Out training pt2

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hobnob
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Out training pt2

Post by hobnob » Sun Jan 24, 2021 9:27 am

The apes roared in anger as they dropped me onto the ground. It appears they were letting me go, although at this point, I’m wasn’t sure what would be worse; death by being pounded by an angry ape, or being eaten by a giant snake. And this was the current reality, I had no idea where I was, I had almost no chakra left, and it was pitch black. Life did not look promising. I put both my palms onto the ground and pushed until I was on my knees. Slowly I stood up and leant against a tree, that at that moment in time, was a god send. My legs felt like freshly made jelly.

‘I need to get moving before they decide to attack me,’ I said right before a big spear smashed into the tree I was leaning on. These apes were not going to waste any time. The roar I could hear coming from their compound was terrifying and prompted me to make a move. Foot after foot, I began making my way back home, constantly on alert, there could be anything luring around any of these trees. And the trouble was, I had no idea what I would do if something really was hiding around these trees. The only positive of the current situation was the moon, high up in the sky, it did whatever it could to provide me with light. The area was fairly open, the trees spaced a good couple of meters between one another, it allowed just enough light through for me to be able to make out the next couple of steps. The ground was covered with patches of dense, green moss and I trundled through paying close attention to every step I take. This place has taught me that, one moment of inattention could lead to my death. Slow and steady would be the way forward from now on.

The hissing sound came from above. They were here. I reached for my sword, using chakra would kill me, so I had to be clever and use my close-range skills to survive. This was not going to be the easiest thing to do, I was drained, and my muscles ached. But what else could I do? I held the sword close to my body, and slowly made my way to the area most lit by the moon. Constantly turning my head to check my surroundings, I knew that these things could be anywhere, they were well adapted to this environment, they could blend in as easily as a ninja could. And they also seemed to have a sixth sense; heat. They were easily able to sense where I was, otherwise, how did they find me in the first place? I kept moving, I didn’t want to be a sitting duck. If they wanted me, they would have to come and get me.

Finally, I got to the area that was open and reasonably well-lit and soon, I saw the predator approaching, although it was me who would turn out to be the predator. My sword held in a good, firm, but loose grip. I faced the beast approaching, it was not the biggest, but it was big enough to have no trouble devouring me. I looked directly at him, and that is when it made its move. It extended its body and headed directly for me. The moment it opened its mouth to have me, I leaped to the side and delivered a horizontal swing with my sword, catching in the spot where the upper lip, meets the lower lip.

The snake hissed as blood gushed out of it mouth, its body slithered into place to try and attack me once more. It did not waste any time, and it wasn’t going to try and do the same thing twice. Its mouth remained closed its eyes were piercing through my body. This feeling of dread filled me. Those eyes showed no emotion, they were dead inside, just a creature doing what it has to, to survive. I had to end this as quickly as possible, so I waited until it would not be able to dodge, and I launched my sword in the direction of the beasts’ head. It pierced through its skull, then the body of the beast began wriggling wildly. It was safe to say that it was dead and would not cause me any trouble. I pulled my sword out and began to walk in the direction I was originally. But, after a few steps, I heard something drop behind me, and then something else. I turned to see more snakes, slithering towards me. This was not good, there would most likely be more that would show up any minute. I turned backed around and began running. I could hardly see, so I would run towards any and all patches of light that made their way through the canopy. The hissing became more intense, it sounded like there were more and more of these reptiles trying to hunt me down. I saw a small movement before me, so I swung my sword wildly until it connected with something soft, it dropped to the ground with a thud as I carried of running. My heart rate grew to the point where it felt like it was about jump out of my chest, the fear and adrenaline fuelled my body; my senses were at their peak. I heard every stick broken under the weight of these predators. I knew what was going on. But just because I did, I was not planning on stopping and trying to fight against these serpents. It was not worth the risk, I just wanted to get somewhere safe.

Twang. Twing. Tack. Tack. Tack. Twing.

The sound of sticks cracking was getting closer and closer. Escape was beginning to look unlikely. ‘Keep going,’ I said in my mind as my legs and lungs were burning with from the strain, I put on them. ‘Keep going,’ I kept repeating but I had no idea where I was, or where I was headed. All I knew was, that I had to survive. ‘Keep going!’ I shouted hoping it would make me forget about the pain. ‘Keep going!!’ I was not going to allow myself to be eaten in this situation. Twang.

I heard a tick snapping behind me, and I threw my arm around blindly, hoping that my sword would catch on whatever it was that was creeping behind me. Hssssss. The beast hissed in anger and anguish. I kept going. This was no time to celebrate small victories. If I stopped, I’d be killed no doubt. Movement was the answer to this issue. Even if I could not out-run these beasts, I would have to give it a damn, good go. And what was that?

I looked up and the sky was slowly becoming brighter. The tables were beginning to turn. Soon, I would not have to rely so heavily on my hearing, nor would I have to zigzag from one lit spot, to another. It was all slowly being revealed to me. And so was the pain in my legs and lungs. It felt like if I stopped now, I would not be in any state to start moving again. Onward was the only option, and with this light making its way onto the land before me, this option would only become easier.

I jumped into the air to avoid this lying log. It was large, and when I once again landed, both my legs gave way and I ended up on my knees. This was a bad place to be. The serpents were right behind me, I had to get up or I’d be crushed inside of their venomous mouth. So, I pressed hard, with my legs until I near enough leapt forward. Only to hear a loud thud behind me. That was close, too close for comfort. But yet I moved, my sword in hand, I leapt up into the air, and landed on top of another lying log. I had to slow this one down, he was getting too close. So, I thrust my sword blindly forward. And before I knew it, I was struck and sent hurling backwards with my sword still tightly gripped in my hand. I hit the ground and rolled backwards. My entire body felt numb.

Using my sword to help myself up, I stood and looked in the direction the serpent was approaching, eventually I could see a glimmer of the beast. So I waited until it was withing the proximity of my sword, I swung, and swung again. The sword connected, the beast released a loud hiss, and so I jumped away from the creature. Creating a small gap between us. It dived towards my again, I held out my sword and blocked it, but the strength of the creature pushed me back to the point where It lifted me off the ground and drove me up into the canopy of the trees. This was beginning the reach the extremes levels of danger. I was at a massive disadvantage here, I had only so many options of where I could go. But I had to carry on moving. The moment the snake let go of me, I pushed with my legs and leaped forward, onto another tree, landing on a branch, almost slipping and falling off. After spending so much time climbing trees using chakra I completely forgot about how slippery bark could get. Without turning around to see where the snake was, I leaped forward once more, making my way down, branch after branch. Until, a whip of a tail struck me across my body and sent me hurling back into the main stem of the tree. The impact was more painful than the actual whip, it was the anticipation, the built up tension, the fact that I knew it was going to happen within a few moment so being struck. That the reason why the impact was so painful.

I slid down until I was sat against the stem and I watched as the serpent unravelled before me. IT was huge, big enough to devour me whole. Fighting my way out of this one was not going to be easy. But, sitting here was only going to make the situation worse. I used my sword for support; I eventually stood, ready to face the serpent. It moved; I moved; its attack was followed by my dodge and a swing of my sword; it was getting brighter; hsssss the beast let out every time my sword connected; a gush of blood. This was draining me too much, sooner or later more of these would come because of all the noise we are making. It was time to get out of here.

When the next available moment came, I leaped onto yet another branch and soon, the distance between us grew. The bigger the better. Less of these snakes, the better. But I could not have it all. Whenever I looked down, I could see them, making their way up, soon I would be surrounded. I had to pick up the pace, get out of this area as soon as possible. Branch after branch, I was moving further and further in the direction the apes set me on, I knew that I was heading in the right general direction, but I had no idea where my trajectory would take me. But, as long as I was making my way away from these things, I was happy. As happy as I could be in this situation. Happiness was the equivalent of motivation in this situation, all I felt was that I had to keep moving, I had to stay alive, I had goals I wanted to fulfil, dying in this place was definitely not on the list. Not yet anyway, this would make a good place for The End. Maybe my last epic will be a bout with that big croc; once I am old and have fulfilled all my dreams and aspirations, now that would be a good way to go. Being devoured by such a beast would be exciting at that age.

