Chapter 13, Prep camp

Hikaru had received a very specific training routine. He would wake up early and walk outside the gate to the village. He had then been tasked to run five laps around it.

That in itself wasn't very difficult, but he had to do it sideways by running on the side of the wall. Since hadn't gotten if fully down how to stick to surfaces, this was going to be tricky.

Once he completed his laps. He was going to use his chakra as a boost through his legs to jump as high as he possibly could. This would be repeated for as long as he could still jump. Once his chakra was depleted he would take a pill to recover, wait three hours, and then go back to the start.

He had now done this for almost four days and felt like he started getting the hang of it. At the start he could only stick to the wall while running at full speed, now he could almost walk if he wanted to. He had also increased both the height of each jump but also the amount of max capacity jumps he could perform without rest.

Although he was happy with just improving overall, when Sai told him he'd start learning the technique today he was absolutely thrilled!

Mirai didn't need more techniques right now so all he had seen her do these days looked like one of his old routines, heavy lifting combined with sprinting.

He of course didn't miss her chakra practise though. Several times a day, Mirai would use the wind release to blow out what Hikaru would describe as a tornado. He wondered what the villagers thought of this.

While Hikaru would only learn his first technique from Sai today, Tsukune had been working on some the entire time. Hikaru had seen everything from small butterflies to big lions jumping out of Tsukune's scrolls these last few days.

He wondered if Tsukune didn't have a real talent for drawing. The animals he drew really looked quite lifelike, if they weren't black and white that is..

But now it was his moment to learn something exciting. "It's called the body flicker technique, sometimes it's called the teleportation technique because it looks just like teleportation"

Sai showed the technique a couple of times by flicking all over the field in front of Hikaru. "The signs are as follows. Tiger, that's it." Hikaru made the hand sign and kept listening.

"Now, how proficient you become at using this is all up to you. Some only become good enough to use it as a party trick but there was once a young boy, like you, who turned it into a murderous weapon. He used it so well it seemed like he made perfect clones of himself from the afterimages."

This made Hikaru light up. It could fit even better with his upfront and personal style of fighting if he learned it that well! "Now you might be wondering why I've had you focus on those exact exercises. It's because to perform this jutsu you will have to exert a high amount of chakra from your feet at once, but just the exact right amount to get you where you want to go."

Hikaru could see what he meant by this. Too much and he might fall over, the same with too little really as he would have expected to end up somewhere else. "Sai-sensei, please perform it a couple more times and I'll make sure to study it closely!"

Hikaru took notice of how relaxed Sai was using it and that the only factor in this was his control of chakra and how much power he could get out. Hikaru would spend the rest of the last day just practising this jutsu. The best he could get was getting halfway but tumbling forward to the right spot. Not quite as elegant as he wished.

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Sai was happy with the progress they all had made. Mirai seemed to lose resolve at one point but when Sai reminded her that she right now had the workout routine Hikaru had four years ago, a fire was lit in her eyes again.

She had worked hard these five days and wouldn't be of much help if anything actually happened at the festival tomorrow, but he was a bit proud of her.

Hikaru had surprised him. The pure power of that boy was almost frightening! His control required some work but the very first jump was higher then Sai thought Hikaru would achieve after five days.

His first few attempts at the jutsu was promising as well. He doesn't have the classic cloud after his which is a good sign. It tends to mean that chakra is leaking from somewhere unwanted.

But all of that was at the back of Sai's mind. At the forefront was the proof he made the right choice in getting this job, Tsukune. He managed to perfectly animate his drawings the second day and is now after five days working on ways to personalize the techniques!

At the end of the day Sai brought them all to their beds. Mirai and Hikaru he had to carry, while Tsukune could walk behind him on his own. The festival was all of tomorrow but they only had to work during the last few hours of it to protect the stars showing up on the stage.

Because of their hard work, Sai decided to let them have some fun playing games and eating unhealthy food for one day. They had to be allowed to be kids. He didn't want anyone else to lose out on that chance after all.

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Mirai woke up the next day in the worst state so far. When they get back to konoha she'll have to go to the hospital to make sure her muscles didn't snap from exertion.

There she laid in the bed, just waiting to be 'woken up' by Sai-sensei but after 30 minutes he didn't show up. This was strange as he had gotten her out of bed every day so far, 'Maybe we get to sleep in as the mission is today' she thought as everything went black and she fell back to sleep.

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Several hours later she woke up by hearing Hikaru yelling from the other side of the door. "Mirai get up! We get to enjoy the festival as well!" A smile broke out on her face and she jumped out if bed. If this was a joke she swore to god he'd regret it.

She went over to the mirror and fixed her look. Today was going to be the first day since they left Konoha that she looked at least respectable. When she was finally done she jumped out of the door only to be met by the rest of the team all ready for a day of fun.

"As you're all ready now we better get going. Tsukune you figure out what we have for breakfast and after I've paid for that, you three are free to do what you want. I do recommend staying together though."

Sai walked out the door without waiting and Mirai knew why. She heard his stomach rumbling and giggled a little as the group headed out to the marketplace.