Control

Inside a small clearing, located in the forest surrounding the Uchiha complex, two dark-haired youths were having a spar.

"Make sure to maintain your form when you throw the punch."

"That kick was terrible! You left yourself open in a total of ten spots..."

"Wrong… Wrong! Why are you shifting your attention away from the enemy!? This could be a fatal error in a life-or-death battle!"

His brother's comments were harsh, but Aito knew he was right. In the past three days alone, he had learned more than the academy taught him in a whole year! He could feel himself getting stronger.

Jun looked angry on the outside, but he couldn't help but feel satisfied. Aito was a quick learner and got most of the lessons he imparted to him.

He was also making good progress himself. His physique had been steadily improving, allowing him to last longer in training and maximize his potential. He even started to get used to this new body, allowing him to use it as if it was originally his.

"Alright! Let's stop for today. Keep the things I said in mind and ponder over them as you rest. Good job."

"Yessir! Thanks, Aniki!"

Completely out of breath, as soon as Aito heard the word rest, he sighed in relief and ran to the lake for a cold bath.

Seeing him run off, Jun let out a small smile. So far, their lives had been peaceful, with no outside contact aside from the occasional visit from Akane. In four days, he'd take the graduation exam, as planned.

Smiling, he sat cross-legged and gathered up his chakra. Now familiar with his new body, he was capable of doing so at a much faster rate than three days prior.

Once he had gathered enough chakra, he got up to face a large tree. Closing his eyes, he meticulously directed the chakra towards the soles of his feet, and slowly walked up to the tree.

Placing one foot on the large trunk, he made sure the ratios were correct before placing another foot. Soon, he was standing horizontally, his body close to the ground but not touching it.

Smiling, he walked up and down the tree a few times, feeling himself run out of chakra already. Clicking his tongue, he walked back down and sat on the ground.

"What was that… Ten laps? Such puny chakra reserves…"

Then again, he couldn't complain. If it had been three days ago, he might've not been capable to even stick to the tree. Even though he had all the experience, his body wasn't good enough yet…

After a while of meditation, he gathered up enough chakra and tried again. This time, instead of walking, he ran up and down the tree.

After twenty-five laps, he finally got off and sat down to recuperate. Because he was going faster, it required finer control but also drained less chakra per-step. It all came down to how efficient he was with it.

Chakra control was separated into two different sections, efficiency and flexibility. First, a ninja would have to learn how to use his chakra efficiently, to last longer during a battle. On the other hand, flexibility was about how proficient one was with chakra control.

Things like hanging upside-down from a branch, walking on water, performing maneuvers while off the ground… All of these fell in the flexibility category. The better one was with this category, the harder the Jutsu they could master.

"Next up, I'll start hopping around the tree branches. Once that's done, I'll move on to walking over water..."

Smiling, Jun got up with a determined expression.