Smack

A tail connected with my face, blood was gushing out of my nose and I was backflipping through the air until I fell through branches that could not bear the force of the impact; eventually I hit one that was big, thick, one that gave me no chance of falling through, I overlapped it. My head and arms were hanging down, and so were my legs. My back was in tatters; it felt like it’s been split in half. My nose pouring with blood, although it didn’t feel like it was broken. The blood was making it’s way into my eyes so I wiped it off with my sleeve. That’s when I heard the snakes hissing their way down to the branch I was hanging on. Regardless of what I felt like, It was time for me to get out of there. I twisted my body and looked down. I was only a few feet above the ground, a fall wouldn’t kill me. I slid down and landed on all fours… that’s what I tried doing, my limps just slid under my weight and I ended up face planting the ground with the side of my face. I crawled until I found my feet. I walked until my body allowed me to run and I ran and ran and ran. I stroked the sheath with my finger, to see whether my sword was still in place. This was the only lucky thing that has happened to me all day, the sheath of my sword actually doing its job. I looked behind me and saw that the snakes were still following me, it wasn’t just one, there were dozens of them, the savage beasts. I had to pick up the pace, I wouldn’t be able to outrun them, but I would be able to buy myself some more time.

Blood still dripping through my nose, I moved through the forest, swiftly. Now with the sun high enough to light up the forest, I could see everything. From twigs to, to slippery moss. My eyes have adjusted to this constant movement, there was no way I was going to get eaten now. Although this wasn’t the best situation. I could feel myself becoming stronger. This was what I was after, although scary it was, it was character building, it was teaching me to plan ahead and to use my body to the maximum efficiency.

A drooper, this time it was it’s head. I reached for my sword, rolled on the ground and as I was retuning to my feet, I slashed upward, cutting through the underside of the beasts jaw. I was showered in blood and soon was going to be crushed under the weight of this thing if I didn’t move. I jumped to the side, my arm giving way under my weight, I stumbled and my shoulder scraped against the ground. My body has become so numb that I have completely forgotten about the pain I was actually suffering. I could not stop, once again using my sword to help myself up, and then I began running once more, I heard a loud thud and knew what the origin was without the need to turn around.

As I moved through the forest, I took in as much as I could. I wanted to know my way around this place, I was planning on staying here for a while longer. The more I knew, the safer I was. I stopped and turned around. It appeared that the snakes have ceased following me. I began to wonder what the deal was until I heard a thud behind me. There was my answer, a large spider was there, staring directly at me, it felt like he was looking through me. Like I was just a target, to them, that is all I was. It moved, and so did I. My sword clenched in my fist I ducked and jumped and swung and pierced whenever I could. These things were even faster than the snakes, but luckily for me, they had a obvious weak spot. Standing underneath did the trick, although I did have the thought in the back of my head that It might squash me. So, I did the opposite, I jumped up into the air, this is how big this thing was, and I stabbed into its body. Gooey liquid leaked out and I landed on the floor. It starter moving around faster than before, it was feeling it, and it did not like it. It moved into the forest and I was not planning on chasing it. I had to the camp, I needed a place where I could rest, peacefully.

I carried on moving, constantly looking around, up above, to the left, to the right and behind. These things were better hunters than snakes, the web they laid was pretty much invisible, I’d only be able to see when I was inches away from it. My sword was only able to cut through it if I swung it as hard as I could, otherwise it would just stick to it, and it was a right mission to get the bloody thing out.

Izakis body was slowly beginning to adjust. The pain was becoming non-existent, whether he was recovering or he was actually hurting so much that his body has begun to numb the pain, he did not know. But what mattered was that, his performance was improving. At this rate he was going to get back much sooner than he first thought. He began running up the tree. He wanted where he was. He have to get right up into the top of the canopy and perch on the very very top, with his head poking out the top. So, he dashed upwards bouncing from one tree to the other, trying to make this a little more exciting. This area seemed a bit less lively than the area run by snakes. That’s how Izaki saw it, areas dominated by a certain species. Apes, snakes and spiders, the big croc is also worth a mention but that thing was rare, he was very unlikely to see another one of them anywhere. But then again, anything could happen.

Run, jump, bounce, roll. These were the actions Izaki was carrying out while running up this tree. The chakra that he was using to do this was near enough none. He was happy to keep doing what he was doing. And now, he was up in the canopy. Almost at the very top and it was becoming scary. The branches were not the safest, they were the size of twigs, but he still could not see the landscape. He had to go up just a little bit further until it would all become clear.

And then, there he was, standing at the very top, on actual twigs. But unfortunately, he was not able to see as much as he would like, he was only a bodies length above the other trees, but he was still able to make out a thing or two;

‘So that’s where the lake is… Stay away from there, so I need to head that way.’ He let out after moving his finger slightly to the left of the massive gap of trees, that must have been where the lake was, there was no other explanation for it. Plus he was in the right area. Snap, the branch he was stood on and he was now falling through the canopy. It was going to be a while until he came across a big enough branch that would actually be able to take his weight. So he extended his arm, and channelled a little chakra to it, he hoped that snapping through the branches would eventually pull him towards the main stem, then he would apply more chakra, creating a stronger bond between him and the tree, slowing him right down until he was able to easily make his way down.

He was able to see movement below him, it appeared that the herd has come out to play. Because that is how many there ware, hundreds. All different sizes, all different speeds, all dangerous. This was going to be a little dodgy, he was not sure what he was suppose to do, how was he suppose to fight all of these things at the same time. He stopped, looked and assessed. At this moment in time, it appeared that the herd has not yet realised he was above them, so for now he would have to carefully move from one tree to another, the quicker the better. So he jumped; jumped; hopped; swung. Tree after tree, getting himself closer and closer to camp.

Seeing them crawling beneath made Izaki shiver. From the hight he was at they looked like ant to do a person while he’s stood on the ground. But he knew that in reality those things were massive, and the amount of them just made things worse, it appeared that the ground beneath was just moving, in all sorts of ways. He shook his head and looked to the next tree, he knew that looking down at them would make his head spin and possibly even make him sick. That is not what he wanted; he still had a long way to go until he was safe.

He jumped onto the next tree along, gripping it tight to it, this one was flimsy and looked like it could snap any second. Under closer inspection, Izaki realised that it was not just flimsy, it was actually dead. If he wasn’t careful it would snap and he would be falling down once again; at this point in time, that was not ideal, seeing that the ground below was basically a sea of monsters, he did not want to be eaten. He figured that any sudden movement was likely to slap the tree, he would have to be very careful, so he gently leant towards the tree he was heading for. He reached out and grabbed a hold of it, letting go of the dead, dodgy one. This was easier than he originally thought, until he heard something snap behind him. When he looked back, he realised that a section, a few feet long had snapped off once he let go of the tree and it was returning to its original form. He watched as the section flew down through the air and disappeared in the sea of monsters. A moment later the sea began to disperse, making their way up the trees around him. It was time to get a move on. He would not last very long if he stayed exactly where he was. So, he leaped; from one tree to another.

Izaki thought that if he just stayed at this height he would be safe, after all those spiders were too big to be able to cling to branches of this size. But, they had a way around that too. Soon, a stream of spider webbing shot past his head, and attached to the tree he was hanging onto. The same thing happened to the trees around him and when he looked down, he saw the spiders making their way up on the webs that they have just created. This was not looking pretty; Izaki reached for his sword and swung it as fact as he could through the webbing on his tree, severing it. He then leaped onto the next tree along and did the same; the process repeated at every tree that he was at. But it was no use, there were just too many of them. More webs were being shot up for every one he cut down, and the spiders were already here.

A spider on the next tree along, leaped towards the youth. Holding onto the tree with his arm, he lifted his body up and the moment his feet touched the tree, he leapt towards the incoming beast. He was now positioned slightly above the beast, this gave him the perfect opportunity to swing his sword through its mouth. It did not manage to stick to the tree, instead it fell to the ground, where it was devoured by the scurrying sea. Giving all his attention to his surroundings, the youth moved from tree to tree, swinging his sword violently at anything that moved and any webbing that he could get. They were not going to get him today, no matter how many of them there were. However, these spiders were intelligent, they learned how Izaki operated on the fly. The moment he swung his sword to cut through the webbing, he was struck by a steam of it and pinned against the tree. His sword still in hand, he had enough movement in it to be able to hack away at it. The spiders were not sitting patiently while he was doing so. They made their way up and surrounded him, closing in from every angle; except for one. He hacked through the last section of the webbing, and the moment he regained his movement he pushed with his legs, and leapt out into the void of nothing but air, and hurling spider web. He was free falling, and he was struggling to come up with a plan that would save him. He did not really have any options. There was nothing around him that he could grab onto. There was virtually nothing, and the sea was getting closer and closer. But, soon a dangerous opportunity arose.

