Birds chirped as they went about their business, collecting food for their young, caring not for themselves. It was early afternoon and the sun had already decided to bake the Earth in its sweltering, humid oven that was the atmosphere. Jigoku stood somewhere on the east side of the 44th training zone. The ninja of Konohagakure called it "The Forest of Death." Trees grew hundreds of feet into the air, stretching their ancient branches to the sky. There was deep underbrush, and in some places, one could hardly make it through the thorns, ivies, and poisonous plants. There were various man-eating beasts in the forest, many of which were no threat to a Shinobi as an individual, but they traveled in packs, making the forest treacherous for even the most experienced of Shinobi.
It was for this reason that Jigoku had chosen this forest to train in. He knew he would get nowhere training his Sharingan in solitude, but he had no squad to train with and most of his friends were either on missions or training with their squads. Even his father was on a top secret mission and his mother was spending a few days at her mother's house to help her overcome a sickness. So he had chosen The Forest of Death. It was more dangerous, but that's also why it would make his training effective. If one lost motivation in training to improve, they would lose all hope of improvement. But when someone fought for their life, they'd be a fool to give up.
Jigoku stood in the middle of one of the very few clearings in the Forest with his active Sharingan. His irises were now red, and just outside his pupils, there was a thin black circle. On that circle was a single Tomoe in each eye. The Tomoe spun around his pupils for a few seconds as he concentrated. He could hear it... Claws scraping wood. Whatever this one was, it was big.
Jigoku spoke, taunting the beast; "Oh, come on, I'm 11! You can take me! Well... My birthday is coming tomorrow but still! C'mon ya big ugly thing!"
The rustling and scraping stopped. "Heh... Guess he was scared."
But Jigoku was so wrong. As if cued by his words, a thundering noise approached at alarming speeds from behind him. As he whirled around, his Sharingan caught a big grey beast before its hard skull slammed into him and sent him flying. He had been struck with greater force than he ever had, and he was in pain. He landed and rolled a few feet before being stopped as a tree decided to slam itself into his face. He cursed under his breath. "Dammit... Who put you there?" Jigoku climbed to his feet and faced the animal in time to get another look at it was; and his eyes widened. It was a Rhino. Big horns, big feet, big body, grey skin... It had it all.
Not only did it have it all, but everything it had was charging at him at full speed. "Dammit... Move... MOVE!!" He was stuck there, in pain. Hardly able to move... With a multi-ton beast hurtling his way. It was within a few seconds of impact... And if it rammed him in the position he was in... He'd die. "MOVE JIGOKU!!" And he somehow did, adrenaline numbing the pain as he dove out of the way; with no time to spare, apparently.
He stood and began running. He hurtled through the Forest, always being followed by the enormous beast with three horns. He ran for minutes. Or were they hours? He was immune to the passing of time as the only thing on his mind was getting to safety; as far away from the beast as possible. Small trees fell behind Jigoku as the Rhino collided with them, no uprooting then but completely snapping them at the base. He obviously saw no more animals... When someone made so much noise, and was so big, nothing dared to mess with it. Except... Well... Jigoku, in his stupidity.
His Sharingan took in every detail... Every possible route for escape. He caught sight of many, but most would require him to slow his pace, and that was something he couldn't afford. If the beast managed to catch him, it was over for him. As he jumped over obstacles, Jigoku whirled in midair, hurling kunai at the animal, only to see them bounce off with almost no effect. "Dammit... The skin is too thick and too tough. There's no way the simple blades will suffice."
Fear... Desperation... That was what drove him. Exhaustion pulled at the edges of his vision as he tried to maintain consciousness. "C'mon Jigoku, like mama always says... Push!" The words came out more as indistinguishable breathing than anything else. The edges of his vision blurred. He wondered if his pursuer ever tires. He has to fight his hardest to stay ahead of it, and even as a Shinobi, with his endurance, he couldn't keep it up much longer. But fear... It drove him. It was man's most powerful emotion, the hardest to overcome. It was what drove men to survive. To become powerful. It was fear of death... Fear of loss. Fear of things that they could not protect if they were weak.
On top of his exhaustion, he was running out of forest. Less than 100 meters ahead of him was a vertical stone cliff. On either side of him, forest repelled any chance of evasion. He knew if he fled to the woods that he'd be too slowed to avoid the animal pursuing him completely, and it could cost his life. His only chance was to... Yes... Yes of course!
He sprinted, full speed in direction of the stone cliff. He made contact with it at full speed with one foot. Using the wall walking technique, he took three more steps vertically before running out of time. He still wasn't high enough to avoid the beast. Purposefully, he applied too much chakra to the soles of his feet. It was a basic principal lf the jutsu; if too much chakra was applied, the user hurtled away.
Jigoku angled his body in the perfect way to send himself hurtling vertically in the air. He managed to completely clear the cliff, and as he landed, he noticed he was only a few feet away from the fence - at the West side of the forest. He had sprinted almost 20 Kilometers in efforts to evade the beast. It now lay dead at the base of the cliff. It had probably collided with so much weight and momentum that its skull caved or its neck broke. He lay on the ground, panting, though his vision had clarified, despite the fatigue. He could see minute details from far away now... His Sharingan must have further matured. Just beyond the fence, the village bustled. The Uchiha Clan compound was across the village, which meant the Hyuga compound was somewhere near. He hadn't the energy to climb the fence, so simply lay flat in the grass, hardly able to breathe.
