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Authors Note: I'm sorry that I haven't been posting that much. I haven't given up on this I just had so much happen one after the other. First I was really sick for a few day which i couldn't even get out of bed because I get so sleep when I'm sick, then when I got better the new update of ZZZ cam out so I had to play that first.
Then after that I got really bad stomache aches for a few day because of bad food. And then when I got better from that, I just managed to buy the Switch 2
So I just watend to say sorry for not posting, I'll try getting back into my pace of one chapter a day.
Sincerely -Your Author!
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"I-is that so?" Hinata silently let out a breath of relief, glad that Tsukiyo seemed willing to drop the topic.
When Hinata and Tsukiyo were sitting there in silence, they saw the instructors come back to get them and the last few people to run the obstacle course at the same time.
It was a decently long course, one that if they were passing in class, they would be able to complete with a moderate difficulty. Hinata looked around and saw that they had used earth-style Ninjutsu in order to create large rock walls that went along the whole course.
When they all got to the starting position, the instructor leading them walked to the side and said, "Attention over this way, There will be some ground rules that you will be required to follow."
Seeing that he had everyone's attention the instructor nodded his head in approval before he began to explain, "Rule number one: You will start here where you are standing now and need to go to the end of the course in order to pass. Rule number two: You are not allowed to directly interfere with the other participants, neither to help them nor to hinder them, any attempt to do so will dock points from your score. Rule number three: You can use your chakra and any techniques that you may have in order to complete the task, however you are NOT allowed to directly run on top of, nor on the side of the rocks walls unless that is the only option to pass."
Seeing that they were still paying attention to him, the instructor smirked as he said with delight, "And by the way, we may have prepared a few surprises for you in there, so I hope you'll enjoy it. Because I sure will. Haha." After saying so he directly threw a miniature paper bomb, signalling them to start running now.
Everyone managed to recognize the signal and started running at their own paces, Hinata herself was towards the front with Tsukiyo taking a spot more towards the middle, they were both currently just running in a simple manner, not wanting to go all out from the very beginning.
The first section that they came upon was just simple wooden pillars that reached extremely high into the sky, they were so compact together that if they were to pass them they would have to weave through them or find their own way.
Hinata ran past the first pillar and as she was next to another pillar she stepped on it and launched herself to the pillar in front of her, using her natural flexibility she circled her arm around the next pillar and used it to increase her momentum as she kept leaping off one pillar to get to another, moving smoothly and making her way through at a slightly faster pace than if she were to simply run it.
The people behind her and Tsukiyo knew that they would not be able to do the same as Hinata to get passed this obstacle because they didn't possess her level of flexibility, she seemed like a ribbon flowing in the wind as she made her way through the pillars, one thing Hinata was actually known to be skilled in was her flexibility, most of the academy students didn't think it would be too helpful but they could see that they were wrong.
Even though they saw Hinata making her way through the pillars quickly, it didn't dampen their spirits, instead it made them eager to finish as quickly as possible in order to catch up to her.
As Hinata was about three-quarters of the way through the first obstacle, she reached out for the next obstacle and as she was about to grab it she noticed that it began to spin, taking a quick glance she noticed that all the pillars in front of her began to rotate in different directions, some were rotating clockwise, some counter-clockwise, there were some that were standing still, and even a few that were moving up and down.
Hinata knew she would have to adjust to the changes of the pillars as she went along, however she did 'accidentally' mess up her judgement on a few jumps which cost her a few moments of time that allowed the other participants to catch up to her. However by that point she had just exited the path of pillars and saw the next obstacle; in front of her was a missive ravine that was at least a two-hundred meters long. The only thing connecting the two sides was a rope reaching from one pillar to another, the rope had small foot long ropes dangling down for the participants to grab and swing across with.
As she was surveying the next obstacle for a few moments, the other students managed to catch up to her and immediately began to start the next obstacle, they had eager looks in their eyes as they 'managed to pass' Hinata.
Tsukiyo was at the end of the group of nine people and after everyone else was already swinging on the ropes she cast a glance at Hinata who was about to continue and sent her a small smile.
Tsukiyo then leaped off of the cliff and when she was falling she threw a chakra thread forward and had it wrap around the rope that reached across the canyon and used the momentum to send herself further. As she managed to reach the height of her swing she retracted the thread and sent another one in order to keep her momentum up. She nearly missed her throw but had managed to control the thread and guide it back into her intended spot.
She had initially planned to use this new technique that 'Hinata' had casually mentioned to her and decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to do so, she quickly passed by the other students while managing to shake the rope causing a few of them to nearly lose their grips andfall, sweat trickling down their foreheads as they held on tightly. They knew that they weren't in much danger and that the instructor wouldn't let them fall to their deaths, however they also knew that they instructors would only step in if they were close to death, they wouldn't interfere if they were only going to get a few broken bones.
When Tsukiyo had leaped off of the cliff edge, Hinata had also done a quicker route than the others and leaped on top of the rope and began to run across it. She was quickly making her way across the chasm, only lightly stepping on the ropes. She kept an eye out on Tsukiyo and whenever she attached and removed her chakra strings, or whenever she made the rope shake violently, she made small leaps and barely put her foot on the rope when she landed so that she was not affected by the shaking of the rope too much.
