The day was warm and humid in Takigakure, and Takeshii had recently finished his training expedition to master his new move, the Shock-Ram. He figured he was deserving of a well earned vacation. And what better place than a trip to Takigakure, the village which coincidentally (or not), was hosting the chuunin exams this year. Takeshii missed his opportunity to sign up for the exams, though he felt he was ready for the promotion. To make up for it, he figured he'd take his vacation as an opportunity to watch the chuunin exams and root for his countrymen. However until the chuunin exams kicked off, he'd have what the common folk refer to as 'fun'. As he entered the festival grounds he immediately noticed rows of festival games. Each game asked for a paltry amount of ryo, which Takeshii had brought plenty of.

'What a wonderful opportunity to train!' Takeshii thought to himself as he approached the first row of games. This row consisted mostly of strength games. There were 3 hammer games, a kid sized one, a teenager sized one, and an adult sized one. There were also three punching games, and a board breaking competition. Takeshii approached the kid-sized hammer game, and asked the fellow working there who had wiry hair and beady eyes for a game. After the menial payment, he was given three tries with a small hammer to ring the bell at the top. If he did he would earn a token. Takeshii picked up the hammer and eyed the tower. It was green, and had a small bell at the top. The gauge was seperated into five levels. The first was baby, than wimp, than pipsqueek, than big boy, than academy student. With pictures depicting each level, the first was a baby crying, the second was a little boy with noodle arms, the third was a mouse trying to pick up a dumbell, after that was a boy with muscles, and finally was a generic picture of a young ninja performing the tiger handseal.

"Alright boy, three shots. You ring the bell you get a prize. If you don't well..."

"Ok, thank you."

Takeshii hoisted the heavy hammer over his head and let it fell. Feeling his muscles contract to bring it over his head, a bead of sweat dropping from his head. The hammer whooshed through the air and fell with a thud which resonated through Takeshii's bones. He felt really good about this strike. He watched the metal ball rise in the glass tube.

'boooooooweep, beeeeeeeeoooooo. EEERRRRR!'

The first hit flew all the way up to the pipsqueek, which flashed for a moment before going dull. A loud buzzer told Takeshii that he failed.

"Two more, pipsqueek. Come on, give 'er all you've got."

Takeshii wound up again and swung the hammer down with authority! Yet with all that effort it only made it one level higher, to big boy.

"That was good, but not good enough. You got one more try big boy. That can't be all you got."

He wound up again, taking a deep breath in, he took aim at the target and visualized the conductor's head on the platform. With a hefty swing he launched the hammer over his head, and slammed the hammer so hard into the platform that he lifted his own body off the ground. Throwing all of his body weight into that one blow.

'ding ding ding!'

With that last swing he rung the bell, and earned his prize.

"Good job, kid. Here you go." The guy said handing Takeshii a slap bracelet.

"I thought the prize was a token."

"That's only if you get it on the first try, kid. Read the fine print." The guy said pointing at the rule board. Sure enough in barely visible writing all around the lining of the board read 'Tokens are awarded for ringing the bell on the first try. The second try awards a bead necklace, and the third try awards a slap bracelet.

"You wanna try again?"

"Sure." Takeshii said handing over the small payment.

He took the hammer again, which felt surprisingly lighter now. Lifted it over his head, and tensed his muscles as he swung the hammer down with all his might. However, it just barely missed it's mark.

"No token, sorry kid."

Takeshii hoisted the hammer one more time, and with every bit of fervor as he could muster smashed the hammer into the platform. The ringer hit the bell so hard it dented the metal before falling back down.

"There you go kid, now just do that the first time." He said handing Takeshii a bead necklace.

"One more." Takeshii gave the guy one last payment, if he didn't make it the first time he'd cut his losses. However, this was proving to be good training for him.

He lifted the heavy hammer behind his back and envisioned the personification of a dishonorable person on the chopping block, and with all the rage he could muster crashed the hammer into the block and earned his token at last. Or so he thought.

"Good. But still no token for you. You're not of age."

"What!?"

"You are not of age. Read all of the fine print."

Sure enough it said that only kids up to 10 could be awarded tokens from the kid game.

"You're not 10 are you?"

"I'm 13."

"Yeah, so if you want a token you need to play the next bell game. It's a bit tougher, but you're an academy student now. So I'm sure you can do it."

"You could have told me that in the first place."

"It's not my responsibility to read the rules, its the player's." He said nonchallantly.