Suddenly a spider leapt towards him, trying to get him while he was falling. This was going to be his way out; if he managed to kill this thing that is. He extended his sword arm, piercing through the spot next to its head and used that as an anchor to climb onto the top of it, where he would carry on stabbing through the beast until he made sure it would never hurt anyone. When he reached the sack full of liquid webbing, he leaped out onto another tree, this time paying close attention to what was happening, he was not planning on being caught in another one of their traps again. The moment, his body touched the tree, he was moving. Constant movement made him a target harder to hit, he also made sure to zig zag while he was running along the tree. There was absolutely no way he was going to allow himself to be glued to this thing once again. As ridiculous and wearing as it was on his body. He had to survive, he had to excel in order to fulfil his dreams, growing strong enough to be able to protect individuals, who could one day find themselves facing creatures such as these, and he was not going to allow anyone to get hurt by something like this. Strength was the only way forward, strength was the only way through this brutal world. He learned this when he was younger, and he would make sure that he or his family and friends were never placed in a similar situation.

His body was burning, his muscles ached, his lungs were pure fire. He knew that he would sooner or later make it out of this maze of death. But the pain pulsating through his body was not making it easy. It felt like if he stopped moving now, he would simply collapse into the abyss. So, what were he to do? Allow pain to drive him; no that was not Izakis way. He was the captain, he was going to chose his fate, and his decision was that he was getting out of here in one piece. Stride after stride, he was getting closer to safety, although at this point in time it did not look that way at all.

He had to get higher. The spiders struggled the higher he they were. Smaller trees, and not as much to hold onto. At the same time, Izaki was in a worse position the higher they went. If he mis-calculated a step, he would turn into mince for the spiders, after falling from such a hight. The thought of it sent shivers down his spine. For a moment he visualised it, himself falling through the air, down towards the hundreds of hungry spiders, just waiting for him to make a mistake and make his way down to them. It made him feel sick, and as a result, he quickened his pace. He did not want to spend any more time in this area than he had to. It was time to get out of this place.

It was time to take the risk. He reached round and grabbed his scroll, unravelled it and began painting. He wanted to see whether he had enough energy to bring forth his companion, Takashi. He waved a string of hand seals, but nothing happened. He tried once again, still the same result. It seemed like he was fully drained of chakra. He wanted to stop, so that he could focus on gathering his chakra, but there was just no time to do so. He rolled up his scroll and began heading upwards. Swinging his sword at any spiders that tried to assault him from above. It appeared that these were smaller, but quicker; multiple times the youth came close to being crushed by them. Luckily for him, he had his sword.

Once he was at the right altitude, the youth pressed his back against the stem of the tree and unravelled his scroll. He placed it on the branch before him and performed the necessary hand seals and held the very last one; he gathered all the remnants of his chakra for this one jutsu. He could feel a warm liquid trickling from his nose, it tasted like blood. A Few moments later, he slammed his hands into the scroll, and it happened. The painting of a hawk came alive. Instinctively, the youth grabbed the scroll and leaped onto the bird, taking flight. He held on tight, trying to direct the bird to fly up high, out of the forest. Only then he realised that Takashi was deformed. He was not able to fly at the same speed as he should, but it was just fast enough to get away without being attacked.

Not a cloud in the sky, the sun was beaming. It was crazy to think that the trees were so dense that they blocked out so much of the sun. The forest was dark and wet and manky. This place was a breeze, and from up here, the forest looked beautiful. If someone were to see this place from this angle, they would never know that it was so dangerous. Izaki was glad about this, he never thought that something so simple would bring him so much joy. He held tightly to the bird, struggling to stay awake, the blood still leaking out of his nose, he definitely over did it. He was at the border, between life and death, he had to get back to camp quickly, he gat to get some food inside of him so his body could replenish some energy. Otherwise, the unfortunate would happen. The thought of him falling asleep and not waking up have rushed through his head, so he slapped himself, and slapped himself again, gently, just to give himself something to focus on.

Gently he looked over the bird, the land was blurry, he wasn’t sure exactly where he was. He rubbed his eyes with his left hand and tried again. He could see the blurry outlines of the trees, and a gap a little distance away. He wasn’t sure if that was the right place, but that was where he was going to head, that was his best bet. After travelling all this way in the right direction, he had a strong chance of being correct. He grabbed the top of Takashis head for support, he felt like he was about to slide off and that was not something he was very keen on. Being so close to home made the idea even worse, although it could not get much worse than it already was. He might die anyway.

The gap was getting closer and closer, and Izaki made the bird descend from the sky. He would have to position himself correctly for him to make the landing. The space he had to do this was not vast. He had to be clever about it. He dropped down to the height of the canopy and flew just above; immediately dropping down after the last tree and returning to horizontal flight right before the ground. He was home… he just had to land. Which would be hard, considering Takashi was only partially complete, it appeared this was going to be more of a crash landing. They came closer and closer to his shack, eventually Takashi touched the ground and dispersed, sending the youth rolling forward up to the edge of the shack. Izaki was disorientated at this point, his body was on auto-pilot, he was only carrying out behaviour which he has learnt in the past. He crawled up into the shack, and made his way to where the meat was hanging, reaching up he pulled the lot down, not knowing whether it was still good meat, he crawled towards his bed and crippled his way into it, taking a bite of the meat at last.

End of Chapter
When Izaki woke up, it was dark. Completely disorientated, he moved himself around in his bed and realised that he had something in his mouth. Reaching into it, he felt something tender and pulled it out. It was the piece of meat that he had tried to eat when he got back to the camp. He threw it onto the path leading to the hut and remained in still in bed. He had no idea how long he was asleep for, or whether it was the morning or late evening. He did know that he managed to get back safe, he was still in one piece, and his body, although it was full of pain, actually managed to move. His lips and chin felt crusty, it was the dried blood that he was now scraping off. Luckily for him, he was not able to utilise all his remaining chakra for that last jutsu, if he did, he would most likely be dead by now. The crusty blood came off slowly and painfully, it was very dry. He had to put a bit of force into scraping his face. And when it felt like it has come off, he began to wiggle himself out of the bed. It was time to aid his body in recovery, that would take a little while.

Eventually, he managed to get himself out. It took a lot of pain and suffering on his behalf, but eventually, he was out and crawling to his destination. And the destination was the remnants of the meat that was hanging on a bit of vine he had found growing in the forest. Hopefully, it was still edible. When he got there, he had to use anything and everything to aid himself in standing up, the wooden beam for support, and he would slowly make his way up, gently placing his feet closer and closer to the beam. He could not compare the pain in his legs to anything that he has ever experienced in his life, it felt like the muscles have turned to acid and every budge brought a tsunami of suffering. Suffering that he was trying to keep on the inside, he was not allowing himself to let the pain leak through to the surface, he was a master of his body, and doing such a thing would betray him. However, there have been a few moments where he could not hold back the air from escaping his mouth under pressure. Soon enough the youth was up, leaning against the beam, facing the bundle of meat wrapped in vines. It was time to feast. He gently raised both his arms and slowly ripped the meat apart, giving it a gently whiff to test it, find out whether it has been out here for too long. But by the smell of it, it was still in a condition good enough to eat. He took a nibble, and in that moment, he remembered what he has missed. Nothing. The meat was plain, flavourless, dull. But he ate it, slowly making his way through it as if it was unsweetened porridge. Spoon after spoon, knowing exactly what was coming next. Nothing to be excited about, but just like porridge, it was good for him. So, he carried on.

Some time later, he currently had no concept of time. He took the last bite of the meat and once processed, he eventually swallowed it and began making his way back to the bed. It was time to return and get a little more sleep, hopefully when he woke up next he would be in a better condition to take on life and his daily duties. He was back on the floor, crawling back to the bed where he would spend another couple of hours, or nights. Not having any clue how long he was asleep for completely threw him off track. Hopefully when he wakes up the next time, it will all have a bit more sense. He placed his hand on brim of his bed, and pulled himself up, feeling every single cell in his body scream out in pain. This has so far been the hardest thing he has ever done, the trip that almost cost him his life, he would remember it for a long, long time.

