Chapitre 12: Sneakier than a Snake
Huffing, I jump from branch to branch. Occasionally using my hands, I maintain my speed as I zip through the forest. Nothing like some modified cardio to start your day right? Rolling to cushion my fall as I exit the woods, I slow down to a jog. Just six more months to go before I graduate. Six more months until I'm a genin, I move out and I enter the world of dangerous missions. Just two months ago, D-rank missions started decreasing and Minato started leaving for longer periods of time.
The leaf is still the same cesspool of idealistic propaganda hiding dangerous political undercurrents, but inflation is noticeable. Passing through a residential street, I wave at the familiar baker and his regular helper. Tipping his head slightly, he returns to cleaning the floors. Quite an improvement. Now if I could only remember his name. Something like starting with a 'T', I'm sure of it. He's the one who gave me a piggyback ride a couple of months ago.
A few minutes pass as I make my way to a secluded training ground. Nothing fancy, but it has enough shade to stay out of the burning sun. Finding the patch of dirt I normally use, I place my notebook on a tree stump. Jumping up, I grab the towels hanging from a neighboring tree. Gripping one in each hand, I pull myself up slowly and start exercising my chakra. Yea, I could go straight into something difficult, but I like having a less taxing exercise after cardio. Making sure my arms make an acute angle, I adjust my grip. Cycling the chakra through the towels and up the tree, I start Making anchors on certain leaves. Glancing up, I sigh at the sparse number of leaves left. Maybe I should get a new tree soon.
Closing my eyes, I fill three with my chakra before transforming them into needles. Breathing in, I slowly aim them at a target about thirty meters away. Staring at the target, I adjust the angle before firing the needles. Frowning as only two hit the target, I push chakra into another three leaves. It's not that I missed the target, I've been doing this for a while and it's hard to miss a stationary target without interference. The last needle simply turned back into a leaf. I've been putting as little chakra into these leaves as possible, but sometimes my calculations are just off. Ten chakra units keep the leaf transformed for about a minute. Six seconds each, roughly. I've been trying to use less each time, but I'm stuck around four. It still takes around ten to fifteen seconds to aim and fire the needles and the cost doesn't take into account the transformation and firing process.
Still, I doubt I'd be stingy with my chakra in a real situation. As I am now, my chakra pool holds around 3400 units. Nothing amazing since a full body transformation takes around 300 units. Again, roughly. The process of transforming a leaf and firing it given I take less than a minute to fire costs around 200 units. It should be slightly less if I'm holding the leaves, but It's better to overshoot than underestimate. Repeating this until around a quarter of my chakra pool is depleted, I huff as sweat accumulates on my brow. Not bad, 4 out of 5 needles hit the target before reverting to leaves. Letting go of the towels, I land in a crouch. Wiping the sweat off, I start doing some wide squats. Once the needles revert to leaves, only a few small pieces are left in the target while the rest just fall away.
I've tried adding things like dyes to see if poison might be viable, but the effect seems weak. Metal seems like the next best thing, but it's much harder to hide a sturdy piece of metal. Maybe I should try a bracelet or cuff. The only problem is the scrap metal I practiced with warped slightly with each use. Metal tends to resist change. A few minutes pass before my thighs start trembling. Can't have that this early now can I? Dropping into a pushup stance, I start doing explosive pushups. They're not that bad when you consider my weight being low and the excellent gene pool people in this world possess. Although most ninjas don't focus on taijutsu, even the weakest can run for hours.
Clapping after each push, I grin as my muscles start to burn. Stopping as my arms struggle to push me high enough to clap again, I finish with a regular push-up. Rolling over, I lay on my back for a moment before jumping back onto my feet. Taking a few minutes to stretch my body. Wincing as I try to push myself into a split, I exhale as I get back up. Slowly I'll get it. Loosening my body, I crack my neck. Just 5 more reps for today. Of course, I'll be switching grip exercises with core for most of them. The best thing about this world is chakra can fortify your body. What does that mean? Calluses, you can avoid calluses. Yes, sometimes calluses can be harmless, but who wants them?
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Rolling over, I huff in exhaustion. Pulling at my collar, I smirk as the cool breeze blows on the beads of sweat trailing down my forehead. Groaning as I slowly get up, I start jogging to the stream. Almost done, just a bit longer. Stumbling a few times, I quickly make it to a small stream. Taking my sandals off and laying my notebook next to them, I take the needles out of my hair. Laying them down on the notebook, I stride right into the stream. Sitting down so the water can cover my body, I slowly lean back. Pulsing my chakra out, I ignore the fishes in the water. Slowly going through the details, I find something peculiar. A snake about half a meter long and full of chakra. Is that a summon?