Takeshii moved on to the next bell game, handed the man his payment and snatched the hammer up from its pedistal. It was heavier than the other one, which Takeshii had gotten accustomed too.

This game was a good bit taller than the kid version, and it too had 5 levels. The first was doll, which had a girl's dress up doll. The second was lady, which had a girl in a dress. The third was tom boy, which had a girl wearing pants and throwing a punch. The second was thug, which showed a boy showing off his muscle. The last one was Genin. Which had a boy throwing a shuriken.

"Alright, name of the game is to ring the bell. You ring the bell you win a prize. Do it right the first time and I'll give you a token. It's not easy so I'll do you a favor kid, and I'll give you three go's at it. I'll tell you what, between you and me. Even if you don't hit it the first time, I'll still give you a prize. Ok?"

"Thank you." Takeshii said, figuring this whole thing was all a set up. The first guy's mean so when you get to the second guy whose nice you're more willing to pay him money. It's a really effective good scam.

Takeshii with his hammer already pulled back, swung down as hard as he could, throwing his body weight into the swing and crashing the hammer into the platform. However with all the effort he gave the last game, he only made it to the fourth rank.

He lifted the hammer again, and after regrouping himself tried again. Again fourth rank. He swung again, this time after visualizing his target, and threw all his rage into the strike. Finally he rung the bell. Just as he suspected, the prize for hitting the third time was another slap bracelet.

"I'll go again."

"Ok, kid. Good luck."

This time, he threw all his power and than some into it, and the hammer which now felt lighter than it did, hit with a huge thud which shook Takeshii to his bones, and did indeed ring the bell the first time.

"YES!"

"Good job, kid. Here's your token!"

Takeshii satisfied with his performance decided to now try his hand at the punching game. Takeshii went straight to the second game, and read the board very carefully. No tokens were awarded for this one, it was simply a strength test. The test gave you a visual representation of how hard you strike. You can use any strike you want, and you got three tries.

Takeshii gave the guy his money, and stepped up to the striking bag. A thick pad on top of an electronic pressure sensor. A screen above the pad would show a rank. Beside the game was a board that showed the ranks. There were 7 ranks, E-SS, with a name next to them. Academy Student, Genin, Chuunin, Special Jounin, Jounin, Sannin, and Kage.

Takeshii planted his feet and turned his hip, throwing his fist as hard as he could into the pad with a hard thud. The letters ran almost randomly looking, before it landed on E- Academy Student.

He turned his body twisted his hip throwing his foot into the target with a roundhouse kick. Again the letters ran almost randomly, landing on E-Academy Student.

Takeshii stood with his right leg forward, and took a step forward turning his body and shooting his right heel into the target with a turning side kick. The letters ran almost randomly, landing on D-Genin.

"YES!" Takeshii said. "One more." Tossing a coin to the game master.

He stood with his right leg back and turned his hips as hard as he could, throwing everything he had with his right hand punching the target with all his might. D- Genin!

He tried his roundhouse kick again, this time over turning and slamming his foot into the target. D-Genin!

He did the back kick again, spinning as quickly as he could and thrusting his heel D-Genin!

Takeshii smiled and left the booth, feeling accomplished. He went to the last booth which was a board breaking compitition. There were three boards you could choose from, and you could break up to three. This game was free, you just picked your boards and broke them and the judges gave you a score.

The three available boards were wooden boards, concrete boards, and ice boards.

Takeshii chose the concrete boards, which were 1 inch thick slabs of stone. He had one of the helpers hold for a straight punch. The second he would do a roundhouse kick, and the last one he'd do a back kick. Just like he did on the punching game.

Each board he would have three tries to break, and if he didn't break it he had to go on to the next one. The highest score he could be given was a 10, for three perfect high skilled breaks. The lowest was a 4 for not breaking any boards.

Takeshii took aim at the first board, and twisted his hips crashing his first and second knuckles into the center of the board. He felt the impact on his fist as the board cracked and fell into two halves. It didn't feel like it should, but thankfully it did. Takeshii turned to the second concrete board and twisted his hips smashing his foot into the board at full force. The force of the kick caused the board to fracture and break apart. Again it didn't feel like it should have, but thankfully it did. The last one Takeshii turned and thrusted his heel directly through the board hitting the holder in the stomache. That one felt like a clean break to Takeshii who was thankful that he was able to bring himself to this level through his training. Feeling elated, Takeshii would go on to the next row, without bothering to look at his scores.