Few moment later, he fell into his bed and wiggled himself into a comfortable position. He was going to spend a fair bit of time in there, and he wanted to make sure that his body was going to be in a position that would result in the most efficient sleep. And few moments later he was out, cold.

The sleep was deep, his mid however, was busy. The sleep led to him dreaming the events of the past couple of days. The fight he had with the big ape. Being chased through the forest by snakes and spiders and nearly dying multiple times. His body was shaking throughout the night, twitching when the memories of the days we recalled; as if he was still out there mentally. Fighting his way back to camp through the sea of monsters, the experience was so full of dread and fear that it had an effect of his that he was experiencing now. It was strange how when he was out there, fighting, he did not feel this at all. All he felt at that time was pure adrenaline, all he wanted to do is carry on moving and fighting, fighting and moving. But now, he was suffering for it. All of that effort he put into getting back, and he was now being haunted for it. Haunted by his memories of the experience that he escaped. Experience that has taught him a great deal about himself. It taught him how to think outside the box, be able to battle in disadvantageous conditions, ones where he had to fight with a hand tied behind his back. Although it cost him a lot, he managed to do it, and he could only learn from it. From now on he would have to be more cautions. About his current situation, and about any future situations he was going to be in, hostile and neutral. It was all about thinking ahead and making the correct strategic choices, and for now. The best choice he could make was take it steady and allow his body to recuperate. This was going to be his goal for the next couple of days. Not venturing too far out from camp, but also dealing with the everyday issues.

End of Chapter
Darkness. Izaki was surrounded when he opened his eyes. Still not being able to see anything he began to clamber out of his bed. It was time for him to start acting rather than pointlessly laying around, he was awake now this means that he is had the rest he needed. His body was still aching, but now it was the pain emerging from his empty stomach that was causing the issues for him. Once again, he was not sure how long he was out for. He did know that he had no food left and going out in this darkness would only create more danger for him. It was safer for him to stay at camp and make the most of the safety until the sun came up and he was ready to go. He was not going to waste time trying to get more sleep though. His plan was to make the most of camp. He stood on his feet, legs straight, and he began jogging on the spot. He had to limber up or his body would suffer for a lot longer than if he suffers a little bit more now. So that was the aim of the game, limber up, and get some agility training in this early morning routine. He knew he needed it, after what he experienced in the forest over the past couple of days. Speed and agility were the areas he would have to improve the most. For the sake of his future in this forest, at the moment there were plenty of creatures here that could easily out do him if they managed to get close enough. And if the plan was that when he laves this forest, he is able to take on any creature that lives here.

A little while went by, and Izaki was still jogging on the spot, his arms were out to his sides to help him keep his balance while he was still in a poor state and he couldn’t see what was actually around him. So, he picked up the pace, and leaped forwards on one leg and then leaped backwards on the opposite leg on which he landed initially. He would repeat the process for a while until this action had stopped hurting completely. Then he would perform a similar exercise, this time he was sidestepping, to the right, then to the left. First time round, he managed to knock something that was lead on the floor, he assumed it was the little figure that he carved out of wood, it seemed that it has been a long time since that happened. Regardless, he moved back and this time, he gently walked around the area, mapping it in his head, he did not want something similar to occur once again. So when he was ready, his side stepping activity begun once more. And again, this would be all he did until he felt that his body was became used to it. After that, it was lounge jumps, from one leg onto the other. This was a lot more pressing than any of the other exercises that he has done so far. He looked out into the darkness as he landed on his leg and pain ran through his muscles. He noticed that the sky was beginning to brighten up. Soon he would be able to go out into the forest, and get some grub, fuel his deprived body and begin to recover his energy properly.

The lunges stopped, he proceeded to sit down on the floor, and he would begin to stretch his muscles. It was time to loosen up all this tightness he had generated over these past few weeks. He knew that a lot of pain was awaiting him, especially the pain of stretching. It was different from the usual pain an individual suffered when building muscles. This was an awkward pain, one that made any individual cringe, the harder you tried the more it hurt, this was the curse of stretching, there was never going to be a point where it just didn’t hurt. But he faced it, like a real man would and touched his toes. The pain at the bottom of his hamstring was immense, his eye lids fluttered ferociously as he did it. This was the worst possible feeling away. He hated it, but he knew he had to brave through it. So he carried on stretching, changing legs every now and again to ensure they were both as limber as one another.

Slowly he stood up and looked out into the distance. The sun was high enough to provide him with enough light to venture out and begin hunting. The thing he needed to get was water, he was not going to risk drinking the water that was still sitting in the bucket. He walked over to it and picked it up and chucked it out into one of the trenches that were filled with sharp spears. Then he made a move, his sword and scroll attached to his belt, it was time to get start the day properly. Once again, he would try to tackle the days without the use of any ninjutsu, this was going to be purely a physical training session.

The moment he was among the dense trees, he felt that shrill feeling he had for the past couple of days, it had not brought back any good memories, just pain, fear and suffering. But, he had to get his chores done, if he did not he might as well just begin heading home now, because he won’t last another couple of days without the necessities. Moving through the forest, his guard was up. He listened out for the smallest of sounds that came from around him. He almost felt paranoid about the situation, checking every movement, every fallen twig, every little shadow. He’d rather be safe than in trouble. And so, he cautiously made his way deeper into the forest. The stream was not far from camp, but he was likely to encounter some animal he could kill and bring back to the camp. Any food and water at that very moment was like gold dust.

Eventually, after however many instances of paranoia, he made it to the stream. He fell to his knees and hovered over the stream, drinking directly from it. Taking in small sips to allow the water to nourish him. Drinking too fast would only have a bad effect on his empty stomach, so taking a sip or two, he sat back allowed the drink of life to flow down, and help his body recover from all excessive fatigue he had experienced. He would then hover over the stream once again, sipping some more, only to repeat the process a couple of times. Eventually, he stood up and filled the bucket up with water, giving it a quick rinse to clean it out. Then he filled it right up to the top and then began making his way back to camp. This was the time when he did not want to be stopped by some gigantic creature. He did not want to have his water spilled and then having to go back a get more, this was simply inefficient use of his time. He moved back, cautiously and carefully. Trying not make too much noise and attract the attention of any of the beasts that might be lurking around, waiting to catch him off guard and eat him. That is not how it is going to go. His hand was resting on the hilt of his sword, ready to strike at any moment the events called for it.

Then it came, a large spider dropped down from the sky and landed a couple of feet from Izaki. The youth gently placed the bucket next to a tree, hoping that it would be protect. Then, he wasted no time and charged at the beast. He still could not move his full speed, but he would have to make doo with what he had. His sword now in hand, he ducked to the side of the incoming piercing leg of the spider, swinging his sword at the deadly limb, leaving a deep wound. The spider screeched as Izaki charged at it. Leaping up into the air, Izaki was planning on ending this quickly, with a single stab to the head. But then, something he was not expecting happened. Another spider leaped out of the darkness at him, spotting it in the last second, Izaki placed his hand close to the face of the spider, tensing his whole body, they travelled together towards the ground. Little did the spider know, this move left him highly vulnerable, and the youth was going to make to most of that. He drove his sword into this spiders mouth before they touched the ground, killing it effectively. Izaki jumped away from it to have a look at the other beast, but it was gone. Izaki slowly straightened his posture and looked around, it appeared the beast had vanished, until Izaki heard rustling in the bushes.

