Jutsu Training - Lady Coal (1840 words)

Exhibitions were not uncommon, especially during festival times. A classic display of both luck and skill came in the form of a devilish device known as the Gauntlet. As a device, it often span across a countryside, and came equipped with countless cogs, wheels, levels, and gears, all being controlled by some four horses. Their walking turned cranks, which in turn brought to life a myriad of weapons, traps, snares, and conveyer belts that were all tuned to do only one thing. The single path through the maze of spinning weapons and barriers was only five feet wide at its broadest, and was beset on all sides with all manner of perils.

A devilish device at its very core, few normal warriors ever made it to the very end, for time after time the dangerous weapons knocked them senseless, and cast them to the ground to lick their wounds. Getting to the end meant maneuvering through a dizzying array of dangerous encounters, with perfect timing, and usually a huge amount of luck. In spite of all this hype, and all the challenge involved, a skilled genin is usually able to reach the end, with great effort. For a jounin to try it was often something of a joke, as the skills required were often in such abundant supply, that the device itself seemed little more than a toy.

Bearing this in mind, Coal approaches the gauntlet’s entrance, situated just on the outskirts of the city. It wound its path through the near by woods, and ended at one of the larger rivers near Konoha. It had been running all day, and only a few had seen the end so far. When Coal makes her way to the ticket booth and makes her purchase, the salesmen as well as the patrons all give her an odd look. Without a word she reaches beneath the robes she was wearing, and draws out a length of black silk from within. "Ha ha! This will be too easy!" she says to the crowd, who doubt agrees with her. "So let's make it harder. I'm gonna get through this thing, while blindfolded.." she says, then drags the black silk up to her face. She winds it around her eyes four or five times, sure to work up enough layers to block her own vision. As easy as it would be if she cheated, she was pretty sure she could still manage, while blind.

After the length of silk is secured in place she pauses a moment to stretch, and show off a little bit for the crowd. She works out any tension in each of her muscles, than cracks her knuckles and wiggles her fingers around. She stretches her arms back behind her and locks her fingers together, than draws her hands upwards, over her head. She sighs softly as she feels out all the bits of chakra in her body, and gathers them up for use. She sinks forward slowly and does a brief handstand, bending her legs a bit so she can clap her feet together twice. She balances for a moment on only one hand, then falls gracefully to her feet once more. Though none of the gathered crowd could tell, the moment she was back on her feet, she gained a profound understanding of the world around her.

The Barrier she used put up a field of her own chakra, and she could feel out the objects and people that were moving around inside of it. She could get an idea of where the path was, and even the first obstacle presented before her. It was just a wide patch of mud, but the heavy metal pendulum that swung back and forth in its center made it slightly more dangerous. Coal approaches the first obstacle rather light on her feet, moving as a slow canter as she approaches and feels for the pendulum swinging through the pit. The simple feat of distance and timing is accomplished with such ease; many laugh, and begin to cheer.

After she lands she begins to move much quick, progressing her speed up to a quicker run. While she was by no means sprinting, she was clearing great distances with each bound. She wove through the built up framework of corners and dead ends, ducking beneath beams as often as she was forced to climb up short walls. She was forced through entire rooms built to spin in a circle, the speed threatening to knock her off her feet. The numerous gaps and smaller traps that filled the first half of the gauntlet were always considered the eliminator. Those who managed to get past all the obstacles unscathed had to be the best of the best, for the normal folks. As a jounin, Coal skipped through it in record time, while smirking.

It had truly been too easy, but that was to be expected. Buy the time she was finished with the first maze, most of the crowd assumed she was cheating. In spite of the barrier, her eyes were still covered, so Coal felt the word of her challenge had been met. Finally, though, the challenge was increasing. The last of the 'impossible' eliminator was a pathway of little more than wooden posts that were driven deep into a long patch of thick mud. They varried in height, but coal bounced across the ten of them with such ease, the people stopped caring that it was easy, and just enjoyed the show.

