, almost all training grounds in Konoha had an artificial lake that was created by a combination of Earth and Water Jutsus. Ren surveyed the lake for a bit before he found a good place at the corner of the training ground.
'This should work, I just need a small stream for now so digging up a small corner of the lake and then creating a small pathway that discharges the water to a less elevated area at a slow rate would work.'
Hare → Boar → Dog
'Earth Release: Earth Shore Return'
Ren walked back a little bit and went through the hand seals for the only Earth Release jutsu he knew. He went through the hand seals and then slammed his hands onto the ground, a small slab of Earth rose from the ground and rose perpendicular to the ground.
He maintained his chakra and looked at the wall in front of him before letting go of his hands before the wall stabilized, he dashed in front and kicked at the topmost portion of the wall flipping the wall backward.
~Bang~
The wall slammed backward as water rushed to Ren's feet from the edge of the lake, he smiled and jumped to the left side of the small trench that he just created.
Hare → Boar → Dog
'Earth Release: Earth Shore Return'
Ren repeated the jutsu at least 4 more times before in a zigzag manner creating a continuous trench that finally toppled over into the tree line. The area of the forest was at a lower elevation than the lake so the water continuously flew into the forest but a quick use of Earth manipulation stopped this leakage.
Ren looked at the trench that he had just dug but at least the lake was a little too big compared to the trench so this method should work for quite some time.
'Sooner or later I would need to learn some ninjutsu to fill in this lake again or ask someone else for help, till then this should be fine...' Ren thought as he once again dismantled the barrier he had created and a small stream started flowing once again.
Ren walked over and stood on top of the flowing stream and crouched down, he put both of his palms on the water's surface and channeled wind chakra through them. There was no change so he increased the input and under both of his hands the stream parted as the wind chakra cut through the flowing stream.
...
[Skill learned {Waterfall Cutting Exercise}]
[Waterfall Cutting Exercise: Lvl 1 (0% to Next Lvl)]
[An advanced Wind chakra manipulation exercise that focuses on using wind chakra to cleave a flowing waterfall into two, this skill allows the user better control of their wind chakra.]
[Uses 25 CP per minute]
[+2% to Wind per Level.]
...
A blue box appeared in front of Ren, after confirming that he got the new skill he focused on grinding the skill with the chakra that he had remaining.
...
After spending the last 200 chakra that he had not counting the 150 chakra that he always leaves for emergency scenarios Ren blocked the stream once again and walked back to the centre of the training ground.
He activated the Resistance seal at Level 7, the current level that his body was used to, and selected to wear the weights from his inventory as he unsheathed his sword.
'As Yugao-san pointed out to me before there are some rhythm problems that I have been experiencing because my body is not used to fighting at my natural speed. I should do 3 cycles of all the stances and then continue to decrease the resistance every time...'
Once Ren had his plan he immediately began moving from one form to another, the level 7 resistance seal restricted his movements but his higher VIT and END managed to make up for the damage his muscles were experiencing because of the seals.
...
'I need to figure out a way to get used to my improving speed faster than this method, if I have to do this every time my DEX changes it would be a bit of a time waste...'
...