11 The leaf village 3

(Kaz)

A stiff wind rustled his sweat soaked blue hair as Kaz walked up a sheer cliff holding a massive rock. This tested both his body and his chakra control as he needed to really focus to hold himself to the sheer wall while also avoiding falling to his death. His feet boots crested the top of the cliff and he collapsed to the ground, setting the rock to the side with a crash.

Panting for breath and sweating profusely, Kaz peered over the edge of the cliff. His chest tightens with vertigo. It was at least a two hundred meter drop to the hard rocks below. The sharp summer wind bit at his face, whipping his hair around, forcing him to squint to protect his eyes.

Below, the valley was cut by a stream that snaked along the cliff into the distance. He took deep breaths and shook out his palms, just staring into the valley.

It really was a stunning sight, the trees rustling down below, bathed in the light of the summer sun. His eyes traced the creek. Following its winding curves up the stream, where he spotted several figures bathing, cooling off from the day's heat.

Kaz really wanted to go down and join whoever they were, but there was still several hours left of daylight, and he wanted to work on a new idea.

He rose, bracing himself on the boulder he carried up the mountain. The rock had to weigh more than he did, indenting the soft ground where it lay. His arms, legs, abs and back ached painfully, strained from the intense climb. Pushing away his fatigue and wobbling a little on his feet, Kaz focused intently on the stone beneath him.

Kaz molded his chakra, weaving hand signs and touching the gritty rock of the cliff. "Mudd wall!" He said, watching the rock and dirt rise to form a thick wall in front of himself. Kaz stroked his chin thoughtfully and unsteadily walked around the chin high wall.

It was about two feet thick and ten feet wide. Before, when Kaz fought Itachi, he had assumed this wall of earth was a strong defensive technique, but now it looked so flimsy. That red mist was too overpowered, making his mud wall look like parchment. If his mud wall took an attack from the lightning step, it would shatter into a million little pieces, and yet the red Suzano had barely cracked.

Kaz clenched his fists, glowering at his pitiful Kunai and shuriken. His specialty, dual Kunai, and earth affinity seemed so lackluster. Even his earth-dragon jutsu might not have even cracked the susano at all. Kaz shudder, wondering what an attack from the red mist might do to him?

Against such a defence, all of his attacks were too weak. He needed something that hit hard and caused a lot of damage. If he had a weapon that he could combine with the lightning step, Kaz might be able to break that ridiculous defence.

But that was assuming he got the chance next time. Kaz was completely aware of how lucky he was to even land such an attack on an uchiha, of all people. For now, he needed to train as hard as he could, after all, he hadn't forgotten the akatsuki would return in a month.

Pushing aside that scary thought, Kaz picked up a rock, and with a focus of will, he attempted to change its shape. His affinity for earth was good, and the rock moulded, shaping into a small hammer with a wide head.

He chuckled to himself. The rock hammer was pitted and didn't really look like a hammer, but the idea had some merit. Although he needed to make it much larger.

He discarded the small hammer and touched the solid boulder he had carried up the mountain. His arms still ached, and he was tired, but Kaz pressed his chakra into the rock, anyway. He forced the rock to mold to the shape he wanted. It had a long, slender handle and a wide, square head that looked like a mallet.

Kaz hefted the two handed rock hammer, his muscles bunched as he leaned all of his weight into a swing. The hammer struck on the ground with a thump and immediately fell apart, crumbling to fist sized chunks of rock.

He stare at the foot long length of stone in his hands, wondering where he went wrong? Wasn't rock supposed to be strong? He did the same thing again, recreating the large hammer with only the stone necessary. Resting on its head, the massive hammer was as tall as Kaz was and its head was as big as a watermelon but shaped like a square.

Artists of every nation, good or Evil would have all agreed that the plain stone hammer was the least artistic creation to have ever been made. Kaz took another swing, focusing chakra through the hammer to make it stay together. The stone hammer cracked, vibrating in his hands as it struck the ground with excessive force.

