Acting on a Suggestion (Open, Yumi)

[Toraono Kuro]

OOC: This is not Kuro's post just a description in response to Yumi's sincerity

A series of obstacles rose from the ground and expanded... Events #1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13: Low Jumps – These events are low hurdles that are constructed from collected sandwyrm bones. The top bone of the hurdle is 2 1/2 feet high. Ninja trainees may jump or vault over the hurdles. These events are spaced between the other events throughout the obstacle course. Event #2: Up and Over Bar – This event is a high bar that is 8 feet off the ground. Ninja trainees must go over the top of the bar either by executing any maneuver they are capable of or by a technique referred to as a “academy student roll.” Executing this technique requires the participant to do a pull-up and then hook one armpit over the bar. They must then hook the opposite leg over the bar and in one motion kick down with the free leg while rolling over the bar. Event # 4: Combination – This event is actually made up of 3 different obstacles to negotiate. The first one is Hand Over Pipes followed by the Bone Walk and finishes up with the High Roll Over Bone. Ninja trainees approach the obstacle and step up on the low balance bone and jump up to the Hand Over Pipes. They then hook their feet on the pipes and slide down until they reach the Bone Walk. They then stand up and walk down the bones and jump up onto the High Roll Over Bone, hang from the bone and drop to the ground. Event #6: Stone Wall – This event is a wall constructed from sandwyrm bones and covered with 2 feet x 6 feet stone slabs. Ninja trainees approach the wall and jump up grabbing the top. They then pull themselves up until they can get their elbows on top of the wall. Once they reach this point they swing one leg up on top of the wall and roll off the back side. Event #8: Medium Roll Over Bone – This is a single bone roll over that is 5 1/2 feet high. Ninja trainees must jump up to get their stomach on top of the bone and then roll over the opposite side. Event #10: Four Vault Bones – This event is a series of four bones spaced 4 feet apart. Each of the bones is 4 1/2 feet high. Ninja trainees must vault or roll over all of the bones. Ninja trainees learn that getting a rhythm on this event is crucial to running a low time on the course. Event #12: Double Pull Over Bar – This event is similar to the Up and Over Bar except that it has two bars. The first bar is located 8 feet above the ground and the second bar is 1 foot higher. Ninja trainees must pull up on the first bar until they can grab the second bar. They then pull themselves up until they can get both knees on the lower bar. They then reach over the top bar and grab the lower bar with palms outward, slowly lower themselves down over the bar, hang from the lower bar and drop to the ground. Event #14: Rope Climb – This is a series of 20 feet high ropes that each participant must climb and touch the top of the rope before lowering themselves back to the ground. Participants must be careful when lowering to the ground and use hand over hand technique rather than simply slide down the rope which can cause rope burn.

 

[Miroku Riyota]

Riyota slowly turned around and saw the obstacles rising in front of him, a small grin spread across his face. Finally, a chance to prove that I can do something. He unclipped his axe from his back. "It's just that it'll be kinda heavy is all." He told them "But uh...could one of you pass it to me when we get to the spar." He grinned awkwardly. Looking over the course, he breathed in heavily. whew, this is gonna be tough.

He dug the back of his sandals into the ground beneath him, he winked at Yumi before giving out a playful "Race ya there" he began sprinting off, his recent training coming to light...he hoped. He kept on running till he came to the first low jump. He leapt over it with mostly ease, stumbling only briefly upon landing on the ground again. He slowed down slightly upon reaching the Up and over bar. He quickly glanced at the bar's two supports and did a few quickfire calculations in his head. When he was decided, he jumped to one of the supports, rocking it slightly. He then springboarded off of that one to the other one, rapidly and consecutively pulling off these same movements until he eventually reached the top, when he did reach it, he decided to perform a small flip to get over it. He landed fairly well and skidded to a halt. He was waiting up for Yumi, he didn't want her to feel left behind.

