Kyle's Training Challenge

Zeo was among the forest training grounds just outside of Konoha-- He was there waiting for both his teammates and his sensei. He had gotten there early, his music lightly playing in his ears from the headphones he wore around his neck. They fitted him comfortably as he waited. He found a few birds across where he sat against a tree, his back pressed against the trunk. Zeo ended up feeling sleepy as he watched the wildlife began to gather around him, feeling the gentle breeze on him.

He was beginning to doze off, feeling at peace till...

"DYNAMIC ENTRY!!!" A voice yelled way above the range of Zeo's headphones.

WHAM!!

A sudden force blasted against Zeo as he was sent hurtling across the forest floor. The birds scattered and Zeo felt as if he had his bones broken-- but in truth they just ached after the impact. He fell to his side on the forest floor. After a moment of confusion, he sat up and pulled off his headphones.

Standing proudly was Kyle with a big, stupid grin on his face. He had his hands on his hips as if he was some sort of super hero. "Hahaha! No clone jutsu for you this time, pal! I got you good!"

Zeo slowly stood up and felt the sting to his side. "That was a dirty shot, Kyle. What the hell?" he grumbled.

"Oh, unclench. You needed a good punch to knock you out of your mopey attitude, ya know?" he countered.

Zeo rubbed his shoulders, feeling the blow having made his body ached a bit but he was able to recover. Luckily, Kyle's attack was not designed to be leathal

Roll for training : All End + Quick Learner

The member 'Enjin' has done the following action : Destiny Roll

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'Dice 10' : 3, 3, 3, 4, 1, 5, 5

"Kyle!" Mari's voice shouted. The two turned to the exit of the trees and saw Mari there, looking judgingly on Kyle. "How many times have I told you not to tease Zeo." she said strongly, trying to defend Zeo, who didn't like to fight. The look she gave him was a rare form of her calm anger.

"W-what?" Kyle stammered, backing up from Mari's gaze. "I just touched him and he fell over."

Zeo frowned at the comment. "Whatever..." he sighed as he dusted off his coat. "Have you seen Yasha Sensei yet?"

"No, but he should be here soon," Mari said, rubbing a hand through her hair. "Honestly, Why does he ask us to be here-- and he is the one who is late? You would think he would be more dependable."

"Its not like he left us on a mission or something," Zeo commented, not mind waiting. "I mean, we haven't' even been on a mission yet."

"I guess..." Kyle added, resting his back against the tree with his hands behind his head.

There was a sudden movement above them as they soon looked up, and soon found who they were looking for.

"Hey there, guys," Yasha said coolly from behind his mask. "Sorry for running a bit late." he said.

The three just glared back at him in annoyance.

"Thanks for coming so diligently," he replied with a smile, looking down at them all. "Anyway, shall we begin our training for today? I see Kyle took a running start with it already." The glance at Zeo was obvious to him as the blue haired boy joined Mari and Kyle.

"Yes, we already know I am a loser in Taijutsu..." Zeo grumbled, "Can we move on, please?"

Kyle smirked at that, and Yasha just hummed. "Don't worry-- this training will be of more benefit to all of you at this point." Yasha explained as he hopped down from the tree to join them. "We will be working on chakra control, a nessisary tool needed for any ninja. Now, Mari-- i know you are acceptional in this field so bare with us if you get bored with this. "

"Oh, no, Master Yasha," Mari said eagerly, "I don't mind at all."

Zeo looked between them-- he clearly knew Mari was an exceptional ninja far better than Kyle or himself. He had to admit, Zeo had a strong respect for Mari in addition to being drawn in by her kindness when he needed it most.

"Oh no... not more chakra training..." Kyle groaned, not liking the idea.

"Quit your whining," Mari spoke up, "Chakra Control is important. Without it, complicated ninjutsu is impossible. You might make it fail or use up too much chakra."

"Well said, Mari," Yasha said as he pointed ahead of them. "Now here is the task I have for you."

Yasha soon pointed to the series of trees in front of them, and they could see how tall they were.

Yasha soon cleared his throat as the three students looked to the trees. "Your goal is to use your chakra to climb the trees with nothing but the soles of your feet." he explained. "To do this you must learn to channel your chakra to the base of your feet-- which is the hardest place to gather chakra. You use it to have your feet stick to the tree trunk."

"That doesn't seem possible..." KYle grumbled, not the best user of chakra considering his forte was with Taijutsu.

"Oh, you wanna bet, Kyle?" Yasha said as he soon made a hand sign himself to focus his chakra. With that he approached a nearby tree. He placed one foot on the tree-- and the others responded with surprise.

Yasha slowly strolled up the tree. it was as if he defied gravity itself as he had the soles of his bare feet stick to the tree, keeping completely composed as he climbed up. He soon reached a thick branch and walked on it-- and soon now hung completely upside-down from the ground.

Kyle's mouth was open in surprise as he saw Yasha able to climb it using his chakra like that.

"Naturally, I don't expect you three to do it easily at first. You may want a running start till you get the hang of it," he explained. "You will use Kunai to mark the bark where you climb. You will work to get further from that point. Understood?"

