"Only five minutes?" Yuto thought to himself.
He looked down at the pebble in his hand and let out a sigh.
He sat cross-legged, thinking of a strategy. He knew there was no way to complete the task without a game plan. He needed information on the chakra application. While he'd practiced chakra control exercises, considering his goal to become a skilled medic, he never practiced the tree or water walking exercise. The only time he used any form of chakra application was when he sparred with Itachi and concealed shuriken in his sleeves, sticking the shuriken to his skin with chakra application.
To make it worse, he could barely get any studying done with Hikari's friends, causing so much noise, so he was forced to dig into some of his sleeping time. Not to mention the side effects from the shinjin ration pill. His head still ached, and he felt immense chest pain.
He sighed, unsealing a chakra theory scroll he'd received from the academy library a few months ago. He suspected that the scroll wouldn't have much, as he only took it on a whim. He had forgotten to return it, because he had stuffed his everyday Carrie scroll until it reached its storage limit.
He was glad he remembered, as it could be helpful for this particular test. He looked at the timer placed on a foldable table next to Taro, seeing he only had three minutes left.
He didn't worry about the time; his mind could absorb the contents of the scroll in half a minute if he tried hard enough.
Yuto rolled open the scroll, gaining a few questioning looks, but ignored them. he needed to focus as he didn't have much time. From his experience, unable to use the chakra application to stick to a surface, or stick objects to yourself, you needed to bind the chakra to the object. Similar to how you knit a sweater. The chakra is infused into the gaps of the surface and used as a harness, similar to how Michael Jackson performed his famous lean. When walking on water, the chakra was probably used as a repellent force to stand on the water's surface.
Yuto skimmed through the scroll, seeing the time varied. Not to Yuto's surprise, as he expected, it was similar to his previous analysis. The chakra application required mimicking a suction cup with the chakra form. Yuto assumed this most likely wasn't the only way, as he previously used the first theory, on a whim, and succeeded. He was sure that if he could stick the shuriken to his arm, then he could also stick the pebble to his forehead. But this was easier said than done, as it was a known fact that channeling chakra to the hands and arms is much easier than channeling to the feet and head. This was likely because shinobi needed to channel chakra to the hands unable perform hand signs.
He rolled up the scroll, seeing he had under 1 minute to practice the exercise. He didn't care about the time, though, as he doubted the difference would be anything but small. Even if he had ten minutes, it wouldn't matter at all; besides, his mind could analyze the reactions to the chakra and formulate a different strategy in seconds. He wasn't concerned if he failed, as he could just use his previous method of chakra application. He was so confident that he could complete the test that he used his practice time to try different methods of chakra application.
"Alright, practice times up!" Taro said, forcing a series of groans from the crowd as they clearly weren't able to grasp the exercise.
Yuto suspected that the test was simply to show all the genin how shitty their chakra control was. No one could practice a chakra manipulation exercise for five minutes and grasp it without previous knowledge or practice performing the exercise or one similar to it. Yuto was lucky enough to have practiced forms of application after realizing he was years away from being competent enough to draw up a proper seal to store his ninja tools, and opted for sticking them to his sleeves. He was sure that he had accidentally created a new form of chakra application on his own, but he was sure he was stroking his own ponytail.
"Okay, now I'll start the one-hour timer. Keep in mind that, once your pebble leaves your forehead, you are instantly eliminated," Taro explained.
He glanced over the room of genin before continuing. "Of course, if you can't stick the pebble to your forehead before I start the one-hour timer, you'll also be eliminated!" Taro explained.
Yuto instantly applied his pebble to his forehead, holding it with his hand. He closed his eyes, focusing all of his concentration on the task at hand. He had no intentions of failing, and he'd block out every distraction, including the instructor unable to pass the test.
He felt the pebbles being secured by his chakra, as the energy slipped into the pebbles like an anchor in the ocean.
"Mission accomplished," he muttered with a grin.
While he had no doubts, he still felt accomplished, seeing his fellow genin freaking out over the possibility of failing the test before it even started.
"Okay, that's enough time!"
"The one-hour timer will start in 1... 2... 3..." Taro said, starting the timer with a click.
The room fell into silence as everyone was focused on securing their pebble to their foreheads.
It wasn't long before pebbles started falling to the ground.
"shit!"
"fuck!"
"damit!"
Taro looked at the genin whose pebbles failed.
"your eliminat..." Taro said, but stopped his speech, hearing a few more pebbles drop to the ground.
He sighed. "You are eliminated as well," he said, seemingly expecting this outcome.
Yuto, on the other hand, had a shit eating grin as he felt the vibrations of the pebbles hitting the ground, as he was currently blocking out all noise to help his concentration.
He locked back in, not even a second later, he wouldn't fail because he was focused on his other participants. As far as he was concerned, he could comfortably get fifth place again and still reach the top ranking if he did well enough in the combat examination. The knowledge test was a no-brainer as he could pass with a perfect score in his sleep. he didn't study years of academy material for no reason.
