Was it raining? Slowly opening his eyes and sitting up in bed, Chiba rubbed his bleary eyes. Urged on by the pattering rain at his ears, he glanced out the window and gradually woke up.
Then, he looked up at the clock.
7:50.
"It's already this late."
As he got dressed, Chiba looked at the curtain of rain outside and slowly climbed out of bed.
I stayed up a little too late yesterday.
Still, the progress on the Curse Mark Jutsu made staying up worthwhile.
That thought crossed his mind.
Although he had gone to bed rather late yesterday, leaving him with lingering drowsiness even after gradually waking up, his efforts over the entire night had given him a fairly proficient grasp of all the patterns and symbols of the Curse Mark Jutsu. If he stayed up a little later tonight, he should be able to begin training in using Chakra to construct the Curse Mark Jutsu's pattern symbols. The progress was undeniably fast.
Still, that was hardly surprising. Sealing Jutsu also required calligraphy practice, and after drawing so many sealing scrolls since beginning his studies in Sealing Jutsu, Chiba was no longer the beginner who could barely hold a brush steady. He had even reached a respectable level. Though the Curse Mark Jutsu's pattern symbols belonged to a different system from Tadpole Script, they were somewhat similar. It was like writing cursive after becoming accustomed to regular script—perhaps not even as difficult as switching from regular script to Slender Gold script. For Chiba to gain a fairly proficient command of them in a single night was perfectly normal.
"Chiba, get up already! How long are you planning to sleep? You have to be at the Hokage Building by eight twenty. Did you forget?"
Just then, Kushina's not particularly loud