7: Lay of the Land

The trek up ramps and halls back to the main temple juncture revealed the powerful extent of her first experiment with ninjutsu. Dust and debris had been blasted all the way into the lobby juncture, where it collected on top of the central eclipse mosaic as if she had used a giant broom and dustpan.

Kana had grown more and more concerned about the temple's structural integrity as she walked back, given the amount of force that she must have released to clear that entire distance.

It was honestly impressive that she'd managed to avoid punching a hole through the walls or roof with that jutsu.

Kana resolved to test with even less force from now on when releasing techniques indoors.

Having already cleared the entire wing behind her, it might be best just to finish the job and clear out the opposite sections of the temple as well. Leaving a task half done at this point would just add to the list of things she had to remember. It was also distasteful to operate from such shabby facilities. If she was going to do it anyway it ought to be done well.

The safest way to do it would probably be to just gather up all the rubble from the halls with Fūton and then blast it all outside the front gates for disposal. The mass of rubble would be a good target to test more destructive jutsu on once outside, too, again maximizing the efficiency of her efforts.

And so it was, leaping down geometrically intersecting passageways and releasing rather gentler version of the same jutsu to clear out all the debris back towards the central juncture near the temple entrance. Each use consumed such a paltry amount of chakra that it was barely noticeable, her reserves quickly regenerating the loss. Progressive attempts did confirm her ability to adjust the power output of jutsu released though, and the neat precision to which her chakra control allowed such adjustments.

As an experiment, Kana concentrated on holding her breath for the entire time between successive Fūton jutsu. In the end, it seemed she really did have no need to breathe anymore, her body somehow able to operate just fine regardless of physical exertions that should have altered her breathing rate-- let alone allow her to hold her breath for hours.

Despite this, she could feel her heart beating, and placing a hand on her neck and wrists confirmed that her pulse was normal. The changes she'd underwent seemingly had a profound impact on the function of her body, and more likely than not changes to her chakra had something to do with it. Sensing and inspecting her own chakra network carefully might lead to more answers, but again it was a problem for another time. Other tasks were awaiting.

After reaching all the way until near the end of the corridors, the space opened up into a sort of... dormitory area? It formed an awkward quadrangle with a sort of commons and open dining area at the center. A plethora of battered and upended tables suggested the most recent inhabitants preferred more aggressive uses for the space, though.

Several floors spanning both upwards and downwards on all four sides indicated a capacity for a substantial load of occupants, several stone stairways and catwalks acting as thoroughfares between floors. If the vague memories of her capture were accurate, her own cell quarters were probably down in one of the basement floors as well. Not that she had any desire to return to them...

Much of the dust around had been disturbed already, a multitude of footstep tracks leading back and forth throughout the whole wing. This posed a mild dilemma, for Kana presumed these were traces of movement left over from the cultists. She was very much interested in investigating their movements in what, if she was correct, were their main quarters.

She could just continues to clean the place out and finish the job, but her curiosity and the potential for useful discoveries outweighed the urgency of covering her own tracks. She'd have to leave this area as it was until she was done investigating it.

Kana already had another agenda for the day though, so she'd just take a cursory look for now. What she'd done for now would likely be sufficient to obscure traces of the hidden garden entrance anyway. After this would be ninjutsu practice outside.

The seemingly most well-traveled path in the common area lead to a set of wooden double doors to her left, which had been bashed off their hinges and lay against their frames more than sat in them.

A few taps from her foot was all it took to knock the tortured wooden panels to the floor. Stepping over them revealed a room full of racks and shelves, most of which were empty.

The few that were not however, suggested the place was some kind of armory or depot.

Intrigued, Kana made her way between several of the rows of weapons racks, looking for anything that might be useful. It never hurt to be well armed, in her opinion, but it looked like much of the remaining stock was barely functional.

Still, it wasn't entirely fruitless, for a few bags of mostly-sharp shuriken and a few haphazardly discarded kunai knives found themselves secreted away into her various pockets.

The most impressive find came near the end of her inspection though, for a row of racks was flanked by a few armor pedestals that seemed to be untouched by anything other than the wears of time. Each set of antique-looking armor had components that were severely degraded, but if she were to mix and match, it might be possible to create a complete set out of them. The wide square pauldrons from this one, the gauntlets and greaves from that one... another time, perhaps. Additionally, each pedestal had a corresponding sword display, though even fewer of those were occupied contained something in useful condition.

Drawing from one of the scabbards more often yielded a cloud of rusty dust over a blade. The one exception Kana encountered was a plain and unadorned tantō1, whose handle and blade had been wrapped in a very ragged and worn red cloth. Unwrapping it had revealed a mildly rusted and dulled blade, but a usable one nonetheless. Or recoverable at least.

For now, the tantō was tucked through the sash of her blouse, hidden against her back as long as she wore her coat.

