Night lay over the vast land known as Konoha. Standing in a field untouched by the city lights stood a lone man. If one would listen hard enough the slow breaths of one who is filled to the brim with determination could be heard. The tall grass swayed with each breath of wind. They appeared to be reaching for the sky as if it had something they desperately wanted. The trees, littering the landscape swayed and rustled in the wind. The only two things in the field that night were Zakuro and the light of the moon.
The Chuunin Exams were approaching fast for the genin, and he knew what was at stake if he wasn't prepared. His promotion to chuunin, and his pride. The Chuunin Exams would by far be the hardest challenge of Zakuro's short career as a Shinobi. Zakuro just hoped that he would pass. Zakuro's first steps towards the trees beyond started as a slow somber pace, but as he watched them get closer and closer, his speed rose exponentially. As soon as his feet touched the ground, they were launching him towards his goal.
The giant trees seemed to engulf Zakuro as he ran into the forest. Once Zakuro reached the part of the woods where the trees stood like giants, he began to climb at full speed. It took no time at all before he reached the middle and stopped. Zakuro knew fully well what the consequences were if he went too far away from Konoha, and he knew from experience with Mamorinuku that they already knew where he was. The only problem was that there was no place with this many trees within the walls of the city, so here he was.
Zakuro's eyes were straight ahead. He would bounce from tree to tree until he couldn't bonce anymore. This would be a tremendously helpful work out. Without another thought Zakuro jumped. His feet landed on the branch with a thud, but he managed to keep his balance. Zakuro jumped again, and again. He moved as fast as he could through the trees, and he knew it would be long until the fatigue set in. Zakuro knew that he couldn't keep up in a fight, so he had to work on his endurance, or he would be rubbish in the case of an actual fight.
Zakuro's feet danced along the edges of each branched. He hopped along, making sure to keep himself in the air as long as possible before setting down on the next branch. The muscle in his legs strained, but he kept going. There was nothing that could stop he now, except exhaustion. When his feet touched every branch, they instantly kicked off and sent him flying.
The moonlight slowly became covered in clouds, creating a scene of pitch darkness. The trees started to blend together, and Zakuro began to have trouble telling where the branches were that he was supposed to land on. Reguardless, Zakuro continued his movement through the trees. His legs were telling him to give up, and his eyes were slowly becoming more and more useless, but Zakuro continued none the less. He had very little sense of where he was anymore. Only the distant lights of the city kept him from getting lost.
A few drops of water descended from the sky. It was much, but slowly the drops added up. The branches of the trees gathered the falling water and received a nice layer of it on their surface. It wasn't too long after that that Zakuro slipped and fell off the branch. Luckily, Zakuro wasn't too far from the ground when he fell.
Looking Zakuro thought to himself, I was pretty much done anyways, and he shrugged off the accident.
Word Count: 620/600
Stamina training complete
(Training)Never Gonna Give Up.
(Training)Never Gonna Give Up.
" A 7 for Zangy for example, is different from a 7 from Envy who is not quite a nuanced writer as Zangy is (sorry Envy), which is different from a 7 for Rain, who has English as his second language." - Onu 2016
(Training)Never Gonna Give Up.
Laying in the tall grass after his fall, Zakuro knew that he would have to end his rest prematurely. The downpour from the vast clouds overhead seem to be picking up. Reguardless of the fact that the majority of this rain was being blocked by the towering trees, Zakuro was already getting drenched. He helped himself up with his arm, and stood up straight. With a small stretch Zakuro felt some energy enter his body. At least his next planned activity wasn't going to take nearly as much energy as the last one. Sadly enough it was going to take a lot.
Zakuro had previously set up some dummies throughout the woods. There were a total of 16, and three had exploding tags on them. Zakuro's plan was to head towards that area, find all of the dummies, and stab them with a kunai as fast as he could. This exercise ould hopefull allow Zakuro to get a better awareness of his surroundings while moving at high speeds. The dummies with the tags were set up simply to keep Zakuro on his feet, and always aware of a potential danger. Zakuro knew how injured he could be if he messed up and trusted himself to do the job.
His feet clung to the trunk of the tree as he darted up it's side. Once Zakuro had reached a comfortable height, he darted off towards a branch. He knew the general area where the dummies were set up, but he didn't have a clue about their exact locations or which ones had tags. That was his terrible memories doing. Zakuro changed his direction towards the wall of Konoha. It was a relief that he had set them up closer to the village, so that he would have to stray too far. That way if anyone saw him he could run in.
Zakuro entered into the area where the dummies were set up. He could tell because out of the corner of his eye he saw one. Zakuro ran over, and slashed the dummy with his kunai. One down, 15 to go. Zakuro continued his searching at top speeds. It was very difficult to make anything out at night, and with the rain, but the lower the visibility the better, at least for training purposes.
While jumping from branch to branch in the downpour, an out of place object caught Zakuro's eye. His head swiveled over to the object, and he examined a cloth dummy leaning against a tree. The second one was found. He approached it with a speedy form of caution, if you could even call it cautious. Zakuro's kunai flung from his hand and stabbed through the dummy into a tree. An earth shattering roar shook the earth below. The bright flash of an explosion caught the darkly lit sky. If his presence in these woods wasn't already being monitored, it was now.
