Hoshiyomi was in a great mood when they returned for dinner, having discovered that defeating the brown bear had granted him a full seven experience points. This was no small amount. Without combat, Hoshiyomi could practice diligently with shadow clones for half a year and still not necessarily gain seven experience points.
Seeing "Beginner Swordsmanship 72/100" displayed in his experience bar, Hoshiyomi almost shed tears of joy. He had guessed correctly; coming here was definitely the right choice.
After dinner, it wasn't early. The night's events had been rather convoluted, and after their al, no one had the desire to search for more scrolls. They took turns on watch and passed the night.
The next morning, Jiraiya woke everyone up, and they headed towards the Central Tower. No one was late. Torifu and Homura also promptly appeared, pushing carts with washing utensils and breakfast.
After a hearty al, they began today's lesson. Homura adjusted his glasses and began, "Today's 'white course' topic is Chakra control training. The importance of Chakra control needs no elaboration; excellent Chakra control is essential to pass this Chunin Exam."
As soon as Homura finished speaking, he saw Jiraiya and the others display looks of disdain. "Oh, we learned all this ages ago! Isn't it just tree climbing and water walking? Lord Hiruzen taught us that right after graduation."
Shinku and Sakumo beside him nodded in agreent. It was then that Torifu spoke up. "Of course, what we're training today isn't those basic control thods. This ti, it's an advanced version. I can tell you that once you complete this training, your Chakra control ability will be comparable to that of a Jonin."
Hearing this, Jiraiya and the others grew interested. Although their control wasn't bad, there was still a significant gap between them and Jonin-level shinobi. Hearing Torifu speak of it so highly, they beca eager to try.
Homura calmly said, "Follow ."
With that, he led the way towards the back of the Central Tower. Torifu called out from behind, "Oh, right, first, hand over all your weapons and ninja tools. Especially Sakumo's and Hoshiyomi's ninja blades. That weight will hinder your upcoming training."
Hoshiyomi and the others exchanged glances and agreed that being lighter would be more suitable for this training. So, they each retrieved their weapons and handed them to Torifu, then followed Homura.
After walking about a few hundred ters, Homura stopped in front of a massive pit. He gestured towards Hoshiyomi and the others. "Go down?"
Hoshiyomi and his teammates eyed Homura suspiciously, but ultimately decided he wouldn't harm them. So, they all jumped into the pit. The depth of this large pit far exceeded Hoshiyomi's expectations. Hoshiyomi felt as if he stayed in the air for several seconds before landing at the bottom of the pit. Thankfully, the bottom was covered with thick padding; otherwise, they would have been crippled by the fall.
However, the padding was unexpectedly slippery. Hoshiyomi landed, bounced twice, and then slid against the hard pit wall, making intimate contact. The others were in similar situations, except for Shinku, who was lucky. After falling, he slid right into Jiraiya, using him as a cushion. Poor Jiraiya was hit from both sides and almost got knocked silly.
After Hoshiyomi fell, he instinctively rubbed his bumped head and felt sothing sticky and slick sared on him. He looked down and sniffed, realizing what he'd gotten on his hand was oil. He then touched the pit wall and, sure enough, the entire wall was coated with a thick layer of oil.
It wasn't just a coating; oil was continuously flowing down from above the pit entrance. Hoshiyomi imdiately understood Homura and Torifu's intentions. Just then, Homura and Torifu's voices drifted down from above.
"Your task is to walk out of this oil-covered pit without using any tools. Note, 'walk,' not 'climb.' Everyone must keep their hands behind their backs and not take them out."
"Torifu and I will be watching you. If you dare to climb, prepare to be kicked back down."
Torifu chid in from the side, "We'll be continuously pouring oil down, ensuring the walls remain slick at all tis. Also, according to our estimates, if you're still at the bottom of the pit after six in the evening, you'll be subrged by all this oil!"
Homura continued, "It's not that simple. This pit is fifty ters high. Once you reach the twenty-ter mark, I will begin throwing projectiles at you as interference."
"At twenty ters, it will be small pebbles. At thirty ters, it will be rocks. And at forty ters, it will be shuriken. Don't worry, I'll aim steadily; I won't hit your vital spots. But if you're killed because you moved erratically, there's nothing I can do."
Hearing this, Hoshiyomi and the others cursed silently, wondering if Homura was a demon. How could he co up with such an inhumane idea? They also believed that if they completed this trial, they would gain Chakra control far surpassing that of ordinary Jonin. In fact, even Jonin would find such a climb incredibly difficult, let alone with flying projectiles as interference.
They had initially thought that once they mastered the footwork, blocking with their hands would be no problem. But then they realized, crap, all their weapons were surrendered earlier!
You really got us, Akimichi Torifu!
And to think he said being lighter would help with the training. I fell for that trick!
But they had no choice but to push on. One reason was that staying still would lead to being subrged by the oil; the other was that their pride wouldn't allow them to give up. With that thought, the six of them braced themselves and prepared to tackle the trial.
However, this was far from as easy as they imagined. Oil was different from water; it was incredibly slippery. Even if they ford a stable Chakra coating on their feet, the oil would cause them to slip and slide back down.
For a while, the bottom of the pit was filled with the sounds of continuous falls. If not for the padding below, they would have been unable to stand long ago. It wasn't until half an hour later that Tsunade and Shinku found so small tricks.
Among the six, Tsunade and Shinku had the best Chakra control. dical ninjutsu and genjutsu both demand extrely high levels of Chakra control. Without outstanding control talent, they wouldn't have chosen these paths. It was precisely this talent that allowed the two of them, amidst the sounds of constant falling, to be the first to figure out a way to stand steadily on the surface.
With their hands behind their backs, the two of them stood at a 90-degree angle against the pit wall and turned to Hoshiyomi and the others, saying:
"Forming a protective layer of Chakra on your feet isn't wrong, but the difference this ti is that we don't just need simple stability. We need new fluctuations to be constantly forming."
"While forming the protective layer, evenly and densely create small, pointed spikes of Chakra on the outer periter of the layer. This allows the Chakra to penetrate through the oil layer and directly reach the pit wall."
"The Chakra spikes pass through the oil layer and create a secondary adhesion to the pit wall. This is how you can stand on the wall! With a bit of body coordination, standing steadily on it isn't a problem!"
PS: Read Advance Chapters at spatreon/c/ReadJin
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