His guard came up at pace and he watched the area as he saw the branches move around at pace and suddenly, multiple smaller spiders leaped out and charged for the youth. These things were fast, very fast, faster than the youth and as a matter of fact, they were faster than the youth, in his current state at least. He held his sword close to his body and paid close attention to the movements. If they wanted to get him, they would have to come close, and that is exactly what he was waiting for. Making them come to him, but as it turned out, it was not going to be that easy. The spiders surrounded him, putting him at a serious disadvantage. He could only see what was in front of him, so now he would have to rely on a sense that was not as well developed as his sight was. Then the one in front of him leaped forward, Izaki brought his sword up in front of him, turning his body, he looked around to see what the rest of the creatures were doing, and heard movement behind him, as faint as it was. He jumped backwards in the small area that he had, watching as the spider flew past him. Before it touched the ground, Izaki charged at it with his sword in had ready to strike. But then then another two joined it. One leaping at him at around his head height, the other staying low, on the ground. His body moved on its own, performing and twisting move in the air as the both moved above and below him, delivering a slash to both the creatures that ended up with severs wounds that prohibited them from carrying on moving. He landed on top of the screeching spider and moved away from it before the rest managed to get to him.

He was now stood in the least occupied area, panting. The timing of all these actions is what made him so tired, the pressure that hung over him. Knowing that one wrong move could cost him his life. These things were not messing around, they were here to feed, just like he was. Kill or be killed. His sword close to his body, the youth kept moving backwards slowly. Watching as the spiders neared, getting ready to attack. He noticed that the spiders did something interesting right before they attacked. They would tense up their body and then launch themselves forwards. This was the tick he needed. Something that would put him at an advantage. But that was not enough, these things were still faster than he was and so far, he has simply gotten lucky with them. So, the youth kept his sword close, but this time, the attack came simultaneously from different directions. He had to pick which one he was going to go for directly. He picked the one that was closes to the most open of the areas. He leaped and extended his arm, driving the sword through the face of the beast, but that was what they were after, the other two had enough time to land on the ground and change their trajectory. Now both jumping at Izaki from behind. He managed to turn around and see one of the in the air, inches away from him. He moved his sword in front of him just in time and the spider impaled itself onto the sword. But the other one got what it came for. It came from below and leaped up delivering a blow with its face and using its legs to deliver surface wounds to Izakis body. Now it was him who cried out in pain. He jumped back and quickly inspected his wounds.

They were not serious, but he had to make sure that if he got out of here, he would carefully tend to them to make sure they do not get infected. The blow delivered by the spider hurt, it almost winded him and the youth was now trying to catch his breath. Sword close to his body he waited for the beast to approach, but this time it was different. It did not leap, it simply moved rapidly on the ground. Izaki held out his sword to keep it at a distance, but it easily made its way around the sword. Delivering yet another surface wound to Izakis body, he used this as an opportunity to deliver a blow to the spider. He swung his arm down in an attempt to stab through the centre of the beast.

The beast however, was not like the others. It was more intelligent. It jumped backwards the moment Izaki begun to swing and missed completely. Now the beast leaped back and the forth to deliver a blow that would potentially kill Izaki if it landed. He turned sideways and allowed the limb to brush past him, cutting through his cloak and his skin. One of it other limbs lifted and pierced through Izakis hip, he cried out in pain but allowed this to be his defining move. He lifted his sword and drove upwards in a crescent, cutting the create almost in half. He then moved away from it, almost collapsing; making it to the tree and leaning against it. He checked his wounds and noticed that although he was bleeding, none of them were that serious. Except for the stab wound that appeared to be bleeding more than the others. It was not something he would panic about, but he would keep a close eye on it. He pulled his trousers down a little to allow it to breathe, then he began to walk over to the bucket, which by the looks of things managed to go without being spilled. He picked it up and began staggering back to camp. Picking up one of the spiders as he did so, now that he was wounded and could not fight properly, he would need to take things steady and allow himself to recover. Not knowing how long this would take, he needed as much stock as he could.

End of Chapter
A few days later, he was still at camp recovering. The stab wound he got from the little bugger was beginning to recover. He even managed to regain his full movement, although when he did move freely, the wound split and began bleeding again, so he tried to remain as still as possible. But remaining still was hard, so he tried to use his time to build his agility; of the upper body. He was happy doing hand stands and moving around simply by using his hands. Jumping from one place to another; moving up and down, around the hut. This was pretty exciting, he has never placed so much effort into using his upper body up until now.

As exciting as it was, it was also strenuous. Soon Izaki was panting, sweating and struggling to move around as freely as he wish he could have. That didn’t stop him from pushing through the pain and carrying on. Although, it was evident how much the youth was struggling. It was good practice though. Being able to move around on his hands like that would defnintely help him in the future, when he was in a very narrow situation, where his movements were limited or he was in hand to hand combat and he needed to deliver an unexpected blow. He began moving again, picking up the pace, watching droplets of sweat fall of his nose and onto the floor. This was intense and he was not going to give up any time soon. He wanted his body to be ready for what ever life might throw at him next. In this place, it could honestly be anything. He has already seen something that might be from the prehistoric days. The giant crocodile, he wondered what he was up to, wondered whether he still remained in the same spot or whether he had moved somewhere else. That was going to be his next stop once his body had recovered. Quick fly over to check the area out, followed by a couple of stones chucked into the lake to see if ti would revel itself. This would definitely keep him entertained for a while.

He decided that now he would jump on his hands from one end of the hut to the other. Making big dips, almost touching the ground with his nose, to the push as hard as he could and leap up into the air, landing a few feet closer to his destination. He knew that he would feel the results of this training for the next few days. But there was nothing stopping him. After all, he was bound to stay at camp for the next couple of day, until his hip has fully recovered. This meant that any minute spent messing around, not using his time effectively would cost him in the long run, because he needed to make sure that his skills were on point when it was time to head home, an although he still had a little while he could spend in the forest. Time was ticking and he did not want to fall short of achieving everything that he wanted to. So, without placing too much worry on the time spent on this situation. Izaki carried on working hard, soon the floor of the hut would begin to look like a mini-lake. That is how much effort he was placing into developing his body physically. The memories of his family being attacked the night his life changed had fuelled his motivation to achieve great things in life, and to do that, he had to grow stronger, faster, better. Strength was important in the world of violence; it could almost be compared to respect itself. So he had to make sure that he worked hard, harder than others, so that he would be ahead of the competition. So that when the time came, he would be ready to take on any challenge. Any challenge that posed a threat to him, his family, his friends, or village. He loved this village, it showed him exactly what life should be and how it should be lived. It provided him with a home, and he wanted to protect it. Just like his father always tried to protect him and his mother. He was slowly growing up to be as impressive as the old man himself.

After a little while, Izaki decided that it was time for him to change things up a little. Now he was practice bodily control, he was going to remain fully in control of his movements, not allowing gravity to help him lower his body. He would do it in a timed, and controlled manner. This would hopefully build the boys muscles in a way so that they would not give up on him when he most desperately needed them. From a handstand position, his body remained perfectly straight, but his arms bent, gently and slowly, down until his nose was almost touching the floor. His elbows were resting on the ground and his body was still perfectly straight, and now the hard bit began. He began to bend his body backwards, until it was in a slight arch and at that point, he would start to further twist his body down, but this time, at his shoulders. His head was slowly coming up, and at when he straightened his neck, his forehead almost banged off the floor and now the ceiling was slowly coming into his vision. He would carry on until his feet almost touched the floor. But he didn’t know whether he would be able to, the pressure this exercise was placing on Izakis shoulders was intense, it felt like they could pop any minute. So, he stopped for a moment, to catch his breath and allow his body to get used to the pain, he would now have to be extra gentle, one wrong move and his shoulders would really pop any moment. Once his breathing returned to normal, and his shoulders felt like they have gotten adjusted, although it was mostly his mind that did. He began moving once again. His body shaking from all the pressure placed on it, but Izaki took it slow, concentrated on managing his breathing, making it slow and gentle, just like his movements. This appeared to help him control his body, although it was still shaking, it was keeping his mind clear and free of distractions. This allowed him to then place all of his mental resources onto controlling his body and lasting through the pressure and the pain that originated from this activity. With his mind as clear the summer sky, Izaki proceeded to touch his floor with his toes. And when he did, he held that position for some time; allowing his mind to come to terms with the pain flowing through him and simply accept it.

At the point where his body was near enough forgetting about the pain. He began to return to his previous position of hovering above the ground with his body perfectly straight. So he once again tensed his core and began to move his legs up, bringing his face to once again face the floor, almost touching it with his nose. His toes were pointing upwards and Izaki decided to now spread his legs apart as much as he could. Bringing them almost to a horizontal position, but stopping due to the pain. At this point he allowed the gravity to slowly force his legs down towards the ground, creating even more pain. This exercise was very character building, being able to simply sit and feel the pain took more thn just guts. One had to have serious patience and the will to do so, and that was no easy feat.