After a grueling five minutes of straight concentration, sweat began to fall from his scalp, and his closed eyes twitched in the slightest. He kept telling himself he'd just need to survive the same amount of time, six more times, but this did nothing but increase his nerves. While he had the chakra reserves to continue this exercise for hours, he simply didn't have the control to.
He gritted his teeth and pushed through. He needed to at least pass the 30-minute mark, and he was sure no one else but himself could do so. He knew that much. This wasn't the leaf exercise from the academy; the exercise was to the other participants what the physical test was like for him.
He felt his concentration breaking as he had to simultaneously track the amount of time that had passed and concentrate on the task, while ignoring the vibrations of the other genin's pebbles hitting the concrete floors of the indoor grounds.
He needed to distract himself from the vibrations and keep track of the time without losing concentration. His mind clicked not even a second after, his fast-thinking skills coming into play. He decided to tap his foot to count, uncrossing his legs and tapping his foot on the floor while still on his bottom.
He would count by tens, leaving him with nine whole seconds of concentration between each series of taps. He'd also use the noise from his tapping foot as a distraction from the vibrations, simultaneously distracting his genin counterparts with the noise from his tapping foot.
"10... 20... 30... 40... 50... 60," Yuto counted in his head.
It had now been thirty minutes, and Yuto was forced to contain his excitement and joy as he needed to maintain concentration.
He felt his concentration faltering, but strengthened it with will alone, pushing forward regardless of the strain on his chakra reserves. He made a note to practice the exercise in the little spare time that he had.
He tapped his foot continuously, another drop of sweat running down his face. His normally calm face looked constipated, and his small body trembled from the strain on his coils.
It was only moments after that he relented, as his body wasn't in the condition to go on further.
The pebble from his forehead didn't drop after he released his chakra. he realized that he'd intertwined the hair on his forehead into the pebble with his chakra, purely by accident. He had unententionally changed the form of his forehead hairs and bound them into the small gaps of the solid along with his chakra.
His mouth hung open, seeing two things: not only was he the last one to finish the exercise, but the rock was stuck to his forehead without him trying. he saw dozens of eyes on him, as he was a little startled.
"Something on my face?" he said, a grin on his face, as he indeed had something on his face.
The defeated genin didn't seem to be amused, as they frowned seeing Yuto effortlessly hold the pebble to his forehead.
"I'm one lucky bastard," he thought. Not only would he be the only one to pass the third test, but he'd also be the only one to get a perfect score on the knowledge exam; he could be mistaken and end up with a test similar to the one shown during the Genin 12's chunin exam, but he doubted it. It made no sense to give "shity" genin a chunin-level test.
After a moment, Yuto's pebble became untangled by the grip of his forehead hairs, falling to the ground, sending an echoing sound through the quiet room.
The room went into murmurs as usual, seeing the last participant fail.
"I thought it was just luck yesterday, but he actually made first place in a test like this?" said a genin.
A genin scoffed. "That brat probably had some super glue stored away," he said.
The other one laughed, "I know, right, he seems to have everything in that scroll of his!" he said, still chuckling.
Touji, on the other hand, was livid, as usual. The Yamanaka was clearly upset at being outdone by Yuto, as he was one of the last participants. No one was able to pass the thirty-minute mark except for Yuto, and not only did that, but he exceeded it. So Touji was furious.
"Good job, you were the only one who actually passed the test, despite not reaching the one-hour mark."
"By the way, see me after class," Taro said firmly, leaving no room for argument.
Yuto gave a nod, but was confused as he couldnt think of a reason Taro would want to speak to him. he was aware it had nothing to do with a test from his firm tone, so there was only one option.
"Okay, session over, report to the living quarters!" Taro said, as all the genin left chattering away as usual.
Yuto stayed as he was asked, walking up to Taro once everyone had left.
He timidly looked down before he looked up at Taro, but deflected his eyes somewhere else. He knew what this was about and had no interest in the conversation. To say the least, it was utterly embarrassing, especially as a technically thirty-year-old man.
Yuto finally spoke. "If this is about the other day, it's nothing, really!" he said, his expression filled with contempt, peering up at Taro's concerned eyes.
"What are you trying to protect yourself from. Your attempts to divert the situation won't work here."
"As your instructor, I want to know what happened," he said seriously.
Yuto's face twisted into a few expressions as he was feeling many different emotions at the prospect of opening up to someone. He had already let his mask slip to this man, and he didn't want to show him any more dirt.
"Why do you care anyway!" Yuto spat, his face contorted into an incomprehensible expression, as he was so disarmed at the moment. He had always run from his problems even in his previous life, so when faced with the prospect of facing them and having no escape, he felt like a caged animal.
"What are you so afraid of?" Taro asked.
"It's nothing!" Yuto said.
"I know a coward when I see one, hiding behind a mask to avoid conflict. I've come across so many shinobi like you, except you hide better than most. If I never saw that time in the shower, I'd never know," he said with a knowing look.