 

[Toraono Kuro]

Kuro noted that Riyota was indeed as reckless and competitive as he imagined until he looked back to check on Yumi. It was that moment that told Kuro he would indeed be a good candidate for the Sunan Tenchi training as he didn't leave others behind. Despite his devil may care attitude, he did actually care. It seemed that Yumi had suffered some kind of injury, Heaven truly help all of Sunagakure if anyone besides the serpent of the Cabal had been harming children. She was already captured but if another Cabal agent were doing anything of the likes their body would never be found should Kuro locate them. Kuro then made sure to monitor Yumi's progress, not because he didn't believe in her. Kuro was simply interested ion her perceptions and how she would take on the obstacles, would she use chakra, would she develop one handed techniques? Yumi was a bit of a mystery but then again most Kunoichi were.

 

[Senju Kazuki]

The time had come. Kuro had just summoned the obstacle course and the kids were going through it. There was little else for him to do now. Just wait and observe. Learn how Ryota and Yumi would overcome the obstacles, learn how they thought. The more he learned about them, the better he could use them in the future. Only time could tell when they would be helpful to Kazuki's cause. But how much helpful would depend on a lot of factors, some being known today. The Silvery Haired Man glanced his blond cousin at his side. The younger Senju seemed eager to undertake the course as well, but this was not his day. Today was all about Yumi and Ryota. Nagato's would come soon.

 

[Kazumi]

Yumi gave a slow bow of respect to Kuro, Kazuki and his eerie associate. She turned just in time to catch the kid give her a quick wink. Yumi blinked in surprise and fidgeted around a moment for some reason, incidentally giving Ryota a momentary head start. Once she recovered from the dazed moment she did not immediately give chase to begin the course. She hesitated as she looked over what she could see of it. Mentally she took note of the various obstacles one by one as she traced her eyes along the course's length.

It was not until Ryota had already begun to flip himself over the second obstacle that she began. Yumi crouched down a moment before kicking off at a quick sprint towards the first obstacle. As she neared the first low jump she crouched herself down mid stride and sprang herself up atop the bone obstacle with surprising agility for a student. One of her feet landed atop the low jump structure and she leaped off from it, spring-boarding herself up to grab onto the bar that was high overhead. She grabbed onto it with her sole hand, and hesitated a moment as she tried to keep her grip from the momentum.

Thankfully, her grip held true and after a second to assert herself she pulled one leg over, quickly making her way over the bar before she landed with a soft thud atop her feet on the other side. As she approached the awaiting Ryota she did not pause, though he received an amused smirk from the girl as she darted on past him. Again she leaped atop the low jump, springing off it to rebuild her momentum as she hurried to the next obstacle. A brief through went through her mind as she recalled wearing that weighted outfit for those endless weeks. Compared to that, moving around unweighted was almost akin to floating.

Hopping up on the low bone she leaped up again and grabbed onto the long 'pipes' that stretched the length of the fourth obstacle. She pulled her legs up and wrapped them around the length before she awkwardly worked to pull herself across the length, not letting go of the pipe for too long, lest she accidentally fall. As she reached the end of that length she moved her legs off the pipe and onto the larger bone at the end as she worked to pull herself up. All of this looked slightly awkward, it was clear she was not used to doing these sorts of things with just her left arm.

Once she made it to a stand her pace quickened once more as she carefully made her way down the length of the Bone Walk. Reaching the end in a few short moments, she leaped up once again and caught the thick roll over bone with her left arm and leg. She rolled off of it a little too quickly and tumbled off and over it onto the ground. She attempted, but ultimately failed to right herself in the short fall, landing roughly on her right side as she right stump instinctively attempted to catch her fall. She let out a small groan of pain, but managed to pick herself on and continue after only a few seconds of delay.

 

[Miroku Riyota]

It looked like his waiting for Yumi had been a wasted sentiment as the girl landed next to him and continued going. He laughed slightly, the race was on. He took off in an attempt to catch up to the girl, vaulting over all the bones of obstacle #3. He watched as Yumi continued to make her way through the obstacle course. He dug his foot into the ground and took off with extreme speed, he saw how Yumi had handled the Hand over bars and he decided he was going to traverse that his own way I mean isn't the smartest way to get past something the way that uses the least energy? He thought to himself quickly, before leaping on top of the Hand over bars and running across them I guess this could be considered cheating... but for the moment he didn't care. After he got to the end of the hand over bar he jumped down onto the bone walk and walked across it after which he leaped up to the high rollover bone, hung from it, then dropped. Upon spotting the next obstacle, he decided he was getting bored of low hurdles and mostly disregarded these one by jumping over them. When he reached the stone wall he knew there must be some technique involved, however he didn't know what it was, therefore he scrambled up the wall as best he could and hoisted himself over it. Upon landing he spotted the next obstacle Low hurdles...again, seriously? He paid even less attention this time and vaulted over them all to pretend like he still cared for these obstacles. When he got to the medium roll over bone he jumped up and rolled over it, his landing was off though and he stumbled into the ground, wasting no time picking himself up, he continued onto the four vault bones, completing them one after another, obtaining a passable rhythm with it.