He took a step back from the small crater and scratched his chin in thought. Definitely better, but the strike still broke the hammer into a dozen pieces, and the damage to his target was small. Kaz tried for almost an hour, forming the hammer over and over to the same lackluster effect.

Each failure to keep the hammer whole made his frustration grow more. Maybe he just needed a new perspective? Kaz made a hand sign, and the air proofed beside him. His chakra pool split in half and a blue-haired shadow clone of himself appeared.

"It's about time you called me out. I swear you are the biggest moron I have ever witnessed. You are even stupider than that kid named Ted who tried to avoid training by saying he was sick!" The clone said helpfully.

"Didn't that kid end up dying that same day by zosui?" Kaz asked, folding his trembling arms and raising an eyebrow.

The clone let out a sigh. "That is my point exactly." The clone said, grinning in victory. "Well then, o wise clone, what do you think we should do to break the susano?" Kaz asked. The clone cocked its head at those challenging words.

"Ok, maybe your hammer idea isn't the worst thing you could have come up with. But I can do better." The clone said. Kaz folded his arms and smiled at his clone."Well then, I'm waiting. Let's see you make a better hammer." Kaz said, tapping his foot impatiently.

The clone scowled at Kaz its emerald green eyes promising retribution. When the clone didn't answer, Kaz tried a new tact. "Or maybe I should just summon another clone and send you back to wherever you live. After all, I'm sure there are other clones that are more cooperative than you."Kaz said with a grin. His clone chuckled, low and menacing. "Go ahead, try it, I can wait." The clone said.

Kaz swallowed. He had never actually created more than one clone before. He took in a shuddering breath, wondering why his clone seemed so confident. There was a cloud of smoke after he created the required hands signs. But when the smoke faded, there was nothing. Kaz glanced at his clone, who was smiling in victory.

Kaz double checked his chakra pool, confirming that yes, he still had enough chakra. It should be possible to summon a third clone. He tried again, and again, there was a poof of smoke followed by an awkward silence.

"What did you do?" Kaz demanded, glaring at his clone. His clone shrugged. "What does it matter? There are no more figments of yourself left besides me."The clone said calmly.

"What does that mean?" Kaz asked with a growl.The clone shrugged, leaning on its heels confidently. Kaz paced for several minutes, all the while glaring at his smiling clone.

"And what will it take for you to help me?" Kaz asked, glowering.

"You have to call me out at least once a day, so I can do what I want."The clone said, instantly.

"No chance!" Kaz said. Frustrated, Kaz dismissed his clone and re-summoned it. There was a puff of smoke and his clone reappeared, still with that same look of victory on its face. He did it again, only this time he was hoping to get the clones' memories and learn what it new.

The clone disappeared, and no such luck. Kaz kicked one of the hammer fragments over the cliff, watching as it sailed into oblivion. He paced for a few more minutes, frustrated that his clone could see his little tantrum.

It was no doubt laughing in victory at that very moment as it watched through his eyes. Kaz took in a deep breath, pushing away his frustration. Whatever the clone did, there was nothing he could do about it. Out of pure spite, Kaz continued where he left off, trying to make a large stone hammer to hit things really hard.

He trained for several more hours on the new hammer until he collapsed in defeat. No matter how hard he tried, the hammer refused to stay together. The sun was setting and Kaz's body ached from constantly hitting the ground really hard with a stone hammer.

It was good physical training, but it was incredibly frustrating to continue failing over and over. Drenched in sweat and panting, Kaz decided he would call on his clone again. His hands shook with exhaustion, but Kaz made the hand signs necessary to summon a clone. Well, apparently his only clone.

The clone appeared with a victorious smile, making Kaz punch for its face. The clone dodged, performing an agile backflip. "Don't look so smug."Kaz said, struggling to stay upright from his tired muscles.

