The three days of preparation did not begin with hand seals.
When Takuya brought them to the training ground, there were only six white lines drawn on the ground. The lines had been scattered with lime powder, uneven in thickness, and the edges of two had already been blown apart by the wind. Kiyo stood before them for a long time, looking increasingly uneasy.
"Teacher," he said, "I thought we were practicing chakra sensing today."
"We are," Takuya said.
"Then why does the ground look like it's drying noodles?"
Morita Yu murmured, "Did you seriously not eat enough breakfast?"
Takuya did not explain much. He simply had everyone take off their outer shoes and stand behind the first line. The ground still held the chill of early spring. The moment Che's bare feet touched it, he felt tiny grains of sand pressing into his skin. The wind swept in from one side of the training ground, carrying the dry scent of lime powder into his nose and making him want to rub it.
"First assessment item: basic physical fitness," Takuya said. "When most people hear physical fitness, they only think of running fast and jumping high. Today, we're training the soles of your feet first."
Kiyo looked down at his feet. "They've been working very hard lately."
"That's why you need to know where they are."
The rules were simple: walk along the six white lines without scattering them, crossing them, or looking down for more than three breaths. After finishing each line, they had to describe the differences in the ground their feet had felt. Sand, mud, the thickness of the lime, powder blown in by the wind, footprints left by the person before them—it all counted.
It did not sound like ninja training so much as being forced