Now he knew how competitive Yumi was, he knew he didn't have to wait up for her.

 

[Toraono Kuro]

Kuro was cheerful for the young lady's will and spirit but he couldn't help but frown at the issue her injury caused. Still he did not make a motion to help as that would ruin the effort she was putting into the event. She was giving it her all, and Riyota had noted that she didn't truly need his assistance and decided to push off with his best effort as well. What threw Kuro off the most was that neither of them used their chakra at all. It wasn't that unusual for training but one of the primary reasons ninja were so elite and capable was their being able to manipulate their internal and spiritual energies to accomplish things that the average human would not ordinarily be capable of. Seeing this was the case Kuro decided to offer them both a reminder, "This obstacle course is only meant to give you moderate physical challenges. What is really of special note is that neither of you have used any chakra to promote yourselves. When you want to finish quickly and with minimum PHYSICAL effort it is best to manipulate your energies in the manner that only you can to achieve your goals and avoid unnecessary injuries or strain." Having voiced himself loud enough for the two students to hear him he eagerly awaited their renewed efforts and use of their personal ingenuity.

 

[Senju Kazuki]

"Good reminder Toraono Kuro, good reminder." Kazuki noted. He had already observed the very same thing. Those two students were trying to overcome Kuro's obstacle course on pure sheer physical strength. There was nothing wrong with that, but if ninjas had access to chakra, it would be better if they used it. And the greater their control over it, the better. "Allow me to point out the following. There is something that differentiates us ninjas, from the rest of humankind. We have access to and can use our chakra. It is a small difference but critical. Without chakra we would not be able to pull off such actions considered supernatural. With chakra you can run up a wall, a normal human can't. You have chakra, use it." the Overlord spoke. They only had to listen and act accordingly. The Silvery Haired Man was content on waiting out for the end of the course, but Nagato was growing restless for being motionless for so long. Pulling out a book from the shadowy dimension he stored so many things, the former ANBU Sennin gave it to his younger cousin. The dark blue cover of the book read the following title "How To Craft Your Own Mjolnir by Muradin Bronzebeard". The letters were golden and the book seemed to be in good condition. If this was a practical scroll or a romance, one could only guess. But the blond shinobi seemed interested in it and quickly began reading. Chaos had been averted for now.

 

[Kazumi]

Seeing the other boy pass her by after she unceremoniously completed the last obstacle, she redoubled her efforts to chase after him. Her pace slowed a little as she crouched down and sprang up grabbing onto the wall just as Ryota landed on the ground beyond it. Her attention momentarily shifted as Kuro called out to them, but she worked to keep pace best she could, pulling herself atop the wall with one arm and rolling off the top. She landed and kept up her pace as she listened.

She leaped atop the next low hurdle, as she had the others and then with an act of surprising agility for an academy student, got her feet atop the medium sized hurdle and leaped off of it, landing on the small hurdle as Ryota regained his balance after a small slip up. Continuing the momentum, she leaped off the low hurdle and landed atop the medium one a distance ahead of her. She listened and grumbled internally as Kuro encouraged them to use chakra to finish the course with ease.

Leaping from the top of one medium hurdle to the next she hurried herself off the final part of challenge number ten with minimal effort. She hopped atop and then over another of the smaller hurdles as she approached the Double Pull Over Bar. The bar was easily twice her height and then some above her head, but she was determined to make it without any extra help. Taking inspiration from a stunt Ryota had pulled earlier, she puched her speed just a little higher and she leapt up, kicked her left foot off the side of the vertical beam and used it to propel herself high enough to catch the taller of the two bars in her outstretched left hand.