After some time spend in a deep, meditative state. Izaki decided that it was time for him to do some of his chores. He also realised that doing that with his legs has caused his hip to bleed. It was not severe, but he could feel it trickling down his body. He got back onto his feet and quickly had a look at the wound, it opened slightly when his skin folded over, it wasn’t anything serious. Due to the blood and the heat, Izaki thought it would be a great idea to do his chores in his underpants. So his clothes flew off into the corner of the hut and he began doing his chores. He kept his sandals on because he had to walk out onto the grass but and do some bits and bobs out there.

End of Chapter
After some time spent away from any action, Izaki finally got better. The wound on his hip has healed and he finally became able to move and do as he pleased when he wanted. And now it was time for him to venture out and actually get some action. Sitting around and doing all this only made him more eager to get himself out there. And frankly, he missed the struggle, he missed the desire to live, he missed the discomfort of being close to death. That’s what he was going to go out now and get. He had a particular place in mind. There place he ran from before, the place he would most likely ran from again today, but at least he would test himself. Try out all the abilities he had acquired over the past couple of weeks. He knew it would not be enough, but it would be thrilling to see how much he had improved.

He left his scroll in his bed. This was going to be purely a physical exercise. His sword attached to his belt, he darted out of the compound and headed in the direction he always did. He ran through the forest paying attention to what was happening around him. He had opponents coming at him from every direction. But now that he was in a much better state, they were not a match for him. Plus these spiders and snakes were not of the breed that ever posed any threat to him. He was able to take care of them without as much as breaking a sweat. A few swings of his sword and they were cut into pieces. The plan was now to come back for them later and take the meat with him. But that was later, he had other plans for now. It was time for him to get a move on and get exactly to where he was going. It never is as simple as there, of course something had to have happened on his way to his destination, more spiders. This time they were more impressive, they were faster and more intelligent, these were much better opponents than the others which were only good for meat. So, what did he do? He battled fiercely, not allowing these beasts to get an upper hand on him, he moved quickly and precisely, knowing exactly where to and how to strike to achieve his desired results. He was slowly becoming a skilled shinobi, this brought him great joy as he knew that he was getting closer and closer to his final goal.

When he finished battling with the beasts in front of him, he decided that it was time for a little rest. He walked over to the meatiest looking spider and with the use of his sword, he slashed through it and then cut it open, he was only after the meat. He didn’t any of the filth that was on the outside, and when he ate it, he did channel some of his wind chakra through it to get rid of any and all moisture there was in it. It worked like a cool blower that pushed the moisture out of it. Hopefully now it was not going to cause him any trouble. Izaki did recognise this as slightly cheating, after all he was not suppose to use his chakra, but he was going to be walking on water soon enough anyway. So, he carried on doing it, until he felt like he had enough to keep him going for the rest of the day. Once he did, he got off the ground and began making his way again. He did not realise how much faster flying was until now, it felt like he was running forever and he still had a little while to go. And of course, on the way he encountered more beasts that needed to be put in his place. By the looks of things Izaki needed move somewhere that he could find opponents that were more of a challenge to him. Playing around with these beasts was not going to be very helping to him in the long run. But at the same time, he did not want to have to rebuild his whole camp and even spend time looking for a new camp site. It looked like he would simply have to make his way further out, or even find a way of attracting the beasts to him. But this might have been to dangerous. After all, he still had no idea what else occupied this forest. At this moment in time, it did not matter that much, all he knew was that he was getting closer to his destination, and there was always the chance that it could be final. There was no point of making plans far ahead, he could not even make it back to camp tonight.

After a few more kilometres, the youth finally arrived where he wanted. Before him lay a large lake that would soon become a battle ground between him and so far, the most dangerous of the creature that lived here, the Sarcosuchus. This beast was large and strong enough to crush trees under its feet, this was going o be dangerous and the youth really did not know whether this was the best idea. Maybe it would be better to retreat for now and return when his skills are at their peak and try again. This was not Izaki. This youth wanted to test himself against the strongest so that he’d know exactly what he was capable of. This beast was going to be his first step towards doing just that, and now he would fight it at the best of his physical capabilities. He began running, running across the lake to the other side. When he did, he turned around to face the lake, wait for the beast to make it appearance. And make its appearance it did. It crawled from the abyss of water and planted its feet on next to the lake, looking around, trying to find the culprit that has disturbed its rest. It looked angry, and Izaki did not have any good feelings about this and what makes it worse, he did not have his scroll either. He would have to fight this ginormous thing with his hand tied behind his back. Although, that was the reason he left his scroll back at camp, he wanted to see how strong he was without it, without any ninjutsu. So, that was exactly what he was going to do.

It was time to attack, his plan was to make the most of the fact that the beast has not yet realised where he is. He charged towards it with his sword in hand. He leaped up into the air and landed on its arm, running up towards its head as quickly as he could. This beast was not stupid, the moment his feet touched it began to move, and Izaki only then realised how strong and quick it was. He almost became detached from it when it moved because his chakra flow almost lost contact with its skin. Izaki was going to perform at the top of his game, or he really would die here today. By increasing his chakra flow, he increased the magnetism by which he was attached to the beast by, although he was still managing to stay at his peak performance. And now it was time to attack, he was not sure exactly what he was going to do, as he did not particularly want to fatally wound the beast, he had no clue what to do. He had no clue what he was going to do next. So, while running he re-sheathed his blade and carried on running towards its head. At the moment his plan was to get to the top and land some punches on the beast just wind it up a little bit more.

When he got to the top, he moved to its face and stood at the point between the eyes where it would just me able to see him.

‘Oi! I’m here!’ The youth shouted, delivering a couple of heavy blows to the area, at which the beast did not look very happy about. Its reaction confirmed; the jerk it gave almost sent Izaki flying, but luckily, he was focussing on the flow of his chakra and he managed to remain attached to the beast. But it’s next move, the beast brought up its foot and used it to rub Izaki off its face. Luckily Izaki was quick enough to get out of there just in time. Dashing higher up, towards the skull. Another jerk, and this time, the yout was sent flying towards the forest, the direction that he came from. Flipping through the air like a wounded bird. Izaki was struggling, for air and was not sure exactly how the hell he was going to her out of this situation. Until he managed to tense up his body, and this resulted in him somewhat slowing down, in terms of flipping through the air. His body now reasonably still, Izaki could plan ahead what he was going to do. But with the very few, limited options that he had, he simply gathered his chakra in his feet and the moment he came close enough to one of the tree top, his chakra began to pull him towards it until he became attached, but this feat did not come easy. The pressure placed on his legs was vast and the for a moment he felt like he received whiplash. He felt disorientated and dizzy, he did not know which direction the beast was coming from. Until he closed his eyes, took a deep breath and took control of his senses. He had to be on point to win this battle and now, the monster was charging directly at him.

Izaki stood his ground patiently, watching as the beast approached, its mouth opening. So that was his plan. Izaki propelled himself to his left at the very moment he felt like the monster would not be able to change direction, darting away across the treetops. The beast eventually followed, wreaking havoc across the forest. The animals below must have not been happy about the situation. But that was not exactly something Izaki should be worried about at this point in time. He had thousands of pounds of deadly meat chasing him, he had to remain focussed on what was before him and how he would actually manage to get away from this beast, because at this rate this was not going to end well. He waved a string of hand seals and once he was ready, he jumped and turned, breathing out multiple small bullets that were aimed at the eyes of the beast. He carried on leaping away and the bullets made their mark, to no effect. This animals resilience was second to none, it was able to take immense amounts of pain in areas that would normally be very vulnerable. But not with this one, it was able to withstand any techniques that Izaki had in his stock. He assumed this the moment one of his more useful techniques was of no use. The youth carried on jumping away while trying to come up with a plan of action for the beast, and he did, but it was going to be dangerous, he had to get back onto it to deliver a blow which it would remember for a very long time. So Izaki came to a halt and turned to face it. He waited, and waited, until the beast was right before him. It’s plan was to deliver a blow with its foot, sweeping it across treetops trying to swat Izaki like a fly that he was in its eyes. Eventually the moment came for Izaki to counter-attack, he leaped out at the last viable moment and landed on the moving arm, dashing up towards the face of the beast before it had time to react to what was going. He felt the arm move upwards, and he looked up to see the head of the monster nearing, the beast was trying to crush the youth by crushing him between its arm and its face. He would not make it that easy, he changed his direction running towards the back of its arm, the place where Izaki could not be simply crushed by the beast. The moment the monsters jaw connected with its arm, Izaki leaped onto its face, being raised up as the monster returned to its normal position. Izaki ran up to the spot where he was originally. He rperformed a string of hand seals and reached for his sword, channelling a vast amount of chakra into it, giving it a powerful aura that could cut through almost anything. His plan would leave a mark on the beast forever. He was going to cut the beasts eye, or at least stab through it.

