Spoiler:

Fortunately, this was a new class of doe-eyed students that she was assigned to. This was the third time, but unlike before, she wasn’t just a mere genin. She was now a chuunin, and that fact alone would command a certain amount of respect and admiration. Or at least, she thought it would.

Fact of the matter was that, despite how proud she was of herself for raising her rank, there were plenty of chuunins around. Even their teacher was a chuunin. These days, one probably had to be a sannin to command that kind of admiration or at least be someone that had some kind of amazing achievement under her belt that she could boost to everyone.

Fact of the matter was that she didn’t have any of those. What she did have was her blue skin and sharp teeth, enough to pique the curiosity of the young children. It also helped that she was rather pleasant on the eyes, despite the differences with her body.

“Now, class, listen up. Today, we are going to be practicing walking up trees!” Ciera raised her voice so everyone could hear her above the chirping birds. She was outside, on the training field, with the children gathered around. It was a nice day to be outside, and there were plenty of trees that each child would be able to practice with their own. “It’s very important that you learn this technique. Not only will it make it much easier to stand upside down from a ceiling, it will help you control your chakra better and more efficiently.”

One of the children raised her hand. “How?”

“Don’t worry. I will explain how to do it in a little bit. I don’t expect you all to be able to do it today, but it is best to get started on learning it,” Ciera said. “It’s a little bit difficult, especially at first. You are going to be falling down a lot so remember that if it hurts too much, tell me right away, okay? We need to make sure there isn’t anything like broken bones.”

Normally, when one thought of ninjas, they would think of warriors that were a bit tougher. However, these children simply didn’t have the training and the condition for that so risk of injury was still likely for even the more mundane training. That would be different when they finally reach the stage where they can become a genin, but for now, it was allowable.

“Alright, everyone. Watch carefully as I do this.” Ciera proceeded to send chakra down to the soles of her feet. Keeping it moderate and stable, she began walking towards a tree. The moment that her feet touched the trunk, it stood to the bark. Just like that, she began to walk up the tree perfectly. She did a couple of rounds of walking before she jumped off the tree and landed in front of the children. “As you could see, I was walking on the tree like it was natural. Now, if I had put too little chakra, then I would have slipped off; there wouldn’t have been enough to make me stick to the tree.

“However, if I had put too much chakra on my feet, then the tree bark would have been broken and I would have fallen off with it. The key is balance. I can’t tell you exactly how much chakra you need so I want you to simply test it out today. Use one foot and see how much you need to stick to the tree without breaking it.”

For the rest of the day, the children practiced putting their foot on the tree and using various amounts of chakra with mixed success. By the end, the trees looked like they were the scene of a battle, but that was fine. As long as the children improved.

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WC: 658/600