Naruto: Snow Cold

"Frigid Compass... Sounds pretty good, actually. Fits you and the whole Ice Release thing," he said, nodding in approval.

"Yup."

"Either way..." He reached into his bag and pulled out a scroll. I blinked, curious about what he was up to now. "Let's not waste any more time. You didn't come all the way here just to spar a little, did you?"

"Uh... Nope."

"Marvelous, then." He opened up the scroll, and laid it flat on the ground.

"What? Is this..." I leaned in closer, my curiosity piqued. "The Body Flicker?"

"Ding, ding. You got that right," He said, flashing me a thumbs-up. "Borrowed it from the Academy's library in the D-Rank section. I was thinking we should learn this mainly because we lack movement options, and that's a large gap in our skillset. We have all the offensive options we could ask for—as weak as they could be—but we need a movement skill in case we need to run away, close the distance or even dodge fast attacks."

"I agree with that. This is like... Oh! It needs you to use a burst of chakra on your legs to give you a major increase in speed for a short time. It's kind of similar to Chakra Enhancement, isn't it?"

"Not exactly, no. With Chakra Enhancement, you take your time stabilizing every muscle you're trying to imbue with chakra and it lasts until you either run out of chakra or your control drops. The Body Flicker needs you to send a huge burst of chakra—whose size depends on the distance and elevation you intend to travel, by the way—to your legs in order to kind of 'revitalize' them, giving them a large speed boost."

"I see, I see... I understand." I nodded sagely, putting on the most serious expression I could muster, like a wise old sage passing judgment on ancient secrets.

Sora stared at me, deadpan. "Do you want me to bury you right here?"

"Pfffft—Ahahaha, I'm just kidding! Continue."

"As I was saying, I was thinking it would be a very useful technique for us to learn, and especially you, considering your chakra control. Perhaps you'll pick it up faster than me."

"Huh. What if we somehow hit ourselves with a tree or something if we go too fast?" I asked, my tone half-serious, half-teasing.

"Just stop overthinking it. How are we supposed to get stronger if we don't take a few risks? Tsk, tsk."

"Right. Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get to it already!"

With that, we got to work. Apparently it was one singular seal in order to use it, but it wasn't as simple as it looked.

I was the type to carefully build up power, gradually ramping up chakra until it felt stable and safe. That cautious approach, however, didn't work for this technique. My first attempt resulted in the weakest little hop forward, barely any propulsion at all. Honestly, it wasn't much better than what normal Chakra Imbuement could give me.

Then again, I don't believe myself to be some kind of supernatural genius, and I don't expect to learn, let alone master every technique in one go.

Once more, I got up. This time, I didn't hold back—I went for a burst at least four times larger than the last one. I took a step, and—Whohohoaaaah! The speed was exhilarating, but not quite as fast as I'd hoped. Still, it was a step in the right direction. Although... I could already tell I'd struggle to control my direction if I pushed too hard too soon.

As I steadied myself, an idea struck me. This technique might not just be limited to movement. If I tweak it a little, I could probably apply it to other limbs. For example... my arms. A quick burst of speed could make for a lightning-fast draw with my tanto. Yeah... I thought, picturing it. That could be incredibly useful—especially in close combat.

That reminds me: I still haven't practiced with my tanto. What's the point of having a weapon if you don't use it? I don't think I've touched it more than twice ever since my 5th birthday. Sigh... "Guess I'm definitely signing up for Kenjutsu classes," I muttered to myself, filing the thought away for later.

Thud.

I turned to see Sora sprawled on the ground, rubbing his elbow with a wince. It looked like he'd lost control of his momentum during one of his attempts.

"Ow... Fuck."

"Are you good?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied, sitting up and dusting himself off. "Actually, I think I'm making pretty good progress, given that we've been at this for an hour already."

An hour? Already? I blinked, glancing at the sky. The sun had shifted quite a bit since we started. Was time passing that fast?

