The White Flash

Princess Tsunade

Heavy breathing plagued her ribs, sweat gluing her clothes to her frame. The heavy wood was held in a firm grip, arms shaking. A twin stood a few meters from her. Lids fluttered over emerald irises for a moment. A calming breath stilled the shaking in her body. "Again." They rushed forward.

            It's been a week since they began their stay in the town. Everyday training consisted of basic strength exercises, warm up swings with the bokuto, and then battle training with a clone. The adrenaline that rushed through the bloodstream during a fight made lifting the bokuto easier. Putting fundamentals into action was easier in mock battles.

            Parrying the edge of a kunai, Ayumi tilted the bokuto to let the kunai slide down before slashing forward. A strong strike directly to the neck and the twin dispersed in a puff of smoke. Imagined blood was thrown from the blade with a fast swing over her head before being returned to its sheath. "It seems you have gotten better."

            "Shit!" The sudden voice caused Ayumi to jump as she spun to face it. Retsu was leaning against a tree, arms crossed in front of her chest. "Retsu-san, you can't scare me like that!"

            "I've been here for some time." She gave a shrug, "it's your own fault for not noticing me." Pushing off the tree, she closed the distance between them. "It's about time for you to start the second step."

            "The second step?"

            One hand left the shelter of her cloak, pointing towards a nearby tree. "Cut that trunk in one swing."

            Cut the trunk? Simple enough. Even something with an absence of a blade as a bokuto should be able to cut something. Ayumi stood in front the tree and unsheathed the bokuto to hold it in both hands. Pulling it as far out to the side as she could... She paused. "Cut that trunk in one swing." How in the hell was that supposed to happen! Lowering the bokuto, she looked back to the samurai. "That's impossible! Making a cut maybe, but you can't cut through an entire tree trunk in one swing with a regular sword. Let alone a wooden one."

            "Oh?" An armored hand outstretched. Ayumi placed the wooden sword in her hand and stepped back. Retsu took her place, holding the bokuto in one hand with ease. With the same delicate hold as her katana. Bringing the bokuto out to her side, she swung it through the air in front of her. The moment the bokuto touched the bark, it broke. Emerald eyes shot wide as the tree gave a loud creak and toppled over. It wasn't as clean cut as an axe would be, splinters sticking up from the two connection points. Still... With a sword that had no edge. With one swing. She cut the entire trunk with a stick.

            Ayumi hopped forward, "how'd you do that?!"

            "It's no different than what you've already been doing." Retsu faced her, tossing the bokuto back into her hold. "I'm sure you've noticed how Onimaru absorbs your chakra during battle, and how pouring more chakra into the blade makes it sharper." That was true. There were different times where she had to adjust her input of chakra into her sword to cut through certain things. That Jounin's jutsu, Yukio's weapon, and Temari's fan all required a spike in her chakra. "However, Onimaru draws chakra from you, so the exact amount of chakra that you've been putting into it was not in your control until you needed it. That makes the cut it delivers inconsistent. It's no different than fighting with that bokuto." A hand rested on her hip, "you already know how to insert your chakra into an object and sharpen it, you do that same thing with those kunai of yours." Her free hand reached forward to tap a finger on the bokuto, "you simply have to insert your chakra into this sword and sharpen it."

            With that, Retsu turned and made her way towards town. Ayumi eyed the toppled tree. She made it look so easy. Moving in front of her own tree, she grasped the handle with both hands. Eyes closed, a white flame flickered in the abyss. It moved. Like falling through a funnel down through her arms.