New Beginnings

Finally an off day. 

Not like there ever was a designated day to not be Kazekage, but at least he had caught up with his work. Feeling refreshed and freed from the shackles of his office, he strolled out in the busy village square and began his time away from paperwork. But still, no matter the distractions he laid his eyes upon he couldn't help but think about the next steps that Sunagakure and its shinobi needed. And interestingly enough, the development he needed. He couldn't shake that thought that even though he had risen to the most prestigious position in the village, he still needed to further his training. And with Kenshin gone, he couldn't go to his go to guy. There were the vultures he could resort to, but he had essentially surpassed them at this point. The only person he really felt like he could go to happened to be away from the village at this point, so what alternatives were there? 

As his mind rifled through potential candidates, he kept revisiting the idea of being his own master. This idea wasn't something he would typically consider, as it felt conceited. But who else was there to further his abilities with the Ketsuryugan, Byakugan, and blood release?

WC = 210

It would only make sense for him to be the pioneer of his own destiny. So as he walked through the village square, he made a detour and diverted his pathway towards the direction of the training grounds. On the way, he would see the morning traffic of Sunagakure's busy pedestrians heading to their jobs. He was fortunate that he was not doing the same, though one could argue that everything he did was work nowadays. Interestingly enough he did not see any of the shinobi of Suna. Things had really gotten quiet and slow in the village, largely due to the multitude of people who had seemingly vanished. Guren grew frustrated with this becoming a norm in the village, and finding the solution to this problem was one of his top priorities. It seemed like a lot of what his job currently was fixing the existing issues, and creating a path forward for the village to develop. But in order to do that, he had to do the same for himself.

Upon arrival at the training grounds, he scoffed at the emptiness of it all. Back in his day, he would have been the first to train, waking up at the earliest hours to maximize his productivity. Complacency seemed to eliminate the drive that shinobi had to do the same now. In any case, he pushed on until he reached field number ten. Since Mizuki's tenure, it had since been renovated to cater towards Guren's style more. It was a 50 x 50 meter grid equipped with a surrounding mote of water, an earthern floor, and surrounding trees. Perfect for his arsenal. And one of the most indiscernible aspects of it: the water which surrounded the field was partially mixed with Guren's own blood. Uniquely done so at a concentration of 1 parts per thousand. It took quite a bit of time to create this, but it was well worth it for training purposes. And of course, home court advantage should a spar take place here.

WC = 336. TWC = 546

He smiled to himself, then walked to the center of the earthern terrain. Sitting on the floor, he folded his legs and calmly rested his hands palm upon his knees. And then he simple closed his eyes, concentrating on nothing except for the chakra flowing through his body. He deafened his body's ability to realize its dojutsu, ninjutsu, iryojutsu, and space time jutsu. The only thing he would find himself centralized on was senjutsu, and subsequently he could begin to stretch out towards and feel the nature energy harboring in the environment surrounding him. From the floral, from the motion of the water, even down to slight gusts of wind; he could feel it all. And he would redirect the flow of this nature to hone in on him, allowing him to harness it while it accumulated within him. This practice was a relatively standard one that he had done before, yet not at this level of ease. This time it was almost like the energy willingly culminated within him, whereas before he felt the physical tax of manually gathering and storing this nature energy within him.

Effortless, he'd describe it.

Within mere moments he could feel his chakra storage reserves reaching their peak, as he had absorb as much chakra as he could. And when his eyes would awake, they'd bare unique irises that were a hybrid between the dojutsus he bore, and vertical slashes which intercepted him. His appearance, more aviary than anything. It was characteristic of none other than the bearded blood vulture which he had spent significant time developing an affinity towards. And now he could truly feel its power. The power of the animal sage mode. 

WC = 280. TWC = 826

As it had officially shown itself to Guren, he took a few moments to admire the new appearance he boasted. It was akin to the characteristics of the bearded vultures, and even the energy flowing through him felt more beastlike than anything. It was a foreign sensation but one Guren quickly embraced. And interestingly enough the blood affinity which coursed through his veins seemed to have manifested to another tier. Perhaps it had been the strong connection the summon race had with the Chinoike, and so when the two were fully in sync they became whole. This what he theorized at least in the brief moments having entered Sage Mode. He rose to his feet in a quick motion, so quick that his intended standing posture quickly developed into him expelling himself from the ground. He shot up, levitating several meters off the ground within an instant. The feeling of flight had slightly turned his stomach, but nevertheless it satiated his quench for pushing his abilities further. After taking a few moments to get used to this new form of motion, he stabilized himself in the air.

Then he would spin the rings upon his fingers, drawing a small bit of blood from the tips, and lash his hands together quickly. Within seconds the dripping blood would formulate into two blood clones each pulsing with this new found intensity Guren boasted. This would be fun.

WC = 234. TWC = 1060

From this point onward, Guren would manipulate the two blood clones to run in tandem and apart from each other. Well aware of his next steps, he'd marry his fingers one more time to rush through a series of hand seals. As soon as these seals were completed, Guren would separate his hands and swiftly aim them towards the position of each respective clone. With a violent eruption of chakra, these clones would become overwhelmed with such force that the stability of their structures became rapidly compromised. They'd expand in a sporadic motion before wildly exploding and eruption into two mid sized pools of blood. The crimson paint would smear and lather the earthern field, turning them into scarlet stained ground. Though Guren had yet to execute this in the heat of battle, the possibilities of their synchronicity with his abilities was enormous. 

But almost in a dissatisfied manner, he'd drop his hands and his face would morph into a slight frown. He was disappointed. So many of his blood techniques had originated from none other than his body. Devising a technique that did not stem from himself would be a way to correct this, but how? He'd tuck one hand in his pocket, and the other stroke the elongated sage beard upon his chin. As his body radiated an intense aura that could be sensed throughout the village, his aura began to calm. His expression changed to one of curiosity, and ingenuity.

"Maybe...that could work..." he thought to himself.

WC = 249. TWC = 1309

The remainder of his time would be spent meditating, calmly on the events on the training field that occurred. He'd think deeply to himself on how he could utilize the explosive human technique's offensive capabilities, but in a defensive way. Perhaps he could employ the usage of iryojutsu to shield himself, but that seemed like a poor path forward initially. His next thought was space time. And after a few minutes, he smiled to himself and continued to think on the topic at hand. Thus, his next jutsu was in the works.

-Exit-

WC = 92. TWC = 1401

1401 Words towards Summoning Art - Wild Hunt

Approved