When some of the other contestants saw her running on the top of the rope they felt stupid for not thinking of it themselves, realizing that they don't have to actually complete the obstacles the way they were intended, they could also make their own shortcuts. So a few of them, believing in their own balancing skills, pulled themselves up on top of the rope as Hinata passed them, the other decided not to take the risk and kept swinging from rope to rope.
The first one to reach the end of this obstacle was Tsukiyo and behind her was Hinata, followed by the other that managed to make it across the top of the rope, then came the ones that swung on the hanging ropes, Hinata noticed that two people were not with them, apparently one couldn't reach the next rope while swinging, and the other slipped of the rope as they were running across it, so now there were only a total of 8 participants left.
The next obstacle that they had to get across was another deep chasm, but this time they had to get across by using wooden boards that were sticking out from the cliff faces on either side. On the other end of the chasm was a clear finishing line.
The students, other than Hinata and Tsukiyo, all started, not wanting to be behind those two once more. So they all immediately began making their way across; some of them were leaping from board to board, a few had noticed the shape of the walls and used the notches and indentations to get across that way. The instructors had told them that they could run on the walls of the cliff, but they never said that they couldn't leap from one part of the cliff to another, so they were not technically violating the rules.
Tsukiyo gave Hinata another glance and raised her eyebrow as she once again leaped off the cliff and made her way across by making short chakra strings that attached to the bottom of the boards, making multiple, but quick movements, clearly more proficient than she was as she was swinging from the rope.
She was making great progress as she quickly overtook the others, they didn't give her much attention as they already could guess that she would be the first to reach the end by using that new technique of hers, they were all vying for second place.
Hinata herself also purposely went last just so that she wouldn't reach the end much faster than the others, she did plan to reach the end before them but she didn't want it to be by too much. So HInata made her way across by leaping from board to board, even using the wall to launch herself a few times. AS she was making her way across, a board that she was about to step on broke right before she touched it, forcing her to turn her body midair to leap off the wall inorder to reach the next board.
She slowly but surely overtook the other students in front of her. She saw a few that tried to get in her way but she leaped around them without sparing them a glance. The people that she passed all showed a frustrated look as they knew they wouldn't be able to pass her, unless something happened. As they reached the halfway mark, they had wooden kunai and other projectiles being launched at them forcing them to constantly dodge, and adjust themselves so they didn't get hit.
Hinata 'barely' managed to dodge the attacks aimed at her as she ran and she quickly reached the end, just to see Tsukiyo already there leaning up against the wall, so she walked up to her and sat down next to her.
Tsukiyo looked at Hinata and said, "I thought that you weren't planning to do too well on these tests. Although you didn't get first, you still did extremely well, on this test and the last one."
Hinata sighed as she looked forward towards the other students slowly arriving one by one and said satirically, "Well I had to do decently well, most clan kids, even the reject ones, are expected to perform better than the civilian students." Hinata flinched slightly when she said that and said flusteredly, "I-I didn't mean anything by that. I-I don't think that way. It's just."
Tsukiyo cut her off as she said, "It's just what other people would think, and if you were to do worse than the 'civilians' then there must be something up. Right?" She said mockingly, though Hinata could tell it wasn't directed at her, and that Tsukiyo wasn't upset with her for what she just said.
"R-right." Hinata said with her head lowered. "I-I didn't mean to insult you or anyone else, It's just something I've heard so many times before."
"Hmph, I can probably guess who said that." Tsukiyo snorted and didn't press the topic. She could see that if she continued, even if she said she forgave her, Hinata would just feel worse about it, so she decided to change the topic to distract Hinata's attention. "So what we need to do next is spar against an instructor, then it's showcasing special skills, then we go back to class to show our proficiency in the three basic jutsu. Though the last one is just a formality so that our class can announce who passes and who doesn't."
Hinata gladly grasped the opportunity to change the subject and was about to respond, however the instructor called everyone over as the last person finally made it across. So as they went over Hinata nodded at Tsukiyo who knew she was agreeing with what she just said.
"Okay, as you all know Tsukiyo came first, with Hinata Hyuuga coming second, and Tobe Sarutobi in third. These are their scores over all of the students that participated in your group, even the ones that have already ran." The instructor said as everyone looked at the three, Tsukiyo stood there in indifference, Hinata just silently hid behind Tsukiyo, and Tobe glared at Hinata and Tsukiyo while puffing his chest out in pride.
The instructor noticed this but decided it wasn't his problem as he continued, "However during the second obstacle, Tsukiyo, although not deliberate, did directly hinder her opponents, thus she will be docked points accordingly, so the ranking are Hinata Hyuuga/Tsukiyo tied for first, with Tobe Sarutobi still in third place, there is no second place."
Tsukiyo just shrugged it off as she didn't really care, Hinata flinched as she had more people looking at her for managing to get first place by 'accident'. Tobe however was about to yell at the instructor, questioning why he doesn't get second place if they are tied for first, however one glare from the instructor got him to shut up before he could even get a word out.
The instructor then glanced at all the students and said, "You all may take a break over in the next clearing along with the others that had already finished as you wait to take your turn to spar against a chunin. Now DISPERSE."
The students all went over to the next clearing in order to get some rest, and prepare themselves, Hinata and Tsukiyo included. However what they didn't notice was a figure standing on the top of the cliff wall looking down at all of them, a grin spreading across their face as they said , "Well lookie what we have here."