For those who might be wondering what his scores were, two sixes, and a five.

(Strength E-1 to D-3 2017/1850)

Takeshii turned and looked down the second row of festival games and took note of the different games he could play. There was a speed striking game which measured how many strikes you perform on average per second and gives you a speed rating. There was a 30 meter dash, where you are given a time limit of only 5 seconds to run 30 meters. If you beat the time limit than you earn a token. There was also a 300 meter run where you run 300 meters as fast as possible and the best time of the day wins a prize. Takeshii thought about which game he wanted to do first, and opted for the speed striking game. Figuring it'd be nice to get a base line for how fast he was, than do the other games and come back to see if he improved. Takeshii walked into the booth, the man sitting to his right had a scraggly beard and part of his ear left ear was missing, but Takeshii didn't pay any mind to this. He paid the fee to perform the game twice, with two chances per play. On the left of the red striking pad was a board with the letters E, D, C, B, A, S, SS ascending from top to bottom. Next to each letter there was a shinobi rank in order from Academy Student, to Genin, to Chuunin, than Special Jounin, than Jounin, finally Sanin and Kage. With Academy Student representing E-Rank, and Kage representing SS-Rank.

Above the red striking pad there were two rectangular screens. One had three red lights and a green light to denote when to start. The other displayed the time you had left, and than showed your rank according to how many strikes you made in a minute's time. Takeshii took his stance and waited for the green light to flash.

beep, beep, beep, BEEP!

Takeshii let his hands fly striking the pad as quickly as he could, the pad would measure any strike on any part of its surface and count how many times it was touched, it would than divide the number of times it was struck by 60 and feed this through a program to determine what rank your speed was. Takeshii's hands flew quickly one after another striking the pad at a steady pace, when the final buzzer sounded Takeshii stopped and shook his hands out. The screen flashed, and the letter E came up followed by the word's 'Academy Student'.

Takeshii reached up to the sky and down to his toes and twisted left and right cracking his back and stretching out before the next attempt. Patiently, he waited for the light to flash green.

beep, beep, beep, BEEP!

Again, Takeshii let his hands fly, striking the pad faster than the last time. He felt his muscles firing one after another, the soft cushion of the pad hugging his fists and they struck the surface. The wind pushing away from his hands as they pierced the air like dozens of arrows, all flying towards their mark. The final buzzer told Takeshii to stop, just as his last punch was thrown. Takeshii breathed out in a pant and dropped his hands to his side.

"I'll save my second try for later is that ok?"

"Yeah, son. I'll remember you. You got two more tries, don't forget."

"Ok, thank you sir."

Takeshii left the speed striking tent and turned to his right, he walked fifty paces and turned left to the 30 meter dash which was across from the 300 meter run. The 30 meter dash was a 40 meter straight away with five meters behind the starting line and five meters after the finish line. Directly in front the starting line was a rectangular box with three red lights and a green light to cue when to start running. Next to the box was a large square screen which showed your score. If the number was red it meant you lost, if it was green it meant you won. The goal of the game was to travel the 30 meters in less than or equal to five seconds. If you did that, than the game master would give you a token. Unlike the striking game both this and the three hundred meter run were both free of charge. So Takeshii took his starting position, braced his feet against the ground like a true racer, and waited for the green light to tell him to start running.

beep, beep, beep, BEEP!

The green light shined brightly and Takeshii pushed off against the ground, pounding pavement and running as fast as he could to the finish line. As he passed the white and black checkered line at the end he slowed down to see his score. The screen flashed and the number six in big red coloring told Takeshii that he had failed, but only by a single second. Atleast he had unlimited redo's, so he took his spot and waited for his cue.

beep, his muscles tightened. beep, his muscles loosened. beep, his back arched and a bead of sweat dripped from the left side of his lower cheek near his chin. BEEP, the bead of sweat hit the toe of Takeshii's shoe as he took off. His body leaned forward and his knees pumping up and down, up and down, faster, faster. He pushed harder against the ground propelling his body forward and a quickening rate, he felt his muscles firing rapidly. The force of his feet striking the ground intensified, and the wind pushing against his body threw his hair back. His Haori flew open like a cape and for a brief second his looked like a hawk diving down for his prey. As he passed the black and white checkered finish line once more, he slid to a stop and gazed into the square screen. Five seconds, in green numbers. Takeshii jumped up and pumped his fist in celebration.

