Tsunade and Shinku's words enlightened Hoshiyomi and the others. They were all geniuses themselves, and with no Tailed Beasts interfering with their Chakra, once they grasped the method, they too quickly learned to stand still on the cave wall.
After about another half hour, all six successfully stood on the cave wall. By this time, Tsunade and Shinku had reached a height of about eight or nine meters. Hoshiyomi and his teammates were also at around five or six meters, beginning to catch up. However, no one's speed was particularly fast. Though they had grasped the method, it was still rudimentary.
They couldn't yet walk unconsciously on the cave wall at will; each step required a moment of Chakra concentration. When one foot was lifted, their entire body weight had to be placed on the other, leading to significant physical exhaustion.
About three or four hours later, Tsunade and Shinku had reached approximately the 20-meter mark, while Hoshiyomi and his team were at around 10 meters. But things weren't that simple. Just as Tsunade reached the 20-meter mark, a small pebble whistled down, striking her shoulder.
Don't underestimate this small, thumbnail-sized pebble; falling from a height of 30 meters, it still hurt quite a bit. Tsunade was startled by the impact, and her foot instinctively relaxed its control. Once the control in her foot loosened, her body rapidly slid downwards. Tsunade instinctively reached out to grab something, but recalling Torifu and Homura's warnings, she pulled her hand back.
She could only grit her teeth and desperately try to re-adhere to the cave wall. Yet, in a moment of rapid descent and intense mental strain, even a genius with super-strong control like Tsunade found it difficult. Just as Tsunade thought she'd have to start all over again, a hand suddenly reached out with precision, grabbing hers. The owner of this hand was none other than Hoshiyomi.
Tsunade stared blankly at Hoshiyomi holding her, unsure how to react for a moment. She looked at him in a daze, suddenly realizing this guy seemed unfairly handsome.
However, Hoshiyomi was in no mood to show off now. His condition wasn't good; simply maintaining adhesion to the cave wall was already difficult, and now Tsunade's weight was forcibly added. Despite increasing his Chakra output in time, he still inevitably slid down three to five meters. He spoke to Tsunade with some difficulty, "Stop staring at me. Quickly find a place to stabilize yourself. If this continues, both of us will fall back to the start."
Tsunade snapped out of her trance when she heard Hoshiyomi's words and quickly channeled Chakra to regain her footing on the cave wall. After finally stabilizing herself, Tsunade looked at their clasped hands, her face flushing again.
But just then, Hoshiyomi's ill-timed voice broke the moment. "You're stable now, so why are you still holding my hand? Bearing the weight of two people is really tiring."
Tsunade's pretty face instantly turned from red to black. She flung her hand away, and with such force, she nearly sent Hoshiyomi tumbling down. "Who cares?!"
After Hoshiyomi barely maintained his balance, the two fell into an inexplicable silence until Jiraiya and the others above broke the awkwardness. "Are you two okay?"
"We're fine. Be careful, there will be projectiles interfering with us from above."
Tsunade also spoke, "I understand. He wants us to focus our attention upwards, rather than consciously on our feet. We need to make this an unconscious action, just like tree climbing and water walking."
Orochimaru listened to Tsunade for a moment, then spoke, "If that's the case, then let's practice here at around eighteen meters. Considering our body control, as long as we can master this control method perfectly, combined with our reaction speed, rushing up in one go won't be a problem."
The others nodded at Orochimaru's suggestion. Shinku also retreated two steps back, saying, "Then I'll wait for you here. I could use a rest too."
"Then Hoshiyomi, you and Tsunade hurry up. We'll wait for you at Shinku's position."
For a moment, only Hoshiyomi and Tsunade were left at the bottom. Hoshiyomi rubbed his nose and said, "Shall we go up too, then?"
Tsunade imperceptibly hummed in affirmation, then quietly said, "Just now... thank you."
"What did you say?"
"Nothing..."
"What's there to thank me for? We've been friends for ages."
"Idiot!"
"Huh? This time I really didn't hear you."
"...I said you're handsome."
"Thanks, I think so too."
Tsunade: (⊙⊙) I've never seen such a shameless person.
With their back-and-forth banter, they quickly ascended. Perhaps it was the distraction of conversation, but somehow, Tsunade and Hoshiyomi subtly began to find that unconscious, reactive feeling.
After reuniting with Orochimaru and the others, Tsunade and Hoshiyomi walked around the cave wall a couple of times, truly getting faster and tapping into that instinctive reaction. After about another hour of practice, Tsunade and Hoshiyomi exchanged glances and simultaneously stepped forward, beginning to ascend.
To the astonishment of Orochimaru and the others, Tsunade and Hoshiyomi ascended at a steady and consistent pace. Both focused their attention on the opening above, constantly tracking the trajectory of the pebbles. As the pebbles fell, they easily reacted and dodged them.
The density of the falling pebbles wasn't high to begin with, and with their deliberate anticipation, they reached the 30-meter mark in less than twenty minutes. Tsunade and Hoshiyomi exchanged a smile, then strode confidently towards the entrance. At this point, their speed was no different from walking on flat ground.
Just then, a voice came from above. "Making good progress, aren't we? But next up are rocks!"
Saying that, an egg-sized stone whistled down towards Hoshiyomi.
Hoshiyomi took a deep breath, fixing his gaze on the falling stone and predicting its landing spot. Its landing spot was... his side. After discerning the attack's direction, Hoshiyomi twisted his waist and successfully dodged the stone. He also took a large step upwards, turning to see that Tsunade on the other side had done the same.
Facing the egg-sized stones, the two swiftly ascended. Although an extra step of dodging the stones was added, the overall time didn't increase much. The same went for the shuriken that followed. As long as Hoshiyomi was focused enough, dodging shuriken was no problem, and Homura and the others weren't trying to kill them; the shuriken they threw were light.
Over a distance of ten meters, even with acceleration, the shuriken weren't very fast. Near the top of the pit, Hoshiyomi reached out and caught one, using it to directly block a shuriken aimed at Tsunade.
Without further interference, Tsunade made a final leap to reach the edge of the pit and pulled Hoshiyomi up. Once they climbed out, they leaned against the opening, constantly relaying the key points and warning Jiraiya and the others about Homura's actions. With their tips, Jiraiya and the others also easily passed the test.
Extreme Chakra control training: All passed.
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