Zakuro ran. His feet had never moved faster. He knew that someone would be sent to investigate, and he didn't want to be caught here when they did. As a Genin, they would definitely punish him for leaving the village boundaries. Although Zakuro was running for his life, his eyes almost seemed to be drawn to a dummy that he glided past. Zakuro threw a kunai at it, even though his training was most likely over. The dummy sat there after getting hit. For some reason Zakuro had expected an explosion, even though the odds of that happening were unlikely. He also knew that he spread the dummies with the tags apart. Someone would actually need to look to find one, or just be unlucky enough to run into it.
Suddenly, something in Zakuro's mind clicked. Someone was bound to run into one of those tags, and when they did it would more than likely be a Konoha shinobi. Zakuro knew he had to find them before someone else did, regardless of the consequences.
Wit Training words:
655/600
Training Complete
Zakuro had previously set up some dummies throughout the woods. There were a total of 16, and three had exploding tags on them. Zakuro's plan was to head towards that area, find all of the dummies, and stab them with a kunai as fast as he could. This exercise ould hopefull allow Zakuro to get a better awareness of his surroundings while moving at high speeds. The dummies with the tags were set up simply to keep Zakuro on his feet, and always aware of a potential danger. Zakuro knew how injured he could be if he messed up and trusted himself to do the job.
His feet clung to the trunk of the tree as he darted up it's side. Once Zakuro had reached a comfortable height, he darted off towards a branch. He knew the general area where the dummies were set up, but he didn't have a clue about their exact locations or which ones had tags. That was his terrible memories doing. Zakuro changed his direction towards the wall of Konoha. It was a relief that he had set them up closer to the village, so that he would have to stray too far. That way if anyone saw him he could run in.
Zakuro entered into the area where the dummies were set up. He could tell because out of the corner of his eye he saw one. Zakuro ran over, and slashed the dummy with his kunai. One down, 15 to go. Zakuro continued his searching at top speeds. It was very difficult to make anything out at night, and with the rain, but the lower the visibility the better, at least for training purposes.
While jumping from branch to branch in the downpour, an out of place object caught Zakuro's eye. His head swiveled over to the object, and he examined a cloth dummy leaning against a tree. The second one was found. He approached it with a speedy form of caution, if you could even call it cautious. Zakuro's kunai flung from his hand and stabbed through the dummy into a tree. An earth shattering roar shook the earth below. The bright flash of an explosion caught the darkly lit sky. If his presence in these woods wasn't already being monitored, it was now.
Zakuro ran. His feet had never moved faster. He knew that someone would be sent to investigate, and he didn't want to be caught here when they did. As a Genin, they would definitely punish him for leaving the village boundaries. Although Zakuro was running for his life, his eyes almost seemed to be drawn to a dummy that he glided past. Zakuro threw a kunai at it, even though his training was most likely over. The dummy sat there after getting hit. For some reason Zakuro had expected an explosion, even though the odds of that happening were unlikely. He also knew that he spread the dummies with the tags apart. Someone would actually need to look to find one, or just be unlucky enough to run into it.
Suddenly, something in Zakuro's mind clicked. Someone was bound to run into one of those tags, and when they did it would more than likely be a Konoha shinobi. Zakuro knew he had to find them before someone else did, regardless of the consequences.
Wit Training words:
655/600
Training Complete
" A 7 for Zangy for example, is different from a 7 from Envy who is not quite a nuanced writer as Zangy is (sorry Envy), which is different from a 7 for Rain, who has English as his second language." - Onu 2016
(Training)Never Gonna Give Up.
Moving through the drenched trees, Zakuro dance across the forest. The entire time he was thinking and trying to remember where the dummies were. Three were down, which only left two explosive tag dummies and 11 normal ones. This left Zakuro with large amount of dummies to go. His chances of finding the other two out of the 16 were slim. He would basically end up finding them all in order to find the two explosive ones, and detonating them would definitely attract attention to his area.
Zakuro had no time to lose. He started to scan the entire area as fast as he could. Just like his first training, his feet barely touched the branch before setting off again, only this time someone could end up getting injured if he didn't hurry. With the recent paranoia from the invasion, everyone freaks out over the smallest disturbance outside the walls. Before long there would end up being a full search party after Zakuro, and one of the members of it were bound to hit an explosion. If only he had planned ahead, and wasn't such an idiot for laying those out. He forgot about how the village would see the explosions, and how much trouble he would get into.
It wasn't long before Zakuro found a dummy. With a quick hit with a kunai, the dummy made slight thud noise, but nothing else. After that, Zakuro took a sharp left through the trees. He thought he heard chatter in the distance, but with the rain and the sound of his feet hitting the branches of the trees, the sound was mostly drown out. It could've been anything. His passed a brown figure. Zakuro had a hard time stopping himself, but he managed it. It was another dummy. Yet another kunai flew from Zakuro. Yet another thud issued from the dummy. No explosion. That left 9 dummies and two tags.