"Great job kid, I've never seen someone put so much effort into a contest like this before. You really make me happy to have this job!" The game master said and tossed Takeshii a token.

"Thank you, sir." Takeshii said with a polite bow before heading over to the three hundred meter run.

For this game you had to run three laps around a one hundred meter circle. The person with the best score at the end of the day would earn a prize. Another token. In front of the entrance there was a large rectangular screen which would show, both your average speed in meters per second, your top speed in meters per second, and your over all score. Above the starting line was a rectangular box with three red lights, and a green light. The course itself was an oblong circle with two fourty meter straight aways on both sides, and two ten meter u turns connecting them. Takeshii eyed the course, and went to the black and white checkered starting line. He took his position arching his back and pressing his feet into the ground, waiting for the green light to signal his start.

beep, his muscles loosened. beep, his breath calmed. beep, his feet dug into the solid ground. BEEP, he launched himself forward and propelled himself faster and faster with each step. When he got to the first turn he leaned to his right and hugged the inside curve as he made his way around entering the fourty meter straight away to the next ten meter curve at half speed. His feet fired against the ground throwing him forward quickly reaching his full speed once again. As he made his way to the curve he leaned again this time just enough to turn while keeping his momentum the same so that as he made his way to the end of the first lap he maintained his full speed. As he passed the first lap he looked at the screen. 15 seconds flashed next to the words LAP 1!

He maintained his full speed for the whole second lap, not even slowing on the turns. He felt that he was reaching a rhythm with his strides, so he quickened his pace. As he flew past the checkered line once more he eyed the screen while maintaining his pace. 13 seconds flashed next to the words LAP 2!

On his final lap, Takeshii was in the zone. He felt his muscles loosening and firing in time, his feet pounding against the ground throwing him forward with every step. The wind threw his hair back and his shirt against his chest. As he turned to finish the lap, he burst forward feeling as though all of his muscles had fired at once to propel him past the finish line in one final burst of speed. He stood panting, staring at the screen. The words GREAT JOB! Appeared, and finally his score.

He ran his final lap in eleven seconds. His top speed was nine meters per second. His average speed was seven meters per second. His final score was thirty nine seconds.

"Fantastic kid. It's not the best today, but it was a really great run!"

"Who has the top score so far?"

"Some Kumo Kid, called himself Bolt. I never seen a child run so fast in my life! He ran all 300 meters in six and a half seconds."

"Damn, what!? Was he being chased by something?"

"No, I asked him the same thing. He said he just loved to run."

"That's crazy. Six and a half seconds. Wow. Well, you have a good day sir." Takeshii said with a polite bow.

He turned left and walked fifty paces back to the striking game. He gave a short bow to the game master and stepped up to the plate.

"You gotta pay sir."

"Huh, I already paid. Remember, I just left for a little bit."

"I know, I was just yanking your chain."

"Oh, haha. You had me there."

"Ok, you ready son?"

"Yes sir."

"Alright, its all your's."

Takeshii took his fighting position in front of the red striking pad and waited for the green light to shine.

beep, he shook out his shoulders. beep, his muscles relaxed. beep, he drew a slow breath. BEEP, his fists were flying far faster than they had before. Striking the pad one after another after the other. His muscles firing easily like a well oiled machine. He felt his muscles relax and than fire just as quickly. The wind pushed away from his fists created a breeze that washed over his face. The speed of his strikes snapped the ends of his shirt making sharp popping noises with each strike. Each blow struck dust off of the striking pad into a small cloud around it. As the buzzer sounded, Takeshii blew sharply through his mouth to disperse the cloud. The screed flashed and the letter D was displayed on the screen. Followed by the rank of Genin. Takeshii smiled and took his position again. He had one more try and he'd give it his all.

He shook his shoulders out and twisted his back taking his fighting position once more. He waited for the green light to give him his cue to go.

beep, his fists clinched and loosened. beep, his toes gripped the ground and laxed. beep, he rolled his shoulders, cracking his neck. BEEP, his hands flew by rapidly striking the red pad. Sharp popping sounds emenated from his sleeves as he whipped his hands into the target. His knuckles burned from the hard impact on the striking surface. He smiled, and struck even faster bursting his speed through his hands leaving indentations in the pad from his fists. The buzzer sounded and the screen flashed for some time. Before glitching and showing the rank of D, and C together.