If she ended up needing to fight, the more tools and options she had the better.

That was all the browsing Kana allowed herself, running covering the distance with great leaps back through the passageways to the eclipse mosaic. Whereupon arrival, the pile of dust and debris her handiwork had created awaited disposal.

Her glance shifted between the pile she swept up and the front gates, gauging the distance and force she ought to use to clear it all in one go. She might end up taking the front doors out too if she weren't careful.

The grand entry gates dominated the front of the hall, composed solidly of some dense metal painted white and with ornate golden trim. It was a fine work, worthy of appreciation, though looked like they would be quite hefty to move. Not wishing to damage the craftsmanship, Kana pressed her palms against the doors and gently pushed, gradually increasing force until the doors swung wide.

What greeted her was a gust of frigid air and a cloud of mist that pushed past her into the temple. As the density of the mist weakened and her eyes adjusted, Kana took the first glimpses of the outside world she'd had in several years.

A simple stone stairwell led down towards a similarly bland courtyard, continuing on in the form of a cobblestone path that pushed further on outside of the temple until it disappeared into the mist. It seemed no other structures were nearby, but Kana noted that the temple had a roof rather exquisitely tiled in blue ceramic and rimmed with golden patterns not unlike the main gates.

Proceeding out into the courtyard revealed that the entire surrounding landscape, within perhaps a kilometer of semi-visibility, was comprised of jagged and austere rock formations. Harsh, uptilted, and windswept rock hills jutted out all over each other in succession, comprised almost entirely of dark grey and bleak rock with stalactites hanging down over their cliffs. The path from the entryway seemed to cut under this landscape as it led further outward, the tilt of the jagged cliffs providing a sort of roofing over its visible extent.

Passing through this path would be reminiscent of passing under a series of sharp toothy jaws, frothing with the mist and ready to bite down on unwitting or unworthy travelers. The atmosphere was brutal to be sure, a stark comparison to the welcoming serenity of the temple's hidden gardens.

If previous research was an indicator, then all of this should be at or near the top of Mt. Shumisen, itself in a large mountain range. So this path led up a mountain range into a bleak and intimidating landscape at the end of which was a similarly eerie temple that was until recently inhabited by ritual-homicide-practicing cultists.

Kana once again affirmed her conviction that few people would go out of their way to bother her here. Any that did were almost certainly people to be wary of. Harmless people just did not fit into that equation.

Having cleared the way and ascertained the immediate surroundings, it was now time to get down to the real order of business for the day.

Leaping back to the temple chamber in short order, she prepared another release of Fūton: Daitoppa, this time adding a tad more chakra than with her first attempt to see how it affected to rock formations outside. It had already been a long day, so Kana casually indulged in a bit of unnecessary force for some stress relief. That is to say, as an opener for her ninjutsu practice.

A few rapid handsigns later, Kana breathed out a devastating pulse of wind with a size roughly the dimensions of the open gateway before her. She continued exhaling to prolong the jutsu, sustaining the intense winds such that it pulverized the rubble pile before it could even be fully ejected from the temple.

With that the main entry chamber was cleared, the entirety of the faded mosaic eclipse once again visible.

Kana neutral expression gradually exuded a sort of satisfaction as she inspected the fruits of her labor, nodding to herself, and proceeding outside to inspect the totality of the damage.

The waning brightness of the sky suggested it was nearing evening. All in all, the cleaning and exploration had probably taken around six hours.

The tunnel of compressed wind from her jutsu had punctured through the mist for a considerable distance along the path, revealing much of the same landscape in crisp clarity. More effects were abundantly clear too. The first line of hills in a fan shape from where the temple courtyard ended were riddled with tiny craters and some few had been entirely demolished into piles of shattered rock.

There was no sign of any of the original debris pile anymore. No convenient target to aim at.

The compressed wind had likely propelled the detritus fast enough to pulverize anything that was left against the surrounding hills on impact.

And that was the power she gained just by channeling a bit more power into the jutsu, a basic jutsu at that, as far as she could tell.

If other ninjutsu users out there could produce similar results, then every one of them posed a serious danger. Kana again resolved herself to prioritize caution. Preparations ought to be made so long as she still had the time to. There was a multitude of problems to deal with in the now, but planning for the future at every step would hopefully ease the addition of new ones.

A certain unease settled in her mind, and with information and reconnaissance being primary deficits at the moment, she really ought to gather more intelligence about her surroundings. Knowing the terrain and knowing her enemies could help even out potential disadvantages.

The most importantly for now, she needed to know what she was capable of.

Clasping her hands before her, Kana felt the flow of her chakra and channeled its affinities, hands weaving new signs as they came to her mind again in that odd mix of intuition and memory. She zoned into a state of concentration, preparing to formulate and release a new jutsu this time.

As evening approached dusk, a long night of training loomed ahead.