The next obstacle was a dangerous one, and often left people injured. It was usually referred to as the jagged alley, due to the narrow corridor that was beset on all sides by whirling blades. They attacked high and low, from the sides and from above, and it seemed like little more than a blender of death and destruction. OF course, the pieces of blade shaped metal were not sharpened, but they were still dangerous, and sometimes deadly, none the less. When she arrives at jagged alley, she's forced to pause for the sake of timing. Judging the careful leaps and runs through the endlessly twisting path of knives, swords, and axes took perfect timing and nearly flawless execution if one wished to fully prevent receiving any injuries. While she is studying the movement of the hundreds of swords, she stretches once more. She waits for the perfect moment, then is off like a shot.

She manages quite well, bending her body gracefully around each blade as it swings past her. Even with the blindfold in place she is able to make out the weapons close to her, and duck past them before they're able to hit her. With experts practice she shows off her extreme balance and martial flexibility, often times moving from her hands to her feet, and springing into the air from both positions with equal efficiency, however the sheer number of weapons becomes a little overwhelming. Keeping up her break neck speed, Coal manages to weave impossibly through the grinding walls of blades, even when it seemed like it should have flayed her.

Though she looked completely unscathed to the untrained eye, she had secretly used a jutsu. As tens of blades were set to strike her at once, she forced her skin to take on the property of stone. Each blade that had hit her had been little more than rusted iron on a wooden dowel, and broke in response to her superior defense. None in the crowd saw her when she turned dirt brown, nor did they see the color of her flesh return when the Earth Spear jutsu ended. Her robes remained un-torn thanks to their silk of their weave, so as she emerged from the exit of jagged alley, she met the cheers of the crowd, because she was so perfectly unharmed.

Leaving the alley behind her she was presented with a long straight path, which she dashed down quickly. The next challenge was much, much more difficult for most people, and far less dangerous. A solid stone wall of ninja design had been summoned. It stood a full 20 feet high, though had enough imperfections in its surface to make for one heck of a challenging climb for most skilled climbers. When Coal approaches it she sighs, as she could just casually stroll of the sheer surface of it, if she really wanted too. To give the people a better show, she decides on something much more dramatic. In the blink of an eye she works through a few hand seals, then slams her hands against the soft dirt beneath her. Instantly the dirt gives way and sinks inwards. A massive pit a good fifty feet across and twenty feet deep forms beneath the stone block, and swallows it almost completely. Laughing, coal casually hops over the previous barrier, and moves on. The ant lion technique certainly came in handy when used right.

Leaving the wall turned speed bump well behind her; Coal arrives at the last of the obstacles. Still blind folded she barely sees it coming, and stumbles right into it. As she passes from the soft dirt to loose wooden planks, Coal is sure to make note of it. When she stumbles across the tripwire, she can feel the steel wire between her toes. Instantly a new force appears in her barrier's eye, falling from above her. It was just a large wooden crate, but it was falling from 30 feet up, and could easily injure her. As she moves forward she triggers another two trip wires, and more crates fall. Faced with being buried alive, Coal resorts to quick defenses. Like before she snaps through hand seals and duck, her hands pressing against the ground just before she was crushed. A dizzying number of some 30 or 40 spears fill up the area around her for about 20 feet, each spike reaching up some ten feet and spearing through the falling boxes. The splinter the wood and destroy the falling obstacle, and more importantly prevent them from falling any closer. The rest of the trip wires didn't matter, so with her Rising Earth Spears protecting her, she slowly maneuvers her way to the finish line.

When she finally steps out she is met with a loud round of applause and endless cheers. The people at the end cheer louder as she removes her blindfold and none even bother to ask if she cheated. The small party happening at the end of the gauntlet was always the best hideaway in any festival. Old friends, warriors, and athletes all sat around with th eir feet in the cool river, drinking, singing and dancing. Finally among them coal casts the silk blind fold away. Like any other successful competitor she joins the party, and claims her victory prize. An open bar was always a good way to keep Coal near by. As the sake began to flow, Coal set off to start dancing and playing, because festival time really was the best time.