"Yes, Sensei," they said at once.

One by one, they lined up to their trees and focused their chakra into hand signs-- and directed their focus to the soles of their feet.

Zeo had a better sense of clarity in his mind as he focused his chakra. Though he was new to manipulate his chakra properly-- he was catching on quick. He felt the small bit of pressure on the soles of his feet, feeling as if he had a new sensation attached to them beyond just his sneakers. He opened his eyes about to go till....

"Hey, Zeo!" Kyle shouted.

Zeo stopped mid-run to the tree. Irritated, Zeo turned to Kyle, who smirked with his Kunai in hand. "I challenge you!"

"Huh?" he asked, a neutral expression on his face.

"Let's see who can make it to the top of the tree first-- unless your chicken to lose," he mocked, holding a fist up to him.

"Fine. Whatever," Zeo replied with a sigh, and that seemed to only irritate Kyle a bit. Kyle grumbled a bit-- but then charged for the tree. He attempted to charge and climb right up then and there. He made it up one meter---

-- before he came crashing down head first without even having time to mark the tree with his Kunai. "YEOW! Ow-ow-ow-ow!" Kyle cried, clutching his head from a small bump that formed.

Zeo looked at him, seeming as if he was some kind of clown. Yasha watched from his own perch on the tree he climbed, now sitting on a branch like a raven. He saw and chuckled lightly at Kyle's foolish attempt.

"Come on, guys! You can do it!" Mari's voice called out from above.

To Zeo's surprise, he looked up to find Mari half way up the tree on her first go. She had marked the half way point and now sat on the branch leisurely. "Its not that hard if you focus and don't get worked up. Just think only about the tree." she explained.

While Kyle recovered, Zeo put Mari's words to heart. "Focus only on the tree, huh..." He thought aloud as he refocused his chakra.

He felt the same pressure to his feet once more. This time he tried not to think of Kyle or his dumb contest. Zeo knew he had to keep his mind clear. Once he had his chakra built up and focused to his feet, he regripped his kunai and charged for the tree.

It came down to him being more faster than stronger in this case as he hopped up to the tree. He felt the odd sensation of his feet being pressed to the bark of the tree. Bit by bit he ran up it, feeling gravity lightly pull on his body.

He pressed forward as much as he could, till he felt this feet start to give. He ran up two more strides-- then slashed his Kunai at the tree. The pressure on his feet faded, as did the grip to the tree bark. He didn't even track how far he climbed at first as he fell backwards. Unable to flip mid air-- he soon landed flat on his back with a thud. Luckily the soft grass and his jacket broke his fall but it still stung.

He opened his eyes and looked-- soon finding the slash of the Kunai at 1/4th of the tree's length.

"Nice first attempt," Yasha said to Zeo. "Impressive. While you haven't learned how to use chakra for long, your control is remarkably improving."

Zeo looked up at the tree, impressed himself to see his chakra control get so better than before. Small breaths escaped him as he looked up.

Then he glanced at Kyle, now back to his feet. He grumbled with envy as he saw how far Zeo got before him.

"I'll show you. I can do it just as well as you can!" he shouted and charged for his tree again.

"Kyle..." Zeo spoke, trying to help him just a bit. "Don't charge at it like an enemy. It won't work if you get all worked up---"

"WHAAA!" THud! Kyle once again fell flat on his back, though this time he scratched the surface of the tree with his kunai, showing how far he made it. Though it was significantly shorter from Zeo's progress. Zeo's expression frowned once more and he shook his head.

"You want to call off the bet?" he half-teased, wondering how this would play off.

"NOT ON YOUR LIFE, SMART-ASS!" Kyle roared and jumped back to his feet. "When I get to the top, you will be begging me to call off the bet! But nope-- your gonna pay up a 3 course meal when I'm done with you! HAHA!"

At this point Kyle finally got serious and focused only on the tree-- even if he was impulsive on his attempts and kept falling off. However, he did get further up in due time.

By this time, Mari also hopped down from the tree to join them in their attempts.

This time, Zeo focused his chakra and began a steady climb up the tree trunk. This time it was slower-- but his attention was not to the speed, but the stability of his chakra's flow to his feet. This time, he was able to keep it up. Each step he felt almost felt like dragging his feet through snow but each one was able to hold on longer. It felt like walking with leg weights.

But while slower on him, he felt his own climb grow better and stronger. In a matter of minutes, he climbed several meters higher. The progress soon reached as much as Mari's own progress on the tree climbing.

Several hours had passed, and things were beginning to slow down. THe sun had now entered the afternoon position in the sky, leaving them running low on stamina and chakra.

The trees were now more marked up now with all their attempt. Despite all of Kyle's bragging-- he actually made progress and reached 2/3rds up the tree, almost close with Zeo now.

Kyle was on the ground now, panting as he was exhausted from his efforts. Zeo too was dripping sweat, and had discarded his coat so he could run faster up the tree.

"Seems like you guys are almost at your limit," Yasha said, who had been observing the whole time. "Why don't you do one final pass and then we will call it a day."