Pulling herself up enough with a single arm slowed her down, but after a few moments of straining she lifted one leg up atop the lower bar and kicked off of it to flip herself over the top bar. Doing a small spin in the air from the momentum as she let go of the top bar, she landed on the other side and stumbled forward into another run. As with all of the ones before it, she easily made her way over the final short hurdle as she approached the rope climb.

As she reached it she hesitated for a second as she considered how she could pull herself up it. Taking a moment to brush her hand against her shirt to dry it off, she was sweating from the effort by now, she hopped up and grabbed onto the rope as tight as she could manage with her left hand. Pulling herself up was slower than she would like, but the trouble came when she had to adjust her hand higher. Crossing her legs and thighs around the rope, she held onto it as tightly as she could manage as she tried to momentarily let go of the rope in an effort to slide her hand a bit higher.

The stunt worked, but it was leagues slower than a typical academy student could perform. If Ryota had not passed her already with the use of some fancy technique, he certainly could now as she arduously worked her way up a few inches at a time. Regardless, after a while she would manage to finally make it to the top, her left hand aching tremendously from the effort. She gripped the rope between her legs again and tried to slide down it, grabbing onto the rope every foot or so to slow her descent.

As she landed she stumbled off to the side, resting herself on the vertical column as she opened and closed her hand in an attempt to sooth the aching that it now felt. As she did this she looked back over towards the rope and smiled with a chuckle. It was unlikely that she had beaten Ryota, but she did do it without using chakra, going against what Kuro and Kazuki instructed. That thought alone caused her smile to widen as she worked to catch her breath and sooth the likely blistered skin on her hand.

 

[Miroku Riyota]

Use chakra, that's what they said isn't it? He thought to himself Umm...let's see...chakra....chakra He closed his eyes as he continued running, clearing the next obstacle barely. He made a stalwart attempt to channel his chakra to any point in his body. Unfortunately due to lack of much chakra control his energy flooded out of his body in every possible direction, cracking the ground beneath his feet and launching himself forward in an uncontrolled burst. It might just have looked intentional, had it not sent him skidding past the last few obstacles on his face. He pulled his face out of the sand and wiped some of the dust off of himself and looked around slightly dazed, he spotted Yumi and grinned and nodded, acknowledging that she had beaten him.

He slowly turned his head around and saw the bits of damage he had done to the course, there was a few holes, cracks and ruptures in the course and he looked slightly embarrassed. "I'll um...I'll p-pay for it." He stuck a hand into his money pouch and spotted only a couple of coins, and those were for his dinner. "Just um...send my bill to the Kazekage? He giggled awkwardly, rubbing his neck. But also, If uh...that counts as passing, can we move on to the next part? He asked, hoping to change the subject in an attempt to ignore the damage he had done to the course.

I really hope the Toraono's don't hold grudges, because if they do that's one expensive grudge. He thought to himself. Turning to Yumi he chuckled Guess I should've just not bothered with Chakra eh? attempting now to shrug it off as a joke.

[MFT 281]

 

[Toraono Kuro]

Kuro smiled..."No need for a bill, the Kazekage is my baby brother he pays no bills in my house and neither you nor he shall pay a bill for destruction of property in the Toraono dojo. You have both done well with or without the use of chakra. The terms of the agreement were that you would complete the obstacle course and then a spar with a chuunin capable or fully recognized chuunin to determine your current combat specialties. The deal will be honored, if you choose to take a seal now I am sure either I or Lord Senju can spare the ritual energy necessary to provide one. Do you wish to procure a seal now or after showing your combat capability?"<i></i>

Kuro could not fault their earnest drive to be self sufficient and live up to their own ideals. Tenacity was it's own reward which both future genin would understand soon enough.

 

[Senju Kazuki]

And so it was over. Despite Kazuki's and Kuro's advice of having them use chakra, Yumi opted to not heed them and finished the obstacle course under her own physical talents, even managing to beat Ryoma. The future hulk also finished the course, at least sort of. He did heed his elder's advice but such resulted in a destroyed obstacle course. Nevertheless it was done. "Congratulations." the Overlord said to both of them. "Kuro aren't you forgetting something? Before the ultimate showdown you were supposed to pose them a series of questions. You have tested their bodies, now it is time to test their minds. Then we can gift them." he remembered the Toraono.

