”Ok, so all i have to do is run through this obstacle course?” Shibirin asked, as he looked over to the guy holding the start flag. He was currently pointing it to the sky, so Shibirin didn’t have to start just yet. He had been told that he needed to complete this obstacle course that would test a genin’s abilities and the basic skills they learnt whilst at the academy. Shibirin wasn’t taught much skills in the academy, so he was going to probably use most of his own. He had his three katana sheathed on his left hip, he was ready to go, he now waited for that checked flag to be lowered to the ground.

Three seconds later, he heard, ”On your mark. Get set, Go!!” before the man lowered the flag down to the ground. Shibirin began sprinting. He ran past the small crowd of people and ran past the judges. He kept on running and running, so far so good. He hadn’t seen an obstacle course as of yet, so he was safe, for now. He thought to himself, as he ran, ’Ok, i hope i don’t trip and fall’.He kept on running, turning whenever he saw a sign that said turn and headed in that direction. Soon enough, he saw a sign that said, ‘Booby Traps up ahead!’, but he didn’t dare stop. He came towards a long rope bridge, but stopped himself 2 meters away from it. He drew out one of his katana and looked around for booby traps. ”Ok, wonder what the first obstacle is,” he said, before picking up a rock and observing the bridge.

He threw the rock towards the center of it, and then he heard a snap sound. One side of the robe bridge had snapped off and the other one seemed to be also becoming loose. Shibirin ran towards the bridge, jumped off the edge and stabbed it with his katana. He used this to hang on to the bridge as it snapped and fell towards the other end of the land. Shibirin then drew out a second katana with his free hand and used the two as claws, as he then climbed up and over the other side. He re-sheathed the two katana and kept on running.

Soon enough, he came up to a sign that read, ‘Watch your step, but not for too long’ before coming up to a large open, sandy area. The wind blew hard, but no dust was picked up by it. He crouched down and attempted to place his hand on the ground, but it went straight through. ”Hmm, quick sand. Clever” he said to himself, before focusing his chakra into his feet and running across the open plain as if it were water. He made it over to the other side and knew that only one obstacle remained. He kept on running, before stopping himself from continuing any further. Ahead of him was a small, narrow stone bridge, and giant logs were swinging from side to side above it. There seemed to be only 3 of them, but if one ever hit him, it’d knock him clean off of his feet. Shibirin drew out his two swords Genko and Sai, once more and charged towards the bridge.

He stepped across the bridge, timed the first log’s movements and went past when it seemed clear. The second log swung a bit fast than the last, so instead of avoiding it, Shibirin tried another tactic. He jumped up as it came towards him and sliced the vines that were holding it up. It fell over to the other side, and Shibirin advanced towards the last swinging log and did the same thing as he had done to the second log. He then kept on running, till he came towards the finish line. He went through the ribbon being held up that read, ‘Finnish’ and spoke under his breath, ”Mission...completed” as a result of his tiredness.


{Word count: 663/600}