The Climb [Genin Exam]

The climb is all there is.

The climb to the top of the ladder. That would begin now, on this very day. Tatsuo made his way into the Academy. He had been fast tracked at his own request. The young boy had no time to waste on petty training. He had mastered the basics, now all he had to do was show that he had in order to progress to the next level.

All it was is a formality at this point.

The young boy awaited his turn impatiently. This was a waste of his time, every second spent standing here is a second that he could have spent improving his swordsmanship.

[Proctor pls]

Bump

(Proctoring this exam, Konoha people seem busy with the war so I can handle this one.)

"Please perform the transformation and clone technique and explain to me the practical applications of each."

This were the words uttered over and over by the poor chuunin on academy duty today. He must have evaluated over twenty shinobi so far. At first it was hard to tell the first few they failed but it became easier with every passing person. All in all about half the people so far have passed.  

He would look down at his paper to see who was next. With a sigh he would announce "Tatsuo Tadashi please come up and perform the transformation and clone techniques and explain the practical applications of each to me. "  Hopefully this guy passed, it was easier for everyone that way.

(You know the drill)

There was a storm brewing. Tatsuo had noticed it in the clouds in the distance on his way to the academy. Tatsuo hoped that he would be home before the rain hit. From the looks of things it was going to be a bad one. From what the boy saw through the window anyway. He had spent the time waiting for his turn being semi-productive. Preparing himself mentally, going over the hand seals for the techniques and such. Finally the boy heard his name being called. A smile came over his features. The next step in creating his legacy had begun.

The boy made his way forward. His white hair was swept back from his eyes. Oozing confidence, the smirk remained on his face throughout. He spun around to face the proctor. Tatsuo eyed them carefully. They didn't seem like much. Tatsuo wagered that he would defeat them in a normal fight. Maybe that was why they were stuck here proctoring exams. He stretched his arms out to his sides for a moment. "Transformation technique." Tatsuo finally broke the silence. "It's usage is pretty obvious by the name. Espionage. The ability to disguise yourself as someone else, a guard of a target, a friend of an enemy. It'll allow you to slip past security undetected." It was a simple explanation. Tatsuo assumed that if he had to go through every single application of the jutsu then they would be here for the rest of the day.

It was time to begin. He moved his hands close together, preparing to begin the motions for the hand seals. For the first time he felt slightly nervous about the whole thing. Messing up here was not an option. Tadashi's called for excellence in all fields regardless of your speciality. Tatsuo would prove that he belonged in the clan. He took in a deep breath and exhaled to calm himself.

Then he began.

His hands melded together almost, moving together in sequence as they went through the motions. Tatsuo had practised the movement. He had drilled it into his mind every day.

The first hand seal, Dog. It was fitting that this would be the opening seal for the exam in a way. The ones who had failed the exams were after all dogs. Perhaps the seal should have been called trash instead, it would have suited them even more. The first was the easiest, now it was time to transition into the next. Tatsuo could not afford mistakes. While hundreds, if not thousands, of shinobi had passed the exams in the past he would be the one to perfect it.

Boar. The name of the second seal. An odd type of pig with tusks, or something like that. Tatsuo had seen one or two of them during his youth. Though he had never been up close to one. Apparently they tasted good also. Tatsuo might have eaten it once. He couldn't quite remember.

On to the final seal. Ram. No idea what that was. But the boy performed it regardless.

A puff of smoke appeared around his body. It cleared quickly. Tatsuo dropped his hands to his sides. The proctor was an average looking fellow. Tatsuo reckoned they'd be a minor background character in a show at most. It had been simple to remember his appearance after a brief glance at him. Perfection was needed though. That was why he had taken slightly longer to truly take in their features.

Tatsuo dispelled the jutsu, the mirror of the proctor disappearing to reveal his normal features. As close to perfection as humanly possible in his mind.

"The Clone Technique." He continued on, not wanting to take a moment to lose his momentum. "It's not a particularly strong jutsu. Wouldn't want to go into battle knowing only that one. Confusion is what it's best use is. Perform the jutsu and take advantage as your opponent gets thrown off. Maybe they'll attack the wrong one or something, who knows." He gave a slight shrug.

This jutsu was a far easier one to perform in Tatsuo's mind. No need to concentrate on someone else's appearance. Time to focus purely on hand seals. Another three in total. The boy took a brief moment to collect himself. Then once more he charged right into the fray. Not literally, but figuratively of course.

Ram, the first of the hand seals for this technique. Also the last hand seal of the technique beforehand. That knowledge may have some use later down the line..maybe. Tatsuo sped on through to the second of the hand seals. Snake. Snake's were everywhere in the village. His mother had called her friends snakes a few times. He didn't quite understand what that meant, maybe they were like snake people or something. And the final hand seal was Tiger. Tatsuo had never seen a tiger before, sounded cool though.

Two identical copies of the white haired Tadashi shimmered into existence along either side of him. The boy's arms dropped to his sides once more. The clones mimicked the movement. They were almost like a mirror image in a way. Except they weren't literally mirrored. It was more like his shadow, but not on the ground..and not shadowy.

The clones disappeared moments later, dispelled by the boy once more. Tatsuo waited for the proctor to announce the result of the exam. Tatsuo had nothing to worry about, he knew they were inpressed.

[904]

First impression of this next kid, overconfident. These were usually the ones who messed up so the proctor was ready to write failed on the paper already, but he had to wait and let him pass or fail on his own.

As the boy spoke he gave an acceptable answer to the transformation question so far so good. Then he performed the transformation technique, a bit slow but that was fine. The finished product was the proctor, these kids always copied the proctor. It was a good replica so Tatsuo dispelled it and moved on.

Next was the clone jutsu, once again the kid gave a good answer and performed it well enough to be passable.  

After the student has dispelled the jutsu the proctor would say, Congratulations, you passed. Headbands are on that table, good luck. There was no time for more talking or an in depth analysis, he still had like 40 people left to watch.

Next!

-Exit-
(Promoting Tatsuo to genin, he gets the stats, and rank up jutsu.)

The expected answer came. Tatsuo simply nodded politely toward the proctor. "Good luck for the rest of the day." With that he would move over to collect his headband. The next step had been taken in his climb. Exiting the academy, Tatsuo noted that it was now raining.

The storm had arrived.

[Topic Closed]

Genin Rank Up Gained etc.

Denied just to fuck with the invasion topic even more. 

Jk approved