Leisurely wringing out my hair, I slash water on my face. It's just watching. I can't tell if it's watching me, or just my direction, but this isn't normal. Keeping a metaphorical 'eye' on it, I relax in the stream. Half an hour is how long it took before it starts moving. Seeing that it came closer, I lick my lips. The stream water is surprisingly fresh today. Normally it has a slightly metallic taste. Getting up, I start wringing the water out of my shirt. The shorts can be wet, but the shirt has to dry as soon as possible. I may be young but I have basic modesty. Standing in the sun for a few moments, I pick up the needles and fix my hair in a messy bun. waiting a bit longer, I pick up my sandals and notebook. I hate the sound of squishy wet sandals, I just can't wear them before drying my feet.
Paying attention to the snake, I notice it change directions to follow me. Sighing, I start walking towards my previous spot barefoot. Following the beaten trail, I frown as the snake frantically follows. It's really after me. Leaning on a tree trunk, I push my chakra up and into three leaves. What better time could I have to practice on a live target? It's slow, predictable, and unlikely to dodge. Waiting for it to get closer, I concentrate on the transformation. Feeling my feet dry in the sun, I slip my sandals on as it approaches the thirty-five-meter mark. It's just outside of my range. Closing my eyes as it gets closer, I frown as it stops. Was it watching before?
Licking my teeth, I transform the leaves into needles and aim them at the snake. It's not perfect, but I should be able to aim without looking. At least one should hit. Staggering the angles, I fire. Walking away from the trunk the moment I fire, I smirk as it slithers forward the moment I start walking. Pausing as the last needles hits, I frown when it disappears. It's a summon. It can't be a coincidence, can it? Only one person uses snakes as a summon and I'd rather not get involved with him.
Quickly walking off the trail, I head straight for the busiest district in the village, the commerce district. Hugging the notebook close, I start speeding up. Ignoring my protesting muscles, I keep pulsing small amounts of chakra out every thirty seconds. Seeing the woods start to clear, I smile before suddenly throwing myself behind a tree trunk. Massive, that's all I can describe his chakra as. It's to my 3 O'clock. I can't tell anything about who's there since I've only been using the smallest amounts of chakra to scan, but there's no doubt that I'm the target. Why else would they be standing still?
Sending another scan, but with more chakra, I start pulling the leaves on my tree towards me. So carrying a log might have been useful right now. I can list the benefits of carrying a log around later. Forming a large clump, I tear a page from my notebook and carefully place it inside. Not finding any snakes in the trees, I transform the wad of leaves into a copy of me. Around thirty percent chakra left. Attaching a few strings, I start clumsily moving the limbs. Sighing at the shoddy control, I cut the number of strings in half. I'll have to work on puppeteering later. Taking a deep breath, I throw my look-alike forward. Using the still attached strings, I keep it around the same height while letting it bob up and down as it approaches branches.
Sure enough, a pale-faced creep jumps out and quickly swings his sword. Not sure what kind it is, but he's definitely looking to hurt me. Letting the string responsible for height disperse, I use the remaining strings to turn the decoy and push the chakra into the seal inside. Turning around and running towards the Uzumaki compound, I hear the roar of fire behind me. Along with a yelp and the sound of something crashing through trees, something else can be heard. Flying through the trees, I grasp for the next branch as something crashes behind me. Glancing back, I see a whole tree trunk stuck in the tree behind me.
Gulping my saliva, I drop to the ground and sprint into the forest. Focusing on my chakra, I transform my clothes into a ghillie suit and lie flat on the ground. Around ten percent of my chakra is left. Feeling something fly by me, I cringe as I hear another tree explode.
"He should be here somewhere! I saw him run this way" a lady shouts above my head.
"Careful, he's got some kind of concentrated explosive seal and leaf clone jutsu" another raspy voice shouts from afar.
I guess they're not after me, should I show myself.
"Attack anything that moves! Jiraiya should've gotten to the girl and gotten her out by now" the woman shouts again.
Is that Tsunade? As far as I know, the three of them should be around thirty, why are they together? Hearing another tree explode, I hunker down and close my eyes. Nope! Not showing myself anytime soon. A few minutes pass by before I find both standing on the tree above me.
"I saw a girl running this way, but Jiraiya should have got her to safety so it has to be him. He has to be here somewhere" Tsunade whispers again. Just when I think I might be spending the day hiding like this, I whimper as something lands on me.
Clenching my fists, I slowly look up to see a confused man with unkempt white hair.
"Well, I didn't find the girl, but I found the spy... and ... um... that," he says while pointing at me.
Noticing the corpse in front of me, I clumsily hop away. Finding all three of the future sannin watching me, I stick my tongue out and pull an eyelid down. The best thing I can do is play it off childishly. Nervously laughing, I slowly get up while undoing my transformation. I hope Orochimaru finds explosions funny. "It seems like you found the girl too" I skittishly mumble.
L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS 
heavygreen
heavygreen Well, that's 2 for the week and the next week has technically already started. Enjoy, comment if you feel like something is wrong, and have a great day! Basic editing in an hour I guess.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone