Tanran's Chakra Control Training

More preparation and training were needed before Tanran could even hope to become a Genin, according to his father. His stats seemed pretty much equal, other than his recent large jump in strength, so he could decide from many things to train. Health? Unneeded for Genin exam. Stamina? Unneeded for Genin exam. Speed? Unneeded for Genin exam. Chakra? Needed especially for Genin exam. His main priority and mind were made it, chakra control it would be. Before leaving for the training grounds, Tanran believed it would be wise to speak with his father about chakra control, as he often displaced a high degree in this subject. His first questions to his father included: where does chakra come from? why is chakra control needed? how much chakra is used per jutsu? Saisho, Tanran's father, had a field day with this and quickly prepared a long lecture in his head.

Saisho explained that for a ninja to perform techniques, they must use chakra, which was already known to Tanran. Chakra comes from two places, the energy within a body's cells and the mental and spiritual energy gained from exercise and experience. Chakra flows through the body's circulatory system made just for this practice. The channels that make up this circulatory system connect to the vital points and travel between cells throughout the body. They carry the generated chakra and allow a ninja to mold it through chakra control and jutsu. On a microscopic level, this system includes tiny pin points through which the chakra flows, known as the 361 tenketsu. They can be increased or decreased, but that is a story for another day. The amount of chakra that is used per jutsu depends on both the size and complexity of said jutsu. Without proper chakra control, a ninja will expend more chakra than needed to perform a certain jutsu.

After the long lecture, Tanran had decided it would be best to have his father accompany him to the training ground. As they arrived at the dome with the missing roof where Tanran had first trained his strength, his father expressed the nostalgia that was brought by this once flourishing training area. He explains that the top of the dome was once blown off by a very powerful shinobi who was working on controlling his immense chakra supply. After fighting through countless stories of the past, the training would begin.

Tanran assumed a somewhat neutral stance, with his feet placed at about shoulder width. He then closed his eyes, began to relax and breathe deeply and formed the Ram hand seal to focus his chakra. He imagined his pathways full with flowing chakra and asked for his father to place a small leaf on his forehead. As this leaf was placed there, Tanran focused all his chakra onto the leaf, using it as a focal point. Unfortunately, the leaf slowly drifted to the floor, showing that he had failed his first attempt at chakra control. Again and again Tanran repeated this cycle until the leaf appeared to be stuck to his forehead, a sign that his chakra control had worked. He repeated this a few more times to make sure he had the basics of this technique down before moving on to a more advanced technique.

A variation of the tree climbing practice was the next technique to be performed. Tanran would have to focus a fixed amount of chakra to the bottom of his feet and climb the topless dome of the training area without using his hands. If the stream of chakra is too weak, he would loose his footing on the dome and fall. If the stream is too strong, he would be pushed away from the dome and fall, leaving a point of contact. Tanran repeated the same process he used to focus his chakra for the leaf technique, but instead focused it to the soles of his feet. He experienced both too weak and too strong streams of chakra throughout this technique, but he did not quit. Through his many trials, his father became aggravated, as he wished to progress at a quicker rate. He then told Tanran if he did not perform this technique correctly in his next five tries, he would be missing out on the delicious dinner they would be having that night. This gave another incentive to focus a little harder and may have been what he needed. Attempt 1/5, failure. Attempt 2/5 failure. Attempt 3/5 failure. If he did not succeed in the next two attempts, he would not have a very good night. Tanran focused a large amount of chakra to his feet again, but what seemed to be an appropriate amount. He began to scale the wall, taking each step slowly but surely. Keeping an even amount of chakra in each foot with each successful step, Tanran eventually got to the opening in the dome. He and his father believed that he had finally achieved success in this technique, so dinner was back on the table and the technique was continued. Until he could scale the dome in a set allowance of time, he did not stop practicing. Once this time was reached a certain amount of times, a new technique was employed.

The training area had to be changed, as the Water Surface Walking Practice requires a water source, who would have thought? Tanran and his father walked to a nearby lake so that he may practice this technique. Saisho explains that the user must emit a constant stream of chakra from the bottom of their feet while also using the repellant force to walk across the water's surface. It is more difficult than the Tree Climbing Practice as the amount of chakra that needs to be emitted changes constantly, so that the user does not sink. Mastery of this technique allows the user to skate across the water, rather than walking or running and a state where the user may stand on the surface without trying or noticing.

Tanran focused his chakra to the bottom of his feet as he learned from the Tree Climbing Practice before stepping foot on the surface of the lake, as he believed this would stop him from sinking. He was correct in this aspect as he then appeared to be standing on water. With his next steps he kept the same amount of chakra focused to the bottom of the feet, and a loud splash detailed his falling into the lake. Upon returning to shore, he attempted this technique again, as he could not quit, especially with his father watching. Over the next few hours, Tanran noticed that he must change the amount of chakra he expelled from his feet with every step so that he did not lose balance or sink in the water. Eventually he was able to walk the length of the lake without sinking or losing balance, and his father accepted this success for the day's work. In the future he stated Tanran must master skating across the lake, but that was a long ways away. A content father and son left the training area that day, and Tanran felt great achievement in his work towards chakra control.

Word Count: 1203
Character Count: 6733

+6 Chakra
+12 JP

Approved