The forest was vast, stretching out for as far as Kuroichi could see in any direction. Large trees loomed overhead, their thick canopies filtering the sunlight into patches of gold and shadows on the forest floor. Moss blanketed fallen logs and stones, muffling his footsteps.
"Come on Kurai, you can take a nap later, let's do the same thing we did yesterday!" Kuroichi's voice could heard talking to his owl, who had grown even more, as he made his way into a specific clearing he liked.
It had been another few weeks, and Kuroichi had not been idle during that time. The main points he focused on were his physical training, water walking exercise and the replacement jutsu.
His chakra control had gotten good enough that he wasn't struggling to learn a simple jutsu such as that, but he still hadn't truly mastered the academy three. For that, he needed to be more familiar with the jutsu in different situations and be able to use them with only one seal at a moment's notice.
As he had gotten more familiar with the replacement jutsu, Kuroichi realized that his training had become very linear without much external pressure. To remedy that, he had come up with a new partner exercise for him and Kurai.
She would fly up overhead, until she'd dive down towards him like she were attacking him. Kuroichi wouldn't know when she'd "attack" him, so he needed to be alert to whole time as well as be quick enough with his hands to complete the sequence of seals for the replacement jutsu to activate.
Woosh!
From the dense canopy of the trees, Kurai burst forth like a living arrow, wings tucked close to her body to cut through the air with startling speed. Her sharp talons were outstretched, glinting faintly, her eyes completely locked onto him with fierce, unblinking focus.
Kuroichi's breath was steady as he focused with his feet firmly planted to the earth. His eyes narrowed in concentration as he hands also began to move. His fingers weaved through the, by now, familiar shape of hand seals; Tiger → Boar → Ox → Dog → Snake, each transition deliberate yet fluid.
His pace was quick enough to show practice and control, but not rushed. There was a rhythm to it, each seal clicking into place with precision.
"Kawarimi no Jutsu"
Puff!
Before Kurai could reach him, Kuroichi had already completed his hand seals and a Puff of smoke appeared, obscuring Kurai's vision. Even though she couldn't see, she didn't slow down at all and kept rushing straight to the spot where he was just moments ago.
Crack! Splinter!
Her sharp talons grabbed the log left behind, and with deadly precision the wood split apart as she ripped it to shreds.
"HAHA Yes good job Kurai. Just like that!"
"HOOT HOOT"
Though his movements seemed fast, he lacked the lightning speed of a seasoned shinobi. However, there was no fumbling, just quiet confidence born from repetition when he cast the jutsu.
'The speed at which I form the hand seals is still too slow, I know I can be faster than that. I can also feel that I just need to get a little bit more familiar with chakra manipulation and using jutsu in general, to be able to leave out some seals. I need to focus on completely mastering water walking and then I'll hopefully be able to eventually only need one hand seal.'
Kurai came flying over to Kuroichi, landing on his shoulder. "Ugh, you really got too big too soon, look at you, almost half as tall as me. In another few weeks I won't even be able to hold you anymore.."
The scene already looked comical enough, a small child walking with a comparatively huge owl on his shoulder, but when he imagined himself walking with her like that when Kurai would be fully grown in a short amount of time, he couldn't help but snort in amusement.
'Yeah by that point she will simply have to wait until I am also grown up.'
"Hoot!" Kurai let out a loud hoot, making it clear she wanted something.
"Are you hungry already? Alright, very well, the sun is setting soon anyway, so let's see if you can hunt something for yourself today!" Kuroichi said.
"Hoot Hoot!" With two sharp, knowing hoots, as if she understood everything that was said, she conveyed an understanding that didn't need words and took off into the sky.
Kuroichi followed from a distance, carefully, so as to not distract Kurai from what she was doing. It wasn't exactly easy to follow Kurai, not because of her speed, but simply because the visibility was bad with a thick canopy of trees. 'I guess that's simply what living in the Land of Forests is like, definitely better than living in a huge desert or a country that has continuous rainfall all year around though.'
Every once in a while, Kuroichi would get on the tops of trees, making sure he was still following Kurai's general direction.
A hunt like this could take some time, while owls eyes are much better than a normal humans, Kurai still needed to clearly see her prey and the thick forest canopy made that hard from up above.
There also needed to be a flight path she could take, if her prey was protected by tangles of trees, the dense underbrush and other obstacles, she'd never get it in time. Luckily, there were always patches of forest that weren't so densely filled.
Kurai silently glided through the sky, listening and watching intently for any sign of prey. Every once in a while she'd spin a circle in the air, as if double checking something, and then move on.
Suddenly, she tilted her head to the side, something had caught her interest. A lizard scurried across the wide trunk of a tree, it's body sleek and agile. It's scales were a shade of deep earthy green and muted brown, helping it blend into the mossy underbrush.
Each of it's movements was sudden and precise, it's head jerking, tail flicking or it's claws scratching lightly against the bark. Without warning, it stopped dead in it's tracks, it's beady eyes blinking in a slow and cautious way.
Roughly the size of a human hand, it was almost invisible once it turned completely still. Unfortunately for it, Kurai had already spotted it beforehand.
She launched herself from where she was in the sky, the darkening forest faded into the background as beating her wings didn't elicit any sound at all. Her silent flight continued, until she cut through the canopy like an arrow, talons extended and eyes fixed on her target.
The lizard twitched, it's reaction speed not fast enough to keep up. Just like that, in one smooth practiced motion, Kurai snatched it up. Her grip was strong, precise and swift.
Kuroichi, not far behind, could only see the conclusion of the hunt, as he burst through the thicket. Kurai quickly flew over, landing on a branch close to him.
With practiced ease , she used her sharp talons and beak as she ripped up the lizard into bite sized chunks.
With a grin on his face, Kuroichi approached Kurai, "Soon you won't even need me to hunt extra for you anymore huh? Maybe you'll be all self sufficient soon. Hah!"
She stopped wolfing down the lizard, vehemently shook her head, as if absolutely denying that possibility. "Hoot!" An angry hoot, which Kuroichi interpreted as a pouty hmpf, and she returned to her meal.
As she finished eating, they made their way back to their 'home'. It was almost completely dark by that point, having seen Kurai eat just now, he also noticed his own hunger, since he had not eaten anything yet, and thought about what he could make for himself.
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