Clearly, the challenges were too problematic.
Otherwise, they wouldn't be too hard-pressed and overburdened by just the two obstacles filled with deadly edges and the slippery surfaces of the roll-over logs.
For Yoichi, he felt neither joy nor sorrow. The increasingly harsh obstacles were not concluded with additional 5 more waiting for them.
"Come on. There's no point wasting time here." Yoichi's frostiness tone was heard.
His party tolerated their injuries and went to a 7 foot tall logs stacked at each other like a wall.
"Haruhiko, You and I should heave Hikari up to the logs. Hikari, jump in our hands and pull Haruhiko once you are at top. Once you two are ready, I'll jump and you two must pull me."
Yoichi told. Based on the information, these obstacles were a part of modern drill training as a way to familiarize soldiers from harsh and extreme environmental changes.
He was particularly interested. Besides Martial Ancestor, was there other people reincarnated and pass these contemporary knowledge?
Afterwards, the up-and-under logs and monkey ladder was completed.
Despite the fact that the logs were slippery and sebacious, their core and upper body was properly utilized to the maximum level to overcome the obstacles with cooperation and individual strength.
Currently looking at the 20 meter thick paralleled ropes, Yoichi felt a wave of palpitation came straight to his mind. The 10 feet elevation along with the droplets of rain falling to the bottomless abyss made Yoichi form a cold sweat on his forehead.
"I'll go first. Don't look down, alright? Feel the tension underneath your foot and calmly step." With that being said, Yoichi took a deep breath and held the thick rope over his head.
Aside from anxiety, he also felt a hint of excitement. Haruhiko and Hikari subconsciously gulped their saliva as Yoichi passed through the ropes with intense blood rushed straight to his brain, enjoying the peculiar sensation of thrill.
"Hoooh... That was something! Come on, just look at me..." As soon as Yoichi crossed smoothly, the other two went ahead slowly and surely until passing to the next course.
"Sir, if I may ask, is there really a water down there?" Seeing the supervisor shinobi, Yoichi couldn't help but raise a question and glance at the murky waters underneath them.
"Yeah, it looks deceiving but there is a pool there. Just have a leap of faith and go ahead!" The shinobi stated.
'Leap of faith?! This isn't Assassin's Creed! Our lives are on the line here!'
Noticing the shoddy outcome of the pool, Yoichi cursed inwardly. Jumping to a 10 feet pool wasn't hard but the poor credibility made Yoichi and his group felt uncertain about the trial.
Therefore, he straightened his body and jumped forth like a scuba diver, launching his body in a way that it won't be painful when he crashed down with the surface water tension.
Luckily, he knew how to swim and rushed to the side of the nasty pool.
"Pweh! This shit was filthy as hell! Memorize my jumping method or else the impact will definitely be agonizing."
With his timely instruction, Haruhiko and Hikari leaped with crossed arms alongside aligned bodies. In a splashing sound, Yoichi assisted them to stay afloat and rushed to the shore.
"Dodge!" Yoichi yelled.
However, it was too late. Multiple unknown projectiles came straight to their vicinity as Haruhiko and Hikari instinctively crouched down yet they still suffered small lacerations from the swift projectiles.
In his part, Yoichi's remarkable instinct made him flawlessly untouched. For a while, the popping targets went into a hiding and patiently waiting for someone.
"Fuck, are they throwing kunai?! And they also can reload their weapons?! Get up and pick up these sharp objects. Now!"
Cursing out loud, Yoichi shouted while the two hissed out of pain and crawled towards the used kunai scattered to the ground.
"This is the last one! Aim at their heads and bust them out."
In an instant, he stood up along with his party as the fast projectile once again hurled at them. Using the kunai, Yoichi successfully hit 5 targets in a row with terrifying precision. On the other hand, the two finished the other 4 targets with a little exertion of force.
As the targets were shot, these wooden constructs suddenly stopped and fell straight to the ground, concluding the task of killing these things successful.
"Congratulations! You finished the trials with flying colors! You three did great!" Motoyasu congratulated the three and let them rest up.
"Wow, they completed the trials with minimal injuries!"
"That's a top dog for you!"
"However, how can we successfully replicate them? These obstacles were too hard, especially that roll-over logs!"
As the children continued buzzing, Yoichi and the rest heaved a sigh of relief, analyzing their injuries along with the treacherous trials.
"Hahaha, we did it! All of it was thanks to you, Yoichi!" Haruhiko sat down with his gratitude towards Yoichi.
"Yoichi... I think we should treat this injuries as soon as possible." Hikari applied some disinfectants and bandages on Yoichi's back.
"Thank you, Hikari." Yoichi hissed when the disinfectant rubbed on his injuries. Due to his past life wisdom, they passed. However, he wouldn't deny that Yoichi couldn't do it without his peers and felt relieved.
'This shit is so hard! And who the hell developed that intricate mechanisms? That wooden constructs were so good at this current day and age!'
Resting up, Yoichi began mulling over his experiences as well as the discrepancies they made along the way.
A logical way to learn was to figure out each mistake and understand these failures as a path to know yourself better and improve further.
...
"What do you think? They have gone through all that smoothly..." Motoyasu glanced at his assistant, Hideaki.
"Hmm... They are adapting well at each obstacle swiftly, particularly Yoichi. He was very attentive and felt like a good leader. Perceptive, strong and compassionate." Hideaki voiced out his observation.
In Motoyasu's mind, Yoichi revealed a hidden characteristic and felt like it was similar to a certain someone he was exceptionally familiar.
"Motoyasu-sama?" Hideaki noticed his superior's speechless state.
"Oh, it's nothing. Hahaha, this child just made me remembered someone similar to him..." Motoyasu couldn't help but glance at the rainy skies.
"You mean... Hayate-sama?" Apparently, Hideaki knew the secrets of the past.
"Yeah... But I hope this guy won't astray far further and betray our village. I don't want that situation to happen again..." Motoyasu felt nostalgic until he took a deep breath.
"Being betrayed by his own village... I wonder what this child would prefer when he was on Hayate's standpoint."
Hideaki added. The past was more complicated and knew both sides of the story. Nonetheless, being opinionated on this narrative would put himself into danger and he wasn't on the position to give feedback.
Therefore, he went on his way to preside matters around while Motoyasu left, looking at the humid downpour with considerations in his mind.
___________
(Current Progress)
[Heavenly Demon Posture: (Small Success) 163/300]
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There's gotta be a timeskip on these things so don't worry. The span of this arc was 2 years in the plot so please, let me cook!
Oh right, thanks for the power stones!
Shout out to Ellesedil and DaiostFvEkSF for the power stones!
I don't have any stacked chapters so I have a debt of 4 chapters. Please, don't send it here and give it to the deserving novels out there.
Thanks for reading the chapters and bookmarking the novel. See ya! XDD!