[center][h1][b][color=00746b]Keita Ryuukaze[/color][/b][/h1][/center]

[b][i]"It's not just that we should be stressing about. We should be worrying about how we're going to get through this entire course alive rather than pondering on how to chop a tree to be able to cross a lake. We have to think of the bigger picture here. Could there be traps? Land mines? Hidden holes perhaps? And on top of all that we have to figure out how we're able to complete this test without depleting so much of our stamina."[/i][/b]

--

[color=00746b]“It’s not simply a matter of cutting down a tree, Isami-chan, but rather that it would help make the course a bit easier for us. I know it’s practically impossible to do forty laps in one afternoon. Especially with a field of this magnitude. That’s more a jounin’s specialty than ours.”[/color] Of which was the case for their sensei. He agreed with the girl, but he was not just focusing on the matter of comfortability but more of making sure that they did not over-exert themselves by doing unnecessary things. Getting wet so that they carried around extra weight and chancing the risk of getting a cold or worse, a flu, was at least two of the things that could be avoided.

Another question he had in mind was: were they expected to do them all in one afternoon or were they to be completed over the course of their training? The man was not so clear on when they should be. Surely the man couldn’t expect them to have so much stamina. [color=00746b]“Sensei’s a bit insane, I have to say, but I see what you’re saying. I am obsessing over the water a bit, heh.”[/color] For reasons he was unwilling to share. Scratching his cheek with a finger sheepishly, he would grin, knowing that the girl was just offering her own observations and not purposely calling him out for having a one-track mind. [color=00746b]“And don’t worry so much, I’m sure there’s something we could do!”[/color]

That’s when the deep male voice would break them all from their circle.[b] "We're burning daylight. We should probably get ready to start soon."[/b]

Adrenaline rushed through the raven’s veins at the man’s words. They weren’t ready, his mind screamed in protest but their sensei was right. Daylight was wasting, they couldn’t stand around dallying all day. 

Keita couldn’t stop the kernel of dread in his stomach as he watched as the man backed away. Why was he doing that? [b]"I've been doing some thinking also...I think eighty is a better number for the test. Forget forty."[/b]

For the second time that afternoon in under one hour, his mouth would drop open in shock. His heart didn’t quite stop at hearing the words, but it was something close. Had he heard right? Did the man say 80? If he had had any doubts that the man was crazy before, he was more than convinced now. This was ridiculous. Genin shouldn’t be expected to complete so much in one afternoon, never mind that some of them might not have the constitution it would take to complete all 80!

Protests died horrible deaths on his lips as they were quickly shoo’ed to be on their way. Feeling lifeless, he would grumble on his breath but he had no choice. Genin were supposed to do as their sensei said, absolute obedience, something taught relentlessly at the academy. 

Don’t get him wrong, Keita has went through arduous training in order to prove he was worthy of being head of the clan. Having no choice in the matter, his father had always trained him to within his limits. But even he had known when things got right into the ridiculous and if not, his mother was always there to remind her husband that he was not a machine.

But guess what? 

She wasn’t there anymore.

There was no longer going to be anyone to hold his hand or to offer him anything to drink when he was tired. So though he found the course utterly extreme, he did what was told. He ran, a little reluctantly but glad that at least they had been given a headstar--

Wait. A head start for what? Takeo-sensei couldn’t be planning on joining them... could he? he got his answer when a great shadow covered the area in front of him. His look of shock would turn to one of horror as he looked behind him to see a wall the size of a monolith rising above them. He had already reached the trees by the time the tower reached its zenith but knew that if he didn’t move out of the way soon, he would be a part of the forest floor. He threw himself to the side as it came crashing down, throwing others trees down in a domino effect that might have possibly reached the lake. Even as he was slightly spooked he was confused at the turn of events. Had sensei just made it easier for them?

Not wanting to dwell on the issue, Keita would take the cleared path, sensing their sensei behind them and wondering what the man could possibly be up to. Was this a race? Well, one thing’s for sure. If they were lucky, they wouldn’t have to abuse the trees to make it across the lake. 

Hopefully, they could get him to do something about that hill as well.