WC: 1191
Sharingan 2nd Tomoe: Achieved
It was for this reason that Jigoku had chosen this forest to train in. He knew he would get nowhere training his Sharingan in solitude, but he had no squad to train with and most of his friends were either on missions or training with their squads. Even his father was on a top secret mission and his mother was spending a few days at her mother's house to help her overcome a sickness. So he had chosen The Forest of Death. It was more dangerous, but that's also why it would make his training effective. If one lost motivation in training to improve, they would lose all hope of improvement. But when someone fought for their life, they'd be a fool to give up.
Jigoku stood in the middle of one of the very few clearings in the Forest with his active Sharingan. His irises were now red, and just outside his pupils, there was a thin black circle. On that circle was a single Tomoe in each eye. The Tomoe spun around his pupils for a few seconds as he concentrated. He could hear it... Claws scraping wood. Whatever this one was, it was big.
Jigoku spoke, taunting the beast; "Oh, come on, I'm 11! You can take me! Well... My birthday is coming tomorrow but still! C'mon ya big ugly thing!"
The rustling and scraping stopped. "Heh... Guess he was scared."
But Jigoku was so wrong. As if cued by his words, a thundering noise approached at alarming speeds from behind him. As he whirled around, his Sharingan caught a big grey beast before its hard skull slammed into him and sent him flying. He had been struck with greater force than he ever had, and he was in pain. He landed and rolled a few feet before being stopped as a tree decided to slam itself into his face. He cursed under his breath. "Dammit... Who put you there?" Jigoku climbed to his feet and faced the animal in time to get another look at it was; and his eyes widened. It was a Rhino. Big horns, big feet, big body, grey skin... It had it all.
Not only did it have it all, but everything it had was charging at him at full speed. "Dammit... Move... MOVE!!" He was stuck there, in pain. Hardly able to move... With a multi-ton beast hurtling his way. It was within a few seconds of impact... And if it rammed him in the position he was in... He'd die. "MOVE JIGOKU!!" And he somehow did, adrenaline numbing the pain as he dove out of the way; with no time to spare, apparently.
He stood and began running. He hurtled through the Forest, always being followed by the enormous beast with three horns. He ran for minutes. Or were they hours? He was immune to the passing of time as the only thing on his mind was getting to safety; as far away from the beast as possible. Small trees fell behind Jigoku as the Rhino collided with them, no uprooting then but completely snapping them at the base. He obviously saw no more animals... When someone made so much noise, and was so big, nothing dared to mess with it. Except... Well... Jigoku, in his stupidity.
His Sharingan took in every detail... Every possible route for escape. He caught sight of many, but most would require him to slow his pace, and that was something he couldn't afford. If the beast managed to catch him, it was over for him. As he jumped over obstacles, Jigoku whirled in midair, hurling kunai at the animal, only to see them bounce off with almost no effect. "Dammit... The skin is too thick and too tough. There's no way the simple blades will suffice."
Fear... Desperation... That was what drove him. Exhaustion pulled at the edges of his vision as he tried to maintain consciousness. "C'mon Jigoku, like mama always says... Push!" The words came out more as indistinguishable breathing than anything else. The edges of his vision blurred. He wondered if his pursuer ever tires. He has to fight his hardest to stay ahead of it, and even as a Shinobi, with his endurance, he couldn't keep it up much longer. But fear... It drove him. It was man's most powerful emotion, the hardest to overcome. It was what drove men to survive. To become powerful. It was fear of death... Fear of loss. Fear of things that they could not protect if they were weak.
On top of his exhaustion, he was running out of forest. Less than 100 meters ahead of him was a vertical stone cliff. On either side of him, forest repelled any chance of evasion. He knew if he fled to the woods that he'd be too slowed to avoid the animal pursuing him completely, and it could cost his life. His only chance was to... Yes... Yes of course!
He sprinted, full speed in direction of the stone cliff. He made contact with it at full speed with one foot. Using the wall walking technique, he took three more steps vertically before running out of time. He still wasn't high enough to avoid the beast. Purposefully, he applied too much chakra to the soles of his feet. It was a basic principal lf the jutsu; if too much chakra was applied, the user hurtled away.
Jigoku angled his body in the perfect way to send himself hurtling vertically in the air. He managed to completely clear the cliff, and as he landed, he noticed he was only a few feet away from the fence - at the West side of the forest. He had sprinted almost 20 Kilometers in efforts to evade the beast. It now lay dead at the base of the cliff. It had probably collided with so much weight and momentum that its skull caved or its neck broke. He lay on the ground, panting, though his vision had clarified, despite the fatigue. He could see minute details from far away now... His Sharingan must have further matured. Just beyond the fence, the village bustled. The Uchiha Clan compound was across the village, which meant the Hyuga compound was somewhere near. He hadn't the energy to climb the fence, so simply lay flat in the grass, hardly able to breathe.
WC: 1191
Sharingan 2nd Tomoe: Achieved