When he was up at the stop and ready in position, Izaki brought his sword up to the side and assumed the necessary position. But the monster was not idle, it would once again try to swat Izaki away from its face. It was decision time, the youth was not sure whether he wanted to actually hurt the beast. It was monstrous, scary and dangerous, but it kept to itself and it appeared that it never bothered anybody. The only reason he was doing this was to make sure he will be able to get away from the it without being attacked and to get back to the camp safe and sound. The moment he felt the arm of the beast create a shadiwn above him, the forced his chakra coated sword through the monsters retina. That very moment, the behaviour of the beast changed completely, it began wriggling savagely in pain one the ground screeching and moaning at the top of its powerful lungs. Its arm temporarily returned to the ground and then it began moving quickly towards the lake once more. Izaki knew what its plan was, it was going to return to the depth of the lake and remain hidden for god knows how long. Izaki could not have that, he did not want his sword to be taken down there with it, so he had to act fast, he had to get this sword out as soon as he could. He placed both his legs on its eyes and began to push as hard as he could. He experienced a strange feeling the moment the beast moved its eyes, it felt like he was on a carousel, ones he used to go on when he first came to Konoha, this was a strange experience indeed. So, Izaki huffed and puffed until the sword eventually managed to come loose and he, almost as if ejected, leaped away from the eye and landed near the nose of the monster. He knew how big this thing was, but leaping so far and still being stuck on it just showed Izaki exactly how big it was, and now he had to get out of here before he would be sent down to the depths of the lake with this thing.

He waited until the beast was in motion, leaping towards the lake, about to jump in and swim all the way down. At that moment, Izaki leaped and landed on the water, just in time to see the monster disappear into the abyss that was the lake. The youth let out a deep breath and realised how close he actually was to dying. This was not a pleasant sensation, he was not planning on repeating this any time soon. He wandered over towards the sandy beach and let out a deep sigh. He felt bad about the monsters eye, but he was also glad that he managed to stay alive under such circumstances, at that point, he knew that he might have made a bad decision not taking his scroll with him. If he did, he could have just flown away, he would still be in one peace and the beast would still have a pair of eyes, unlike not, it beain one short. It would never recover, it would be partially blind for the rest of its very long life span, and the youth had to live with that, but he knew the beast would manage, it managed to stay alive for this amount of time he knew that it would manage to stay alive for many more, it knew the area exactly and he knew that there would be plenty of food about for it to devour. He sat on the beach and contemplated what he should do in now, his objective to test himself against the beast was complete. He did not do too well, but he knew that he was fairly skilled at what he did, so now was the time to decide what the next plan of action would be. He had to go back to camp eventually, and he noticed that it was beginning to get late, he still had a few hours of light, but he knew that it was time for him to start heading back, unless he wanted to have to rush back later on. He got up, dusted himself off, and began heading back to camp, with a nice steady pace, he wanted to relax a bit.

The walk was going to be slow and steady, he saw no point of rushing back. He already had food waiting for him at home, he had more food laying around in the forest that he was going to stop by and grab on the way to stock up on his resources a little. He was then going to jump into bed and spend the rest of the evening just relaxing. He now knew that his body needed plenty of time to recover, and he decided that he was going to be nicer to his body than he has been over the past couple of weeks, there was no need for him to be killing himself when he knew how much he was already capable of. He did not know any other genin who would be able to do the things he has done. Camping out on his own for such a long time, battling all the things that he has, coming close to death as many times as he has. These were not feats of the average joe, and he was not going to be one of those. He knew exactly what he wanted to achieve with his life and that is exactly what he is after, so he marched on, proud of who he was. Sword in its sheath ready to strike at any moment, any moment that required him to do so. The moment he saw anything move, he would leap toward it, sword it hand and cut it down in the most efficient and effective way possible. This child was a warrior, and he was planning on achieving great things with his life. So, he did what he had to, putting himself through all of this survival training, teaching him how to be independent and put life into his hands. He knew exactly how he was going to achieve exactly what he wanted, and he was going after it, there was no stopping him. The youth smiled, he could not wait until his return home, he wanted to tell his mother about all the adventures he has had in this forest. He wanted to tell her about all the things he has accomplished. He could picture her facial expression, how petrified she would be to hear about the things her little boy has been up to. Fighting snakes, spiders, apes and giant crocodiles in a forest named ‘the Forest of Death,’ he could imagine her shouting at him and calling him an idiot for doing such things, but he still could not wait. He missed her, after all, it has been many weeks since he has last seen her, and this was the first time he has spent so long away from her. Although she spent a lot of the time just shouting at him, he missed her very much, and the meals she used to cook for him, his forest cooking was no match for the specialities. That is one of the things he was so eager to get back to, the lovely time of the freedom and extra time to go and do as he pleased.

That was the dream, he really wanted to go back now. Just get back to camp grab his scroll, draw Takashi and be on his way back come, where he would have the comfort and safety of his warm home. But that was not the life he was after, he was after a life of adventure, a life of doing. Sitting in a safe place was not his cup of team. He believed that his nature stemmed back to his roots, traveling around the world when he was younger really did have an impact on him. It was his second nature to be roaming around the world, dealing with whatever life threw at him. But for now, this was his reality, this was his place, this was his home. This was the place where he would grow strong, strong enough for him to one day be able to once again go out into the big wide world and begin changing it, one step at a time. That is what he wanted deep down, but he knew the implication that would go along with doing this. He would one day have to abandon the life he has built here and leave to be able to work on changing the world. The idea of leaving his mother here terrified him, but he knew it was necessary, Konoha would provide her with safety and a roof over her head, the wilderness was not exactly in her blood. After all she was with her father out of love, not because she was like him or she enjoyed the life style. He was happy that she was in Konohagakure, although he would much prefer if his father was still alive, that way they could be all together.

Few hours passed, and the crossed paths with numerous animals that naturally tried to kill hi. These things were all vicious, they were after blood, but the only blood they would get is their own. And, that would definitely not be what they are after. But that unfortunately is how it went, Izaki was stronger than when he first came here, and all the hardships that he has gone through have developed him greatly, he knew that he still had a long way to go until he became exactly what he wanted, but this was a great step. He finally arrived at the corpses that he had slain earlier that day. He grabbed his sword and began cutting of the parts of the carcass that seems to have the most meat on them. He slung it all over his shoulder after channelling his wind chakra through it and expelled any of the moisture that it held, now it was very unlikely that any bacteria could grow on it, it was good to eat. But, he preferred to age his meat rather than to just dig into it, he would do that only if he had to, like that morning. With the stock slung over his shoulder he marched on. The area seemed to be empty, not a living creature in sight, and suddenly he became suspicious of this, this was not the norm. There was always something moving around somewhere, regardless of the size. But now it was dead calm; Izaki marched on.

Staying alert, Izaki came closer and closer to his camp. The emptiness of the area scared him, he did not know what could be the cause of this, and hw was not really keen to find out. He realised that when he got to the camp he would have to check whether all of his safety measures were in order, he did not want to wake up in the middle of the night to see some monstrosity standing above him, about to rip him in half. He quickened his pace, at this rate he would be late and would have to work through everything in the dark, and that was not on his agenda. He began leaping towards the camp, he dropped a few bits of dried meat on the way, but it did not matter that much, after all anything he brought back today was simply an extra rather than a necessity, he still had plenty of food waiting for him at camp, he was not worried about it at all.

