For the Genin who needed to pass the finals of the third exam, the month was both a precious opportunity to improve and a source of immense pressure. Their respective jōnin instructors had all devised grueling training plans for the students in their charge.
Kakashi had dumped Naruto on Ebisu to focus on the chakra-control problems caused by the Five Elements Seal. Then Jiraiya had picked him up, removed the seal, and had him sign a contract with Mount Myōboku. Though the training was sheer misery, Naruto made rapid progress.
Kakashi took Sasuke somewhere secluded to train him in Chidori and prepare him to deal with the Cursed Seal. Kakashi knew full well that Orochimaru was after Sasuke; he had to give him the ability to protect himself at critical moments, or even fight back. The roar of thunder and Sasuke's stifled panting often echoed across the training ground.
Ling's training, meanwhile, was even more secretive and arduous.
Deep within Training Ground Seven, a waterfall thundered.
At Ling's fingertips, azure pure-water chakra flowed, traced patterns, and condensed with unprecedented speed and precision! The immensely complex foundational formula for the Flying Thunder God was gradually transforming from a blurry image of light into a stable, clearly defined form!
[Stability! Hold it steady! Imagine that what it needs to cross isn't space, but the distance between your fingertips and the water's surface! Compress your sense of space!] Tobirama's voice was like that of the harshest taskmaster, utterly merciless.
Veins bulged at Ling's temples, and sweat dripped constantly from his chin. The strain of such intense concentration far exceeded his physical exhaustion. The arcane formula trembled and warped at his fingertips, yet stubbornly held together, its duration rising from three seconds to five... gradually approaching ten!
Pfft-
In the end, it still collapsed.