 

[Kazumi]

The unfortunate incident almost caused her to lose her grip as she had tried to slide her way down the rope, and it wasn't until she landed that she figured out what happened. Truthfully she didn't know what happened exactly, but judging from the damage and the Ryota that giggled with embarrassment at the damage she assumed he must have caused it some how. "Guess so," she added with mild cheer, still trying to get the pain out of her soon to be blistered hand.

As Kuro spoke up her attention shifted from Ryota and her hand over towards the taller man. She opened her mouth to reply to Kuro but the other, Kazuki, spoke before she could. Of course, there was the matter of the questions. Her attention shifted towards her hand again and she decided to make her remark to Kuro later, surely she could handle a few questions. She began walk back over towards the trio, pausing a moment to make sure Ryota would be able to follow after before she continued. "Mmm, questions sounds good first." She momentarily wondered what they could possibly be about. Village History? Tactical Stratagems? Something even more complicated? Well, she had made it this far, no sense to fail just yet.

 

[Miroku Riyota]

Riyota still felt guilty over the damage he had caused, but decided there was nothing he could do about it now. He instead decided to focus on what was being said and looked to Yumi offering silent apologies for throwing her off balance.

He paled slightly when he remembered the questions part of this test that needed to happen. He knew that he wasn't all too smart, and was worried that failure here meant that what he'd done so far wouldn't matter, he was losing confidence, whatever the subject was he felt unprepared. His chest started to burn slightly...Was the curse mark he already had reacting to his nerves? He hoped not.

He looked to both the men, he knew he couldn't ask for the questions to be skipped, especially since Yumi seemed so ready for them, he nodded his head slowly, wincing from the dull sting of the seal. S-sure...questions, let's go. He said, desperately trying to keep his normal attitude in place.

 

[Toraono Kuro]

Kuro took a quick conference with Lord Kazuki where he presented a quick copy of the questions standard to any Toraono training session. With a quick surge of chakra Kuro struck a seal on the floor and the obstacle course slowly returned to the floor as bone fragments, wood, and sand reformed to recreate and repair the obstacle course as it was placed back in storage. Everything was a little worse for the wear and tear but the damages were moderate and the repairs could be completed at a later time. With the area cleared, Kuro summoned a small pedastal with a rather large leatherbound book and a set of 2 scrolls set next to it on the right. A sand bench formed before the pedestal as Kuro quickly removed two stylus pens from the inside the lower right compartment and set them next to the ledger book. After all was set Kuro turned and spoke to the 2 applicants in a very business and dynamic manner.

"Welcome to the 2nd phase, the Toraono clan, and the Senju clan have very distinct standards so if you are ready for all that our clans' training can provide you then please sign in on the ledger book, and afterwards answer the questions on the entrance scroll roster."

The questions read:

"What do you want to learn?

What do you consider to be your greatest strength?

What is it that pushes you onward?

 

[Senju Kazuki]

After a quick conference with Kazuki, Kuro unsummoned the obstacle course and brought forth a pedestal in its stead. It was quite plain looking but functional and that was all that one could ask of it. The students had overcome the first stage and the second was about to start. "We may not be the nicest of teachers, and we certainly aren't, but we produce results like no others. Between us and the Toraono Clan, it should be impossible for you to fail. If you still manage to do it, well..." the Overlord noted, leaving his sentence incomplete on purpose. The Senju great belief in strength had its flaws, but it was also one of their greatest traits. They were willing to extend their hand to anybody, to help them improve and gain power. But in the event of their attempts to help others improve were met with nothing but failures, then the Senju House would simply ignored them and move forward. There was no time for weaklings. Survival of the fittest in its raw nature.

 

[Kazumi]

Yumi's hand rubbed against the side of her outfit, trying to sooth itself as she watched in mild awe as the course first vanished only to be replaced by the pedestal, book and bench. She silently wondered if she would ever get used to seeing this sort of thing. It was, of course, common place in this line of work... in this village of all places, but it still felt so foreign to her. The thought that she wouldn't ever be able to match such strange arts resonated with silent jealousy in the back of her mind. Her mind pushed such thoughts aside as she listened to Kuro and Kazuki's instructions.

