Upon getting the ok, Naoki faced the puppet again and studied it, realising she didn't have an exact target to strike. She could always go for the middle of the chest, as it was the largest target, but it was also the part that she would guard the most if she was being attacked. By that logic, the best thing to do was to aim for one of the limbs, but what if the limbs were also moving?
She considered asking the puppeteer to move the puppet around for her, but decided against it for some reason. She most likely didn't know it at the time, but subconsciously she knew it would be cheating, and she wanted her exam results to be fair. If she sees the puppet's attack pattern, it would be considerably easier to figure out its holes. Currently, as it is motionless, all she would be doing is general training against a regular sized puppet.
Naoki ended up trying out some basic punches on the puppet after all, focusing on a point on the torso. Punching the middle, exactly, after several repetitions, she tried kicking the same spot, but ended up just landing hits on the left and right sides of the puppet. Up until now, she had only been performing roundhouse kicks, as it was the only kick she'd seen, but faced with the problem of not getting the accuracy down, she tried a frontal push kick. Unfortunately, due to her stature, she was unable to kick the same spot, but came close at centimeters below it.
She wanted to know how to reach a taller opponent's head, because, at least for a while, she wouldn't be able to fight on equal footing with an average adult opponent. Naoki tried a jump kick next, taking a running start, and doing a long jump before sticking her foot out in the puppet's general direction. It was a miss though, and it launched her past the puppet onto a mat. She brushed herself off and tried it again, missing for a second time.
Ahh, that was pretty embarrassing. Maybe I should try something else. If I can't hit him from the front...
She had control over her chakra now after all. It felt somewhat different now. It's... breezy. As she thought this, she had an idea.
Another running start, but this time with a high jump right in front of the puppet, she used her chakra to further propel herself into the air and brought her foot down, on target. Then, as if the move she just pulled was too cool to be left alone, she slid off the puppet sideways with her leg still extended and landed with a thud on the mats. That was just as embarrassing as before! Naoki thought, burying her face in her hands, still lying on the mat.
[MFT]