"You confused the machine. Here take this token. That was a wonderful display."


"Thank you so much sir. I appreciate it."

Takeshii smiled feeling accomplished with himself and rounded the next corner.

(Speed E-2 to D-3 2031/1700)

Takeshii rounded the corner and walked down the next row of games which were all perception games. Now this was something Takeshii could get into! There were four different games on this row.

One was a spot the difference game, where the game master brought up a picture and a slightly different picture and you had one minute to find all the differences. There were three different pictures, and if you got through all three pictures than you won a token. The second was a mix and match game where you were given a limited time to look at a certain number of cards and than match as many cards as you could. With this game there were three levels, and three challenge levels. Easy had 16 cards laid out in a four by four grid, you were given 15 seconds to look at the cards, and 30 seconds to match as many as you could. Medium difficulty had twenty five cards laid out in a five by five grid. Hard had one hundred cards laid out in a ten by ten grid. The medium difficulty gave you 30 seconds to look at the cards and one minute to make as many matches as you could. The hard difficulty gave you one minute to look at the cards and two minutes to match them. The challenge difficulties came with one extra stipulation. You can only turn over each card once. However, if you make it through the hard difficulty on challenge mode than you earn yourself a token.

The third game was a ball and bowl game where one, two or three balls were hidden under one bowl out of three, five, or seven bowls. You were challenged to then find the ball or balls. Again this game had three difficulties. The first difficulty was easy, and it had one ball and three bowls. You had two chances to pick the right one. The second difficulty was medium, and it had two balls and three bowls. You have only three chances to pick the right one. The last was hard with three balls and seven bowls with only four chances to pick the right one. Statistically, if you went with easy you'd have a thirty three percent chance of victory with your first pick, and a fifty percent chance of picking the right one with your second. If you went with medium, than your chances were twenty percent. That went up to twenty five percent with your second, and thirty three percent with your third. If you picked hard than your chances to pick a ball was fourteen percent on the first pick, sixteen percent on the second pick, twenty percent on the third, and twenty five percent on the fourth. That meant that with only the easy mode, would you have a reasonable chance of picking the winner based solely on guess work. The other difficulties you had to keep your eyes on the balls. The thing with this game was that you bet money, and if you won you got your money back, and if you lost you didn't. So in a way as long as you kept winning, the game was free.

The fourth and final game was a dark maze game. The player entered an illuminated room with a rope barrior. They would be given 10 seconds to memorize the course and than the room would be thrown into pitch black darkness. They would than have to make their way through the maze in the dark. If the player  made their through the maze without touching any of the ropes they would win a token. Once any rope was touched than the player would have to go back to the beginning of the course. Their time would not be reset, and ONLY the way back would be illuminated. They could repeat this game as many times as they wanted until they made it through. However they only had three chances to get through in order to get the token.

Takeshii chose to do the spot the difference game. He walked down the walkway and turned left into the spot the difference game. There were two slide holders, which held the 3x3 foot pictures in place. The game master picked up two pictures and slid them into place. A picture of Takigakure with people, trees, buildings, and such.

"Alright, son. There's 5 differences. You've got a minute to find them all." He stated.

Takeshii looked between the pictures and immediately noted that the adminitration building was missing in one, but present in the other.

"The administration building is missing in this one." Takeshii noted, and the game master nodded.

Takeshii took a closer look and noted that a tree next to the Hero Arena had a bush next to it which was absent from the other picture.

"This bush isn't in the other picture." The game master nodded.

"Two down, three to go."

Takeshii scanned the crowd thinking maybe there'd be a difference there. He noted that there was a crowd near the market that wasn't in the other picture.

"This crowd here isn't in the other picture."

"Good, you've got forty seconds left. Two differences left." The game master noted.

Takeshii looked around and upon very close examination, noted an extra window in one of the buildings.

"This building has an extra window."

Finally as soon as he noticed the window he found a person in the crowd with a red and white striped tall hat and shirt with brown hair, that wasn't in the other picture.

"And that person there. He's not in the other picture."

"Great. One game down, two to go."

He removed the first set of pictures and replaced it with the second set of pictures. This picture was one of a crowd of people watching two shinobi battling in the hero arena. One shinobi was spitting a fire ball, the other was guarding with water. Except in the other picture the fire shinobi was firing a bolt of lightning from his hands. Also one sign had a kumo symbol on it instead of a konoha symbol on it.

