Chapter 39

Gojo POV

I stood alone in the familiar rocky clearing that had become my personal training ground, the evening breeze gently blowing around me.

With my telekinesis, telepathy, and teleportation, I had already achieved much, but now it was time to push my abilities further. Time to master the elements and fulfill my destiny as the Avatar. I snickered at the thought, knowing full well the parallels with popular fiction. "Well, now it's time to get serious," I muttered to myself, starting with air.

'Hank said I need to understand the air, to feel its currents and movements in order to take control of it and manipulate it,' I thought, focusing my enhanced senses. My vision sharpened, allowing me to see the invisible streams of energy that flowed through the atmosphere.

Stretching out my hand, I concentrated on the air directly in front of me. I felt the familiar tingle of telekinesis as I willed the air to move. At first, it was just a gentle push, barely noticeable. 'Well, that was to be expected. There's always failure before success,' I mused. I tried again, this time pulling the air toward me. The result was the same: a slight breeze, nothing more. 'Well, that was much better?' I thought. 'I can move objects effortlessly, but air is different, less tangible.' I narrowed my eyes in thought before sighing.

I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath to calm myself. 'Think, don't just push or pull. Air is everywhere, it's dynamic. I need to guide it, not control it completely.'

My mind drifted to Avatar: The Last Airbender and Naruto. 'Aang mastered airbending by understanding the flow of wind, how to move with it rather than against it, didn't he?' I thought. 'And Naruto's Rasengan… it's about compressing chakra into a perfect sphere. Maybe I can apply that principle to air.'

With renewed focus, I visualized the air molecules, how they interacted, how they could be directed. I extended my hand again, this time imagining streams of air moving around my body. Slowly, I guided the air with my telekinesis instead of just trying to control it and make it obey my command, feeling the currents begin to swirl around me. It was subtle at first, but I could feel the shift.

'That's it,' I thought, feeling a flicker of excitement. 'I need to guide the air, not force it.'

I repeated the process, each time guiding the air more effectively. The currents grew stronger, moving around me like gentle streams. I wasn't satisfied yet. I wanted to have perfect control, not just power.

For hours, I stood in the clearing, the sun sinking lower in the sky. My eyes ached from the constant exertion before rejecting the fatigue. Each attempt was followed by failure; the air would either disperse too quickly or barely respond at all.

'Well, at least I get how it flows now, but still…,' I thought, wiping sweat from my brow and taking my shirt off to feel the breeze. 'I need to feel it as an extension of myself.'

I focused again, this time letting my telekinesis extend outward, merging with the currents of the air. I could sense the subtle changes in pressure, the tiny eddies and flows. I guided these currents gently, coaxing them into movement rather than forcing them. I remembered how Aang moved with the wind, using his body to direct its flow. I mirrored his movements, allowing my body to become a conduit for the air.

The sun set, and the clearing grew darker. I continued my training. The night air was cooler, and the wind more responsive. Small successes began to emerge; a slight gust here, a stronger breeze there.

On the second day, I awoke early, teleporting home to grab some stuff to eat and teleporting back to my training ground eager to continue. Thinking back on the little success I had, the memory of those small victories drove me forward. I spent the morning repeating my exercises, guiding the air around me. Each failure was a lesson, each success a step forward. 'Now I sound like Uncle Iroh and those Chinese senseis,' I thought, laughing before continuing.

'I do need to be patient,' I reminded myself, taking a break to catch my breath. 'Mastery doesn't come quickly, unlike how I instantly got the hang of my powers.'

As the hours passed, my connection with the air deepened. I could now see the energy flows more clearly, and my telekinesis grew more attuned to guiding them. I experimented with different techniques, trying to compress the air into tighter streams. The progress was slow, but it was progress nonetheless.

By the evening of the second day, I was exhausted mentally, seeing as my body prevents physical exhaustion apart from when I truly strain my powers. The clearing was littered with dust and broken rocks, evidence of my efforts. I collapsed onto the cold, hard floor, staring up at the sky. 'I'm getting closer,' I thought, a mix of frustration and anticipation burning within me. 'But it's still not enough.'

On the third day, I decided to use Naruto's training with the Rasengan after getting a hang of Aang's training method. 'So it's about control and compression,' I thought. 'I need to find that balance with the air.'

I visualized the air as chakra, focusing on compressing it into a small, dense sphere. Slowly, I guided the air with my telekinesis, feeling the currents begin to condense. With a push, I released the compressed air, creating a concentrated blast. The blast of air was powerful enough to break the rock in front of me.

I tried it a few times to get the hang of it until I could do it in a couple of seconds. Then, I gathered, compressed, and released from both my palms a concentrated blast of air.

'I'm getting the hang of this,' I thought, a sense of accomplishment swelling within me. 'But shaping the air is still difficult.'

Shaping the air into precise forms remained a challenge. Each time I tried to create complex shapes, the wind would disperse before it fully took form. I focused on simple shapes, like needles, but even these proved difficult to maintain.

'I need to keep it simple,' I realized. 'Start with the basics and build up from there.'

For the next two days, I continued to struggle. The air was fickle, refusing to hold the shapes I envisioned. Each failure was a blow to my confidence, but I refused to give up. I spent hours each day practicing, pushing myself to the brink of exhaustion. My mind was weary and started going numb, but I pressed on.

'I will master this,' I vowed to myself, feeling the energy of the air around me. 'And then, I will conquer the other elements.'

By the evening of the fifth day, my efforts finally paid off. After countless attempts, I managed to create 36 independent needles of compressed wind. They hovered around me, sharp and ready. With a focused thought, I shot them toward a nearby rock. The needles pierced cleanly, leaving small, punctured holes.

Using my enhanced vision to inspect the holes, I saw how clean the strike was. 'Holy FUUUUCK I did it,' I thought, exhilaration coursing through me. 'I'm starting to master this.'

The next few hours were spent refining this newfound skill. I practiced creating and controlling the wind needles, testing their precision and power. I experimented with other simple techniques, like creating small whirlwinds and coating my body with condensed air for protection. Each success built upon the last, my confidence growing with every step forward.

'I will master this,' I vowed to myself again, feeling the energy of the air around me. 'And then, I will conquer the other elements.'

Flying into the air, I released two concentrated blasts of wind while the air around me took form and shaped into what appeared to be sharp needles, a foot long. Almost a hundred needles formed. I moved my hand down as if to command them to fire, and all the air needles rained down with impressive speeds, creating dust clouds as they struck the canyon with enough force to completely shatter the rock formations. Using my enhanced vision, my eyes glowing blue as they peered through the smoke, I saw the holes left from my technique and smirked to myself.