Zakuro began moving again, but he didn't go more than a couple yards before he saw another dummy. Zakuro reached in his pouch for another kunai. He chucked it at the center of the dummy. A flash of blinding light issued, and steam began rising from the explosion marks on the tree. Zakuro felt a little relief. There was only one left.
Zakuro, definitely hearing voices from his left, took a right, and continued that way. He hoped that the next explosive dummy would appear in his path. He hoped and hoped, but to no avail. He found nothing. His feet had taken him too far of a distance away from Konoha. He knew there were no dummies that far. Zakuro turned back towards the village, but made sure to circle around in case of the search team. Lucky for Zakuro, this new path lead to another dummy. Although, an unreactive kunai to the dummy's chest showed that Zakuro's luck only went so far. He kept searching. With only 8 dummies left, Zakuro's heart pounded. Would he ever reach the right dummy in time? Would he even be able to find it at all? Zakuro shook them from his head as he sprinted through the woods he calls home. He started to feel the fatigue set in. There was no way that he could continue moving at these speeds for much longer.
Zakuro's breathing became heavier as he approached another dummy. A thrown kunai revealed it be yet another dud. Zakuro was not happy. He didn't stray from his path. It wasn't long after Zakuro found that dummy that he needed a break. He just couldn't keep up with that speed for too long. The speed that he was so proud of, he could only run at for a couple minutes. It was a disgrace.
Zakuro looked towards Konaha. His city. This exhaustion was for the place he called home. He was going to find this last dummy even if it cost him his final breath. Zakuro couldn't allow anyone to get hurt because of him. It wasn't until Zakuro regained some stamina that he saw a dummy sitting right in front of him. With the swing of his arm, a kunai came speeding towards it. Boom. The dummy exploded, and Zakuro collapsed. He fainted from exhaustion and relief. Apparently Zakuro was running on pure determination. It wouldn't be long until the search team found his body there and took him back.
Stamina Training
725/600
Zakuro had no time to lose. He started to scan the entire area as fast as he could. Just like his first training, his feet barely touched the branch before setting off again, only this time someone could end up getting injured if he didn't hurry. With the recent paranoia from the invasion, everyone freaks out over the smallest disturbance outside the walls. Before long there would end up being a full search party after Zakuro, and one of the members of it were bound to hit an explosion. If only he had planned ahead, and wasn't such an idiot for laying those out. He forgot about how the village would see the explosions, and how much trouble he would get into.
It wasn't long before Zakuro found a dummy. With a quick hit with a kunai, the dummy made slight thud noise, but nothing else. After that, Zakuro took a sharp left through the trees. He thought he heard chatter in the distance, but with the rain and the sound of his feet hitting the branches of the trees, the sound was mostly drown out. It could've been anything. His passed a brown figure. Zakuro had a hard time stopping himself, but he managed it. It was another dummy. Yet another kunai flew from Zakuro. Yet another thud issued from the dummy. No explosion. That left 9 dummies and two tags.
Zakuro began moving again, but he didn't go more than a couple yards before he saw another dummy. Zakuro reached in his pouch for another kunai. He chucked it at the center of the dummy. A flash of blinding light issued, and steam began rising from the explosion marks on the tree. Zakuro felt a little relief. There was only one left.
Zakuro, definitely hearing voices from his left, took a right, and continued that way. He hoped that the next explosive dummy would appear in his path. He hoped and hoped, but to no avail. He found nothing. His feet had taken him too far of a distance away from Konoha. He knew there were no dummies that far. Zakuro turned back towards the village, but made sure to circle around in case of the search team. Lucky for Zakuro, this new path lead to another dummy. Although, an unreactive kunai to the dummy's chest showed that Zakuro's luck only went so far. He kept searching. With only 8 dummies left, Zakuro's heart pounded. Would he ever reach the right dummy in time? Would he even be able to find it at all? Zakuro shook them from his head as he sprinted through the woods he calls home. He started to feel the fatigue set in. There was no way that he could continue moving at these speeds for much longer.
Zakuro's breathing became heavier as he approached another dummy. A thrown kunai revealed it be yet another dud. Zakuro was not happy. He didn't stray from his path. It wasn't long after Zakuro found that dummy that he needed a break. He just couldn't keep up with that speed for too long. The speed that he was so proud of, he could only run at for a couple minutes. It was a disgrace.
Zakuro looked towards Konaha. His city. This exhaustion was for the place he called home. He was going to find this last dummy even if it cost him his final breath. Zakuro couldn't allow anyone to get hurt because of him. It wasn't until Zakuro regained some stamina that he saw a dummy sitting right in front of him. With the swing of his arm, a kunai came speeding towards it. Boom. The dummy exploded, and Zakuro collapsed. He fainted from exhaustion and relief. Apparently Zakuro was running on pure determination. It wouldn't be long until the search team found his body there and took him back.
Stamina Training
725/600
" A 7 for Zangy for example, is different from a 7 from Envy who is not quite a nuanced writer as Zangy is (sorry Envy), which is different from a 7 for Rain, who has English as his second language." - Onu 2016