The clone dusted off its green flack jacket and ran its fingers through sky blue hair. "Hey it's not my fault you are so incompetent that you can't make a stone hammer." The clone said.

"Well, I will agree to your demands, but only once a week."Kaz said..

"Every other day," The clone said, its face serious.

"Deal, but I hold the right to end the agreement if you cause me trouble."Kaz said. The clone grumbled and paced about for a few seconds, but in the end, he took Kaz's proffered hand.

They shook, sealing the verbal agreement. To anyone else, this might seem odd when dealing with a shadow clone, but they clearly had never met Kaz's clone. The clone walked over to a large boulder half covered by dirt and leaned close, his nose nearly touching the rock.

"Well, what is your idea?" Kaz asked impatiently.

"Have you ever heard of the kazekages' power?" The clone asked, still focused on the rock. "Yeah, he was pretty famous for being able to pull gold from the dirt and rock.Why would that help? I don't have that magnetic kekegenkai!" Kaz said, annoyed, scratching his scalp in frustration.

"That's not what I was getting at. The reason I brought it up is because he pulls metals from the rock, layering them together for attacks for a powerful offence and defence. He could even condense them together for defence."The clone said dramatically.

"And your point?" Kaz asked impatiently."My idea is to take this large bolder and condense all that stone into the hammer." The clone said finally.

"Wouldn't that make the hammer incredible heavy?" Kaz asked dubiously. The clone shrugged its shoulders, tapping the hard surface of the rock. "So what? It will be heavy but it might not break."The clone said.

Kaz watched his clone as the rock molded under its hand, shrinking and shifting for several seconds to form the same ugly hammer Kaz was making most of the day. The hammer molded into shape and slipped from his clone's grip, its handle slamming into the stone with a crack of stone on stone.

Kaz walked over, peering down at the rock hammer. His clone bent down, wrapping its hands around the thick stone handle. His clone strained, its face scrunched up in effort as the clone lifted one end of the hammer off the ground.

The clone widen its feet and lower its stance grunting as it tried again, hefting the massive hammer from the ground. The clone tried to swing the hammer, but the hammer was clearly too heavy for any such maneuver.

"Thow it off the cliff."Kaz said, standing aside. "What will that accomplish?" The clone ashed straining to hold the awkward hammer aloft. "Well, let's see what damage the hammer does to the ground below."Kaz said.

His clone, red faced and grunting with effort, walked over to the cliff and threw the hammer off. Kaz watched the hammer fall the two hundred meters, before slamming into the ground with a pillar of dust, rock, and a deafening boom. Kaz glanced at his clone, who was grinning excitedly.

They descended the cliff, stopping at a massive crater in the rock. Kaz stares at the crater in both confusion and excitement. The crater was deeper than he was tall and at least twenty feet wide. The faint trill of crickets filled the air, and a gently breeze ruffled Kaze's hair. The hammer lay in the center, still fully connected, with only one crack along the handle.

"What did you do?" Kaz asked, turning to his clone. "I did what I told you i was going to do. I compressed all of that rock into the shape of the hammer and then infused the hammer with earth chakra."The clone said.

Kaz frowned and let out a sigh. He dismissed his clone, information filling his mind. "I will call you out tomorrow for more testing, for now I'm exhausted."Kaz said, knowing his clone could hear. Kaz, who was exhausted, decided to catch some sleep. His body aching and his mind a whirl, Kaz headed back into the leaf village, planning on finding a nice bed.

Luckily, as per his contract with the hokage, Kaz had a little spending money. It wasn't much, but it should pay for a small apartment room for several weeks. Guided by the light of the village in the distance, Kaz walked through the night, finding a small inn for a decent fee.

He tucked under the blankets, happy to have a soft mattress for once. The next couple of weeks were going to be challenging if he kept of this rate of training as well as searched for the spies in the hidden leaf village. Kaz let out an exhausted sigh. As for the next few days, he was going to scout things out, and get a feel for the village and maybe take a look at the Kazekage.