Water Walking and Tree Climbing

The morning air in Konoha Village was exceptionally fresh, pleasing both body and mind. Unlike his previous life, where everything had been covered in smog and even the sky had been gray and hazy, though perhaps he had gradually grown used to that environment after living in it for so long.

Xuan Ye squeezed through the bustling crowd and strolled to the training spot he had found yesterday. It was on the outskirts of Konoha Village.

After walking for more than ten minutes, Xuan Ye arrived at the place where he had trained yesterday. Because he was wearing weights, his steps were still a little unsteady, but they were much better than yesterday.

Since it was early morning, the leaves were covered in dew. Birds chirped throughout the forest, while fish and shrimp still swam back and forth in the little stream. The place was brimming with life, lifting his spirits as well.

"Uh, this is the place. I'll be training here for a while. Today, I'll start with Chakra Control."

Xuan Ye walked to the edge of the little stream, and the fish and shrimp in the water scattered away in fright.

Once he reached the stream, Xuan Ye closed his eyes and tried to direct Chakra to the soles of his feet. After gathering it there, he slowly stepped toward the stream.

Xuan Ye extended one foot and stepped onto the water. Since he had already directed Chakra to the sole of his foot, he did not sink when his foot touched the surface. He simply floated on the water.

"So this is Water Walking? It feels pretty good. It seems quite easy. Could I be a genius with exceptional talent for Chakra Control?" Xuan Ye let his thoughts run wild.

Soon, his other foot stepped onto the stream as well.

Splash.

Xuan Ye suddenly lost control of his Chakra, and his whole foot plunged into the water. A few droplets splashed onto his face. The stream water was freezing cold in the early morning, making him shiver.

Xuan Ye raised a hand and wiped the stream water from his face. He helplessly glanced at his soaked pants and wet shoes. "I should've taken off my shoes before practicing Water Walking. Then they wouldn't have gotten wet."

"Looks like Water Walking, one of the basic techniques every ninja has to train in, isn't as easy as I thought. The moment I failed to control the amount of Chakra properly, my foot went straight into the water."

But when Xuan Ye thought of how Sasuke and Naruto had seemed to spend several days mastering it in the anime from his previous life, he felt that his talent was not too bad. Even those two protagonists had taken that long.

"Ding-dong. Host failed Water Walking. Chakra Control +5." (Maximum: 10,000)

Holy crap, the system can even turn Water Walking into process proficiency? And failing can increase proficiency too? If failure gives five points, then success must give even more. It probably won't take long for this Chakra Control thing to reach its maximum.

With that thought, he encouraged himself and patiently continued trying dozens more times.

Time slowly passed as he practiced Water Walking. By then, the sun had gradually climbed toward the center of the sky, and the temperature in the area began to rise under its rays.

Although there were many towering trees here, they could not completely block the sunlight. Strands of light always filtered through the gaps between the leaves and fell onto Xuan Ye.

Before long, Xuan Ye began to sweat, and tiny beads of perspiration appeared on his forehead.

"I finally did it!" After who knew how many failures, he had finally managed to control his Chakra and stand steadily on the surface of the stream with both feet. It felt different from standing on solid ground, as though he were stepping on something soft.

Although maintaining it was still strenuous, he could genuinely stand on the water now. Xuan Ye was extremely excited.

Xuan Ye learned from the system that his Chakra Control proficiency had already surpassed three thousand. If this Chakra Control reached its maximum, then controlling Chakra probably would no longer cause any unnecessary waste.

Moreover, in the original anime, even Sakura, who had extremely powerful Chakra Control, had spent quite some time mastering this here. Yet he had succeeded so quickly, already able to use Chakra to stand steadily on the water.

After successfully standing on the water, Xuan Ye walked across its surface for a while longer. However, because he had only just mastered it and his proficiency was still low, he nearly fell into the stream several times.

But once he had successfully learned that method of Chakra Control, his Chakra Control proficiency rose higher and higher. Xuan Ye also became increasingly skilled at walking on water. From afar, it looked as if he were walking on level ground.

After getting used to the basic training of Water Walking, Xuan Ye went ashore and used Chakra to dry his dripping wet pants and shoes.

After drying his shoes and pants, he prepared to try tree climbing, another form of training that could improve Chakra Control. But after already mastering Water Walking, tree climbing, which was much the same, did not seem very difficult.

Tree climbing was similar to Water Walking. Chakra was directed to the soles of the feet, but instead of standing on water, one used one's feet to adhere to a tree and walk upward. As long as one did not fall, it counted as success.

Xuan Ye walked up to a tree around five or six meters tall. The principles behind Water Walking and tree climbing were the same: release Chakra through the soles of the feet and stick to the tree like suction cups.

He quickly began his first attempt at tree climbing. On that very first try, Xuan Ye easily climbed from the base of the tree to its highest point. He was not surprised that he had reached the top so quickly.

Most of the credit for mastering Water Walking and tree climbing with Chakra so quickly probably went to the system. Whether he failed or succeeded, the system increased his Chakra Control proficiency. Failure simply gave less proficiency, while successfully standing on water increased it much faster.

The remaining small part still depended on his own effort. The system merely assisted him in becoming strong more easily. If he did not work hard at training, then no matter how heaven-defying the system was, it could not make him strong.

After successfully climbing to the top, Xuan Ye climbed the tree several more times. Each climb increased his Chakra Control proficiency by quite a bit.

"System, how much Chakra Control proficiency do I have now?"

"Ding-dong. Current Chakra Control proficiency has reached 5,100 points."

"Already 5,100 proficiency points? It looks like I can max out this Chakra Control proficiency today and see whether the system gives me any benefits afterward."

Xuan Ye let his imagination run wild. After all, he had played plenty of games in his previous life and knew that when something's proficiency reached its maximum, there were usually some rewards. He just did not know whether this system would give him any rewards.