"Seven differences." The game master said.

"So let's start with the obvious, the lightning bolt. And the kumo symbol." Takeshii noted.

"Good, five to go."

There was a shinobi in the crowd to the left, but that same shinobi was absent on the other picture. Also, The wall separating the crowd from the battle was taller in one picture than the other.

"This shinobi is missing in the other picture, and the wall is taller in this picture."

"Good, three more to go."

Takeshii took a close look at the crowd and noticed the same red and white striped hat wearing guy from the other picture in this one. Also, he noticed that there were the five Kage wearing their Kage Hoods in one picture but not the other. Finally There was an inscription on the side of the wall that wasn't there in the other picture.

"This inscription is missing in the other picture, the five kage aren't in this picture but they're present in the other picture. And this guy, from the other picture. He's in this one as well."

"Fantastic! One more to go."

The game master took the second set of pictures down and replaced them with the third set of pictures. This picture was one of the outlying wilderness with shinobi hiding in the trees, and wildlife.

"Ten differences in this one. Good luck."

Takeshii noted the presence of the red and white hat wearing guy first, as well as a missing shinobi, and an extra branch below the missing shinobi.

"That guy, the missing shinobi, and the extra branch here."

"Good, Seven more."

Takeshii looked through the trees and noted a kumo ninja where an Iwa ninja should be, and a Suna ninja where a Konoha ninja should be. He also noted a kunai in a tree where there was a shuriken at the same spot.

"Here, the kumo ninja is replaced by a Iwa ninja, and here a Suna shinobi is replaced with a Konoha shinobi. Over here a kunai is where this shuriken is."

"Great, four more. You've got thirty seconds left."

Takeshii observed the picture again and noted a different color scheme through the canopy, upon closer inspection he noted a shinobi in the trees. On the floor he noted a foal where in the other picture there wasn't. He also noted a rabbit in one picture that was three rabbits in the other. He also noted a shinobi hiding behind a tree with only his foot protruding from the branch.

"This foot, these rabbits, that baby foal, and this shinobi in the trees."

"Very impressive. That's all of them. Here's your token."

"Thank you."

Takeshii was running out of day light, so he opted to do the bowl game instead of the card game. He stepped into the booth and asked for the five bowl game. The game master slapped two balls on the table and threw five bowls over them.

"Alright, keep your eyes on the ones with the balls." He said lifting the two bowls with the balls in them.

"Right, I'm ready." Takeshii said, keeping his eyes on the two balls. The game master shuffled the bowls around, than switched them up, than circled them rapidly.

Takeshii's eyes were sharp enough to track both balls. Even though the game master was very swift. The bowls were placed in a cross section with four on each corner and one in the center. Takeshii lifted the center one revealing a ball.

"Good, one more ball, two more picks."

"Here." Takeshii said lifting the bottom left corner revealing the other ball.

"Good, you wanna try again."


"Sure."

"Ok, this time seven."

"Sounds good."

The guy threw down three balls, and seven bowls. He showed where the balls were than shuffled them around. After they were shuffled he quickly switched them around, and circled them replacing one with another in rapid succesion.

Takeshii kept his eyes on all three, surprisingly. The game masters skills were very impressive though.

"Try that."

This time there were four on each corner and three arranged in a triangle in the center. Takeshii took the top point of the triangle and revealed a ball.

"Ok. Two more, three choices."

Takeshii put his hand on the upper right corner and the lower left point of the triangle and lifted them both revealing both balls.

"Very impressive. One more game?"

"If you want."

"This time one ball, three bowls."

"Isn't that easier."

"You'd think so, but let's find out."

The game master took two balls off the table and four bowls. He threw one bowl over the ball and shuffled them. As he shuffled them Takeshii saw him throw the ball into his sleeve, but he waited until he was done shuffling.

"So do you trick everyone or just the ones that beat you?"

"What?"

"I saw you throw the ball into your sleeve. That's tricky."

"You saw that huh?"

"Yeah."

"Than how did this get here?"

The game master lifted one bowl revealing a ball. Than the other two revealing two more balls.

"It's just a trick I like to play on my better customers. Think of it as a treat."

"Wow, that was good. Thank you." Takeshii said leaving with a smile.