"Why?" Yuto asked, still in panic mode.
"What?" Taro asked.
"Why do you care? You've never liked me since the day I walked into this place!" Yuto retorted, angered by his sudden interest in his life.
"You have things confused. I was not happy with your filthy attitude; this has nothing to do with whether I like you or not. I'm just an instructor concerned about his genin," Taro said.
He sighed before continuing. "I've seen that look before, the helplessness you feel, the shame, the embarrassment you feel right now. It won't help you. You must give yourself a firm look in the mirror and understand who you are as a person. Only then can you truly look at me and tell me you're perfectly fine," Taro said seriously.
Yuto scoffed, "I don't need your pity!" Yuto said. This man wasn't his grandfather; he didn't have to spill out his life story just because he wanted him to.
"Pity?" Taro said with a chuckle.
"Far from it. I refuse to let you live the rest of your life lying to yourself!" he said firmly, not budging from Yuto's glare.
"I'm perfectly fine being a coward. I have nothing to prove to anybody here. I couldn't care less about their filthy opinions, I'm a survivor, that is what I live for!" Yuto said with conviction, clenching his little fists.
"Is that what you believe?"
"If so, then you're as dumb as you look," Taro said.
"I don't have to explain myself to you!" Yuto said.
"your right, you don't."
"But what is hiding it doing for you, protecting your ten-year-old pride?" Taro said, scoffing.
Yuto was contemptuous, but Taro was right. If he bottled it up, it would only serve to fuck him in the ass later on.
"just... fine!"
"I was tired of the stares and the snickers and the laughs, it made me feel insecure in my body. And I just exploded, because... I... I can't do anything about my little body, because my stomach can't fit enough food... and... and I just wanted to let my mask fall for once. I wanted to feel human!" Yuto said, putting his head down, afraid to face the person he had just spilled his guts out to, looking like an uncontainable mess.
"You happy?" Yuto said.
Taro just smiled, seeing Yuto express his true feelings for the first time in his four months of living in the ninja world.
"Now your perfectly fine," Taro said with a smile.
Yuto looked up, seeing Taro smile at him, for what looked like the first time. He was confused; he didn't know why he told Taro all that stuff. Yes, it was true, but he had no intentions of actually expressing himself to a man he'd known for three days. he had no idea how, but Taro convinced him to spill his guts out, just by asking a few times. He wondered if he was easily convinced or if Taro was just that convincing.
Then suddenly, Taro put a hand on Yuto's shoulder.
"Nice talk, huh?" Taro said.
"Um, yeah," Yuto said awkwardly.
He chuckled. "Go on, you could use a bed," Taro said.
Yuto would have normally disagreed, but he was genuinely too tired to study; he'd already gained some brain rot from the constant study. He'd sleep and then study before building his stamina on the forest trail, as he wouldn't have the help of rejuvenation bars and ration pills. It wouldn't make a large difference, but it was a start.
Yuto gave a nod, but then suddenly spoke.
"Instructor Taro?" Yuto said.
"Yeah, what is it?" he asked.
"Can you keep this between you and me?" Yuto said, almost pleadingly. His reputation would be cooked if this got out.
"Of course!" Taro said as if it were obvious.
Yuto nodded and began to walk away, but stopped and spoke.
"thankyou" he said before leaving the indoor grounds.
Taro looked at Yuto's retreating form with a light smile.
"Kids like him need guidance; it would be a shame to see him turn into a mess like Kakashi Hatake," Taro thought.
The next day...
Yuto walked out of the classroom with Hikari at his side. Yuto had a confident smile on his face, as he'd received a perfect score on the knowledge test, since there was no one there who could match him in the knowledge department. His life revolved around studying shinobi aspects and practices.
"Wow, Yuto, I can't believe you got a perfect score! You really are smart!" Hikari said.
"Yes, it is hard to fail when you study for hours out of the day," Yuto said with a sigh. He was tired from his training the day before. He'd run the three-point trail and practiced his chakra control exercises. He had no plans of doing any physical workouts, especially in a world with chakra. He could just Tsunade his way into some strength if it came down to it, but that was easier said than done. Either way, wasting time trying to build his body from the ground up would take years of training and hinder his medical and fuinjutsu studies. And to be frank, the village couldn't care less if he could push a boulder.
"You don't seem to be too excited about it?" Hikari asked questioningly.
"I'm concerned about the combat exam," Yuto said grimly.
"Don't worry, Yuto. You'll be fine, I'm sure of it!" Hikari said confidently, pumping his fist in the air.
Yuto rolled his eyes, but couldnt help but smile at Hikari's antics. That was truly something only an idiot would say. Yuto, the freshly graduated genin, versus shinobi twice his size and had twice his experience. if he actually won some matches; it would be because he studied his opponent beforehand and devised a strategy. Unfortunately, he didn't have that pleasure.
"fuck my life," Yuto muttered under his breath as he and Hikari walked down the facilities hallways.
[Be sure to give me your power stones]