"How about you? Any progress?" Sora asked, planting his feet on the ground as he got ready for another go.

"Yup, I'm getting it down," I replied, stretching my legs. "I still struggle with the speed, though. We'd probably need something like the Sharingan if we ever want to use it like Shisui—y'know, to deal with the tunnel vision and the sudden movements."

Sora nodded, a thoughtful look crossing his face. "Sharingan..." he muttered, a hint of envy creeping into his tone. "What a cheat."

"It is, yeah. But what can we do? We don't have any kind of special Dojutsu, so we have to make do with what we have, and rely on ourselves."

"...Yeah. Rely on ourselves." He muttered to himself, and I barely heard it. Enhanced Hearing was going decently, if I was being honest.

"What?"

Sora shook his head, brushing it off. "Nothing important," he said, a faint smile tugging at his lips as he glanced away.

I narrowed my eyes at him but decided not to press. Whatever he was mulling over could wait until he was ready to share it—or until I pried it out of him later. For now, I focused on myself, settling into a stance as I prepared to practice again.

Channeling chakra into my legs without discrimination, be it muscles, tendons, or even the smallest fibers I could imagine, I tried to feel every part of them, letting the chakra flow naturally. Taking a deep breath, I formed the seal and pushed a sudden burst of chakra downward.

The result was... a bit chaotic. My legs shot forward faster than my brain could process, and before I knew it—

Eeeeep! I scrambled to stop myself, skidding across the training grounds. Thankfully, I somehow managed to come to a stop right before falling over and face-planting into the dirt. My heart pounded, hard and fast.

"Holy fuck. This technique is dangerous," I muttered under my breath, wiping the sweat from my forehead. My legs trembled slightly—not from exhaustion, but from the sheer adrenaline surging through me. One step too late, and I would've been enjoying a Michelin-starred dirt meal.

"Indeed it is, my dear friend," Sora casually said a few meters away from me "It's supposed to be."

"You suck."

"Nope," he said, his smirk widening. "You just happen to have what's known as a lack of ski—Fuck!"

Before he could finish, his own attempt at the technique sent him hurtling toward a nearby tree. With an unceremonious thud, he collided shoulder-first into the trunk, bouncing off and landing on his back with a groan.

"Bwahahaha! What was that about me having a lack of skill?" I laughed, barely able to hold back.

"Shut up, I just exhausted my chakra!" Sora shot back, flailing his arms in frustration. "I should've brought more of those fruits... I can't wait until we're grown enough for soldier pills not to mess with us long-term."

"Eh, y'know what? I've also exhausted mine. How long have we been doing this?"

"To tell you the truth? I don't know. Perhaps two more hours or so, since the sun is going down already."

I glanced at the horizon, the sky painted in streaks of warm orange and deep purple. Time really did fly when you were having fun—or, in this case, when you were actively trying not to die.

"That's insane," I muttered, shaking my head.

"Mhm. Tomorrow we'll be evaluated on Ninjutsu, right?"

"Yeah?"

"You planning to show any of your jutsus? Personally, I'm going to use just the Torch and Lightning Spark jutsu. No need for anything else."

"I dunno," I said, scratching the back of my head. "I haven't really been learning any new jutsu besides the one we're working on right now, so probably Gale Palm and the other three basic Wind techniques. Even if they're E-Ranked, they should make for a good grade, right?"

Sora tilted his head thoughtfully, his smirk dimming into a more serious expression. "Should be way more than enough," he said, nodding. "Honestly, though, I think you should stick to just the three basics and leave Gale Palm out of it. Can't afford to show too much yet."

"True," I said, glancing at the dimming horizon. "Man, it's getting late."

"It is," Sora agreed, stretching his arms over his head. "I should probably get back to Mika-san before she gets worried."

"Me too," I said, brushing off the dirt from my clothes. "I should get going as well."

"See you tomorrow, Amai, and good luck."

"...Yeah. Good luck to you too."