Takeshii walked into the labrynth and waltzed into the room. He quickly took note of the path and spoke to himself, left, right, right, left, left, left, right, left, straight. Got it. The room went dark and Takeshii repeated the directions to himself. At aproximately the first turn he turned left. Than at around the next part he made a right. Than a right, left, left, another left. Than right, and left. Finally he walked straight through the curtain into the light of the next row of games.

(Perception E-2 to D-3 2018/1700)

The last row of games were games to test your reaction time. There were three games on this row. The first was a striking game where you had six targets and you had to strike the targets when a light corresponding to them lit up. It measured how many strikes you landed and how quickly after the light lit up that the target was struck. It than gave you a rating from E rank to SS rank denoting your reaction time. The second game was a dodge ball game, where one of seven ball launchers would beep and fire balls at you. You had to dodge as many balls as you could in a minute. If you could last a minute on atleast medium speed than you would win a token. The last game was ball catch game. Similar to the dodging game, this had five ball launchers which would beep and launch balls at you. However instead of dodging the balls this time you had to catch them. If you could catch all of the balls on atleast medium speed, than you would win yet another token.

Takeshii decided to go to the striking game first. He walked down the row and turned right into the striking booth. There were six targets set up like a person with two clapping targets for the  arms, two clapping targets for the legs, a central square striking pad representing the chest and a circular striking pad representing the head. Each one had a light corresponting to it, and you struck the pad corresponding to the light as soon as you saw the light. Above the targets there was a large screen which would show your rank. Next to the screen there was a board that had the ranks on it; E Rank, D Rank, C Rank, B Rank, A Rank, S Rank, SS Rank were listed in ascending order from the top of the board to the bottom of the board. Next to each rank was the ninja rank associated with it. E rank was for academy student. D rank was for Genin. C rank was for Chuunin. B rank was for Special Jounin. A rank was for Jounin. S rank was for Sannin. SS rank was for Kage. Obviously the better your reaction time the better your score.

Takeshii nodded to the game master, and the game master turned on the game.

"Alright, you got one minute, and only one try per game."

"Ok, thank you."

Takeshii stood on a white X denoting the starting position and waited for the buzzer to sound telling him to begin.

beep, his shoulders loosened and he kicked out his legs. beep, he turned his neck cracking it. beep, he eyed the targets and figured quickly the best way to strike each. BEEP, he readied himself.

The order of the first set was as follows. Top left arm, bottom left leg, bottom right leg, top right arm, chest, head. Takeshii responed with a left crossing punch, left low kick, right low kick, right crossing punch, Left punch to the square chest target, and right punch to the circular head target. The order of the second set was as follows; top left arm, bottom right leg, top right arm, bottom left leg, chest, head, top left arm, top right arm, bottom left leg, bottom right let. Takeshii responed with a left crossing punch, right low kick, right crossing punch, left low kick, left punch to the chest target, right punch to the head target, left crossing punch, right crossing punch, left low kick, and quickly switching legs to a right low kick. The third and final series was as follows; top left arm, top right arm, bottom right leg, top left arm, bottom left leg, top right arm, head, chest, top left arm, chest, head, top right arm, bottom left leg, bottom left leg, bottom right leg, top right arm, head. Takeshii responed with a left crossing punch, right crossing punch, right low kick, left crossing punch, left low kick, right crossing punch, left crossing punch to the head, right crossing punch to the chest, left crossing punch, right crossing punch to the chest, left crossing punch to the head, right crossing punch, left low kick, left low kick, right low ick, right crossing punch, left crossing punch. Takeshii shook his arms and legs out. That was very intense. Each strike hit the target but only after the light went out.

Takeshii looked up at the screen and waited for his score. 'E Rank - Academy Student' appeared on the screen above the targets, however it did take quite some time for the computer to calculate it, which probably meant that Takeshii was close to D-Rank.

"Thank you, sir." Takeshii said with a short bow before leaving to go to the dodging game. He turned left out of the booth and walked down twenty five paces and turned left into the dodge ball booth.

"Alrighty, young one! Dodge the balls for one full minute and win a prize! You wanna give it a try?"

"Yes sir."

"Ok, step on the red x and wait for the buzzer."

Takeshii stepped into a 30 meter by 30 meter room with seven ball launchers spread out all around him. One in each corner and one on each wall except for the door. He took a loose position with his hands spread out and waited for the buzzer.

beep, his knees bent slightly. beep, his arms loosened. beep, his head turned noting the position of each launcher and tried to judge the trajectory of the balls as they would leave the launchers. BEEP!