When he got to his camp, he dumped the meat on the table and began to work his way around, making sure that all the makeshift alarms were still in good working order. Making sure that if something came for him, he would be aware of it straight away, that there would be no messing around, he would be up and ready to counter whatever it was that came at him. He smiled, deep down he wanted the forest to throw something new at him, something that would push him even more, but something that was not as dangerous as that crocodile that was now, hopefully, resting at the bottom of that lake, recovering. He wanted something that was like all those other beasts that lurked around corners, the spiders, the snakes. Those were the beasts that he liked fighting, small, quick, agile, thirsty for blood. That was the way he was going to improve. However, safety came first and he wanted to make sure that all the defensive mechanisms were correct. He checked all the spikes that were dug deep into the ground, making sure that it was all still safe and that it would protect him when the time came. Once he was happy that it was all going to go the way he planned, Izaki went over to the hut and began working on the meat he has brought back. He had to place all the meat into little pouches made of vines, that he would hang in the hut and allow them to dry.

This task was pretty much automatic, he did not even have to think about doing it, he just did it. So in no time at all, the youth was ready to crack on with the rest of his evening. He lit the fire by using flint he found, and the dried timber he has been gathering ovet the past couple of weeks. He was going to crack on and do a little more training, he felt that it would be best to stay up for as long as he could. So he returned to his yoga-like training routine where he focussed on peaceful control of his body, no quick sudden, spontaneous movements. This was calm, and steady like flowing water. It was almost a dance in slow motion, moving calmly and gracefully he would perform every action with confidence and precision, yet maintaining that slow and calm movement through the stance. He loved this kind of training, it seemed like he was not doing a great lot, but as a matter of fact, he was able to achieve just as much by doing this as he could be running and jumping around, killing things. The only advantage the other option had over this was that he was able to test himself to his fullest extent, and it also taught him how to cope with fear, whereas this was just a calm steady, relaxing form of training. No adrenaline pumping through his veins, fuelling him to perofmr at his best. However, it also had its benefits that were not directly related to what he set out to train. He was also imrpving his composure, being able to control his behaviour while putting his body through pain was no easy feat, he was happy about what he has been achieving through this training regimen.

Now, it was time to try another exercise of the same nature, he was going to try to do a one arm hand stand and try to move his body around while doing so, this was very exciting, and he was looking forward to testing himself even more. He go into position by planting both his hands on the ground and bringing his lower body up into the air, adopting the same straight legged posture he has always adopted. He would give himself some time to get his thought in order so that they would not betray him in the long run and he would be able to maintain his composure under all the stress that was ahead of him. He took slow, deep breaths as he slowly began to shift his body so that he would maintain his balance, he spread his legs apart and then gently brought his hand up into the air so that his whole body would remain perfectly balanced, allowing himself to then have a bit of freedom, loosening his mind a little, allowing it to wonder, delving into a place of zen and peace. This was great, he loved it, he loved testing himself in such a way, always finding out new things about himself. He smoothly shifted his weight around on his arm, which actually was under as much stress as he originally thought it would be. But just because it was easy, it did not mean that he was going to stop what he was doing and give up, he was going to shift his weight onto his non-dominant hand, this would definitely make the exercise harder than it was originally. He shifted, and almost instantly his body began to shake, shake like he ewas freezing cold. This was the truth, his body was not actually as well prepared for this activity as he had originally thought, but this was good, it gave him something to work towards. He brought his legs up straight into the air and allowed his arm to rest against his body, making an almost perfect straight line, pointing his toes upwards towards the ceiling. This made his body shake the most, his weight was the least spread out now which meant that he had to keep his body extra tight to remain his posture and this proved to be a lot harder than he had initially thought. But, he carried on.

In his deep state of relaxation, the youth began hearing noises coming from the forest. His eyes opened and he brough his feet down, planted them on the floor and stood up, it was time for him to get ready. He grabbed his sword and attached it to his belt. Then he picked up his scroll and unravelled it, beginning to paint a picture of two tigers, which upon being cast out sent took their spots beside him and awaited patiently. The rustling of shrubbery in the forest intensified but soon enough, the beasts began to emerge and… there were quiet the number of them. The youth took in their number and what sort of creatures emerged, it was a mixture, it seemed the forest was uniting forces to get rid of what it assumed to be a parasite. The thing responsible for the destruction of the ecosystem within it, it was trying to fight back the virus, the thing ruining how it worked, so it came in force.

Spiders, snakes, apes, caterpillars, lynxes and other animals who has not come across during his time spent in there emerged from the darkness of the forest and these were not the slow weak beasts that the youth could rid in a few moments, He wondered whether it was all a setup, sending forth the weak to test his ability for future reference. The youth took a deep breath, it was all about to go down.

End of Chapter
The youths hand did not stop moving, he needed back up so he cast forth his ink clone who would be in charge of casting techniques from the hut, while the real Izaki was going to begin fighting his opponents hand to hand. The clone emerged and the real one made his way out of the hut, the tigers remained beside the clone for protection and soon enough he also produces a barrier, protecting his read but allowing the front to remain open so that he could see what was going on before him. The real one performed a few hand seals and began channelling chakra into his sword which then began to glow with fuuton chakra, the aura was potent, it was evident that the youth was taking this seriously. These creatures were here to exterminate the vermin, in this case, it was the youth, but he was not going to be kicked out so easily, he had as much right living in here as they did, it was not his fault that he was just better suited to this kind of living than they were. Animals always killed each other for survival, it was the way life revolved, the natural order of things. It appeared as though Izaki had disturbed that natural order, he was killing off a large amount of animals, maybe they were just making sure it would not go too far? He did not know, and sure enough he was not planning on finding out the hard way.

The beasts made their move. The spiders began shooting their webs at Izaki, and he skilfully avoided them by shifting his weight and moving at his fastest speeds when he had to. Then came the snakes, they slithered towards the youth and he began hacking away at them. Suddenly two tigers appeared beside and begun ripping their way through the slithering beasts beside him. They easily made their way through these beasts, but soon enough, the lynxes, apes and caterpillars joined the fray. This changed the course of the battle. The three went for the clone who was at the hut, casting jutsu from afar. The apes hopped over and began battling with the tigers and managed to rip them apart as they outnumbered the paintings by a large amount. But at the same time, the clone was not sitting there idly, he was painting rapidly, trying to battle his fight, but also support Izaki. His jutsu of choice was the homing tiger, but the downside of it was that it placed a lot of strain on his chakra reserves. There was only so many he would be able to create, so he had to be smart with it. The plan now was to rebalance the odds. He had to create enough so that they would be able to look after themselves and cover their back and work their way to the real body who was managing. His sword was glowing with chakra, was moving around rapidly, swinging from one creature to another, and the pile of corpses was beginning to build up, the trouble was, there were most likely thousands of these beasts in this forest. He knew that eventually he would have to escape and go somewhere else. The likelihood was that he was going to run out of chakra way before the forest ran out of animals that were willing to kill Izaki, it was true, he had not made many friends during his stay, everything was out to get him. Kill him for maltreatment of nature and the system.

But he was not going to go just yet. The plan was to keep fighting, make sure that this place remembers him, his parents would not approve of what he was doing, but he had the right to be there. It was these animals that were not willing to share the land with him. So he battled on, they both did. The clone was casting jutsu that were managing to penetrate the bodies of animals. This has taken on another level of dangerousness. Izaki thought back to the moment when he was fighting with that giant ape and realised just how far he had come, although now it has been months since that time and he has gone through a lot of suffering to get to where he was, but it was all worth it. If had not put himself through all of this fighting, he would not be in that spot, carrying on, managing to stand his ground against so many opponents at the same time. He was proud of himself, but now it was time for the youth to get out of there. The influx of animals was increasing, he was slowly having to retreat away from them because he was imply not managing to keep up with hoe many were moving towards him. Step by step he retreated, and the clone made sure that his path was clear. Using the tigers to clear his path, they ripped and shoved the corpses out of the way so that he could get to safety. At the tight moment, the clone painted Takashi who flew out of the scroll and over the youth, and as he did, Izaki leaped up and grabbed onto its feet, and rising up into the air above the beasts. The clone remained in its original spot, still casting jutsu. But now that it was the only target, he had no chance. Izaki leaped onto Takashis back and began to head in the direction that he always ventured into. But this time he was going to go further, past the turf of the apes, he wanted to see what was beyond that land, see what else he would encounter.

[word count: 17, 047]
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