They certainly didn't seem to be the nicest of individuals; there was something about them both that Yumi couldn't quite place, but what that was, exactly, she could not say. Heedless of any reservations, she nodded and walked forward to pick up a pen in her left hand before she proceeded to sign the book in a less than elegant script. Writing with that hand still was difficult for her, but her name was legiable, even if it looked like it had been written by a young toddler. She then stepped aside to allow the other boy to follow suit. Not waiting for Ryota to do the same, she put the pen in her mouth and rolled open the scroll with mild irritation.

A dozen seconds passed as she read, her brow arching as the subject of the questions seemed to perplex her. She looked up towards Kuro, her expression seeming to ask 'is that it?'. Regardless, what she actually asked was, "were you wanting us to write the stuff down or just say it.... or?" She sounded slightly confused as she did her best to be polite and respectful with both her expression and tone, though this was marred by the pen that bobbed up and down as she spoke, an issue remedied a few seconds after she finished talking.

((OOC: Apologies for that way-too-long delay. Kudos to Ryota for prodding me, as the post I had intended to make a week ago had apparently not actually been submitted.... *Gives a respectful bow to the trio* ))

 

[Miroku Riyota]

Riyota's nerves eased slightly as je took the pen and went to sign his name, he quickly scribbled it down, not wanting to take too long, after which he reluctantly took a scrool and read over it, he let out a sigh of relief when he realised they weren't knowledge questions.

He didn't wait for a response to Yumi's question and just decided to write it, he was sure it wouldn't matter too much.

1. Q. What do you want to learn?

Riyota thought for a few minutes before writing
How to protect those who can't protect themselves.
It was a weird answer, but he went with it anyway.

2. Q. What do you consider your greatest strength?

In Riyota's eyes, he didn't have any strengths. So he simply wrote
The weapon I carry is my only strength
He sighed slightly at that answer

3. Q. What is it that pushes you onward.

Riyota paused for a few moments before slowly writing
The will to not be forgotten.

[Yay, Yumi's back I am clearly the best person (checks length of post) I AM THE WORST PERSON D:]
[In conclusion, post was short, I am very sorry, but yay now we can continue.]

 

[Toraono Kuro]

Kuro watched them set aside their mental strengths before Yumi asked if she was meant to vocalize her answers. Her dignity was to be considered in all things. Kuro nodded again to the young lady noticing her arm once more he pulled a recording crystal from his pouch and passed it to her. "YOUR answer need not be written young lady, simply speak into the recording crystal both your question and your answer and it will be recorded for future prosperity. It will be accessible to you and your family at any time in the Toraono Clan records hall. I look forward to your progress."<i></i> Kuro placed crimson crystal in her palm and keyed it with a small amount of chakra to ensure it would function for her. After turning away so that she might collect her thoughts Kuro stepped over to Kazuki with a conspiracy forming grin. "I believe Riyota would benefit best from your training as I will need to imprint the young lady so that her limb becomes a boon not a burden and I will find a way for her to rehabilitate herself. What do you think Kazuki sama?" Kuro prepared a scroll for blood seal, before placing it back in his pouch.

 

[Senju Kazuki]

Bluntness over caution. That aptly described the difference between those two kids. Ryota was all reckless and relentless assault. Yumi was filled with self doubt, second guessing herself at every turn. Kuro suggested Ryota's training to be handled by Kazuki and the Overlord could not agree me. The brutal Senju training was way more fitted to someone like the young buy than it could ever be to Yumi. They could turn the future Hulk into a fighting machine or he would die trying. "That is for the best yes. Ryota will benefit more from our training than Yumi ever will. Perhaps they can exchanged in a few years, I believe either will benefit from switching trainers after a certain threshold is reached." the Silvery Haired Man noted as he eyes Kuromairu Riyota with intent.

"Kuromairu Riyota your training will be done by the Senju Clan directly under my tutelage. You want a future for yourself? Prepare to fight for it." the White Wolf announced.