If each launcher had a cardinal direction with north being to direction Takeshii was facing, than the first set of balls came would come from the following directions; north, east, west, south east, north west, north east, south west. Each being preceded with a loud short beep. Takeshii dodged to his left to evade the first ball, than circled his body to evade the ball from the east and leaned back to evade the ball from the west. He leaned to the north east to dodge the ball from the south east, and leaned back to the south west to dodge the ball from the north west. He circled his body once more to evade the balls from the north east and south west.

The second set of balls came from the following directions; north, west, north east and south east, north west and south west, west, north, and east. Takeshii responded by dodging to the east and leaning forward to dodge the north and west balls. He than leaned back just in time to evade the north east and south east balls. And twisted his body to the right and leaned forward to the east to dodge the balls from the north west and south west. He than circled his body to evade the last three balls from the west, north and eastern directions.

The third and final set of balls came from the following directions; north and south east and south west, east and west, north east and south east and west, north west and south west and east, north, north east, east, south east, south west, west, north west, and north. Takeshii responded by twisting his body to the left and leaning to the north west than transitioning to the north as soon as the north ball passed him to dodge the first three balls coming from his north, south east, and south west. He turned his body shoulders down leaning to the north to dodge the east and west balls, which colided going north east and south west. He than dodged east and circled his body to the west to dodge the third set of balls coming from his west, north east, and south east. He than circled his body in a full swift circle to the left to dodge the barrage of quickly fired balls circling from north and going to his right. He ducked his body low to dodge the last couple of balls, than he stood up and waited for more. However it seemed his game was over.

As Takeshii left the  told him well done and tossed him a token.

"Thank you." Takeshii said with a smile before heading across the way to the ball catching game.

Takeshii entered the ball catching booth and read the instructions. A board outside of the door told Takeshii to stand on the red X, and wait for the buzzer when the buzzer rang the game would begin. He had to catch as many balls as he could and drop them into the moat around him. The goal was to catch all of the balls, and if you did than you won a token. Takeshii walked into the room and stood on the red X, waiting for the game to start. There were five ball launchers, if they each had cardinal directions than there would be one to Takeshii's left or west, north west, north where Takeshii now faced, north east, and to Takeshii's right or east. Takeshii relaxed his body slipped the catching mitts onto his hands. Around Takeshii except on the walk way to the platform he now stood on was a crescent shaped  openning where he would drop the balls into.

beep, Takeshii shook out his hands and tightened his mitts. beep, he twisted his body and took note of each of the launcher's position and the likely trajectory of the balls launched. beep, he placed his hands in front of each launcher where he could expect the balls to fly towards. BEEP, he readied himself for the first wave.

The first set of balls came from the following directions; West, North West, North, North East, East, West, North, East, North East, North West. Each preceded by a loud short buzz. Takeshii placed his left hand out and caught the first ball dropping it immediately, and repositioning it to the North West launcher again catching the ball and dropping it immediately as he lifted his left hand in front of the North launcher and intercepting the ball droping it into the hole. His right hand crossed over his left catching the north east ball, and his left hand immediately repositioned in front of the east launcher to catch the east ball. His right hand shot to the west launcher and his left hand immediately shot to the north launcher as his right hand dropped its ball to be repositioned to the east launcher. Finally his right repositioned to the North west launcher as his left his mirrored it on the north east launcher catching both balls and dropping them into the hole. First wave done, Takeshii breathed and relaxed waiting for the second wave.

The second set of balls came from the following directions; West and East, North, North West and North East, East, North, West, West, North, East. Takeshii waited for the buzz and shot both hands to the sides catching both balls without looking, than dropping both balls immediately put his right hand in front of the north launcher catching the ball while his right hand prepared for the next one. His right hand dropped the ball immediately into the hole as his left and right hand went to the North West and North East launchers respectively, catching both balls and dropping them. His right hand caught the East ball and dropped just as his left hand caught the north ball and dropped while his right hand simultaneously repositioned in front of the West launcher and dropped that ball as well into the hole. Finally his Right hand caught the second ball from the west as his left hand caught the north ball. While his left hand was catching the north ball his right hand came from under his left arm and caught the east ball. He brought his hands to their respective sides and dropped both balls. The game was over.

Takeshii left the booth, and the game master tossed him a token. He had run out of day light, time to go back to his room. He expected tomorrow to be a busy day.

(Reaction Time E-2 to D-3 2041/1700)