"One... More...!"
Akagi pushed his chest off the ground and felt the crushing weight of the rocks on his back beginning to slip. Extending his elbows as his chest muscles cried out in pain, Akagi let out a long winded grunt. Twisting his back in a right helix, all the stones stacked on his back had fallen onto the flat stone ground. Akagi had picked out an arch from a rock formation that had a flat spot large enough and shaded to train inside away from the heat. The flat stone slowly inclined as it arched upward connecting with its adjoining piece above him. However for the sides exposed to the desert brought a cool breeze of air that would refresh Akagi from the heat of the day. Still lying flat to the ground Akagi would push off the ground again with ease having dumped the stones weighing him down. Bringing his knees under him and resting on the tips of his toes, arms crossed over his knees, Akagi looked out at the expanse. Waves of sand lapped against mesas and rocks with light from the sky reflecting off the surface to make an orchestra of color decorate the land. The ocean before him had always captivated his thoughts, the breath of the desert was cool and inviting and had always felt that way since Akagi was young. However, he had not come there to take breaks and admire the desert, he had come to try out a few new things he had picked up on.
Akagi stood up straight balancing himself as he outstretched his arms, feeling a strange and unusual energy begin to exude from his very being. For the first time Akagi began to focus in on this force and honed its energy onto his hands. The strange aura became visible and protruded from Akagi's hands in a mix of aquamarine and a light purple. The energy sharpened and jetted out of his hand, watching, Akagi began to think of all the possibilities he could achieve with more practice. Lowering his hands as the energy dissipated, Akagi bent over and began searching inside a bag that he had layed next to him earlier. Akagi was wearing his signature long-sleeve and harem with a cloak lying on the ground, along with the bandage wrapped around Akagi's left arm. The rummaging made barely any noise as Akagi had packed lightly and only brought the essentials of food and water, two kunai's, and his sword Suna Tsume. After rummaging for a while through canteens and packages, he felt the metal edge of a kunai. Pulling it out carefully as to not rip open anything in the bag, Akagi drew it out and placed his hand on the hilt.
Looking directly upward to the arching ceiling of rock, Akagi spotted a crack perfect for fitting a kunai. With a few attempts he successfully tossed it up and lodged it in between the crack 30 feet above him. Looking down from the kunai, Akagi focused his vision on the inclining rock that arced up to his destination. Placing his hands at his side and bending his knees, he sprinted toward the sloping wall, taking his foot and planting it against the wall applying chakra to the soles of his feet. Striding up the wall 20 feet he leaped from the wall toward the kunai. Still a considerable distance from the kunai, an aura pulsed from Akagi as he warped just a foot away from it and with a swipe of his hand, pulled it from the crack and fell. Landing at the exact point he started, his knees buckled as he landed. With a cool confident look, his eyes found the same crack, Rinse and repeat. After countless hours of his routine of switching between physical training and chakra manipulation, Akagi had reached his limit. Sweating profusely and on the verge of dehydration, he pulled out his cantine and drank every inch of water inside it. The cool water hit his tongue and throat revitalizing him, the heat however was beating him into a corner. Searching for the second canteen in his bag Akagi's eyes picked up on the red rays that were cascading through his small nook in the large desert. Feeling the canteen, Akagi shifted his body toward the sun gleaming toward him taking a swig and holding the water in his mouth and spitting it out onto his hands. Forming quick hand seals that he had practiced when he wasn't training Akagi condensed chakra into the palm of his hand feeling the cold water on the surface. Lightly condensing the water, he then released it at a low pressure stream that flew into the air above, scattering and falling down onto his head like a silent rain fall. The sun was lowering on the horizon and signaled that it was time to head back to the village in time for dinner. Grabbing his now moist cloak, stuffing his canteens into his bag, Akagi got onto one knee gathering his items. First he threw the cloak over his head and let it drape over his shoulders and arms, the hood falling neatly onto his head. Than grabbing his sheathed sword and sliding the strap over his back, along with his bag that went over-top the sword. Holding his hood as a breeze blew in blowing his cloak around, Akagi leaped from the arch to the sand below. With a grunt and a slow pace he had landed and was making his way toward the village far in the distance. However, after a few feet he would see figures on the dune just ahead of him barely out of sight, this sign could be for the better or for the worse.
[WC: 960]
[MFT]
