CHAPTER 13

.....INHALE…..EXHALE…..INHALE…..exhale

* This is harder than I expected. It hasn't even been two minutes and I'm already exhausted and everything hurts so much. - Yuske felt that if this pain went away, he could repeat the run all over again.

It seemed to him that if he pushed his body to the limit, not only would he be in pain, but it would stop responding altogether and it would be difficult to make a move. In such a case, only a good restorative sleep could bring him back to a vigorous state.

Yuske ran a few more rounds in this manner, taking breaks until the pain subsided, each time exhausting himself even more, but after the third time he stopped, remembering that too much exertion was unacceptable.

Once he was done running, he picked up a few pebbles and began throwing them at a lone tree in the backyard that had a rather not too thick trunk, making the task even more difficult.

The goal was not only to hit the trunk, but also to do so while putting all your strength into each throw, which further reduced accuracy.

Even though his body of a two-year-old child has more strength due to the presence of chakra, and looks a year older, it was still surprising how weak the body of a minor is.

The distance was a little over ten meters (32.8 ft), but the stone was barely reaching, which made him have to turn on his smarts and experiment with the size and heaviness of the stones. Too small and light did not have enough mass to gain the necessary speed, and a stone that was too heavy was difficult to throw. Therefore, the emphasis in throwing was on a medium one, about half a finger size, which was well suited to the success of the task at hand.

It was hard to take this kind of training seriously, considering how silly and casual it looked compared to the training that ninjas over seven years old do, but there was hardly anything to do.

The main purpose of the whole endeavor was to figure out something to keep himself busy while waiting for a few years before he grew up, and to prepare a foundation for future hard and unsparing workouts.

Knowing that Yoshida Hana would be back soon to make lunch, he had to stop practicing beforehand. After she sets the food down for him, she'll take the rest for herself and her husband, since they're having lunch at the store.

Yuske was pleased that today's tasks had been accomplished, and all that remained was to wait for the arrival of the chakra paper.

He had already drawn conclusions for himself about the limits of his own body, and was going to stick to light exercise for an hour or two every day.

Finding out the time of day, and that his mother would be back soon, was not difficult. There was a proven method - to check with the sun, and it was at its zenith, which made the task easier, for the scorching heat of summer was most unbearable at this time of day.

After preparing lunch, Yoshida Hana asked what he was doing, and it was obvious that she noticed his somewhat disheveled appearance. Yuske didn't change his clothes; it would seem too strange if a child gets dirty and upon returning his mother notices that he changed his clothes.

He had to tell the truth, hiding the part with intentional training, and of course all the reasons for performing such actions. As a result, there was a story about how interesting it was to throw pebbles at the tree, while constantly running and picking them up, from which shabby and sweaty look.

Afterward, she returned to the store and left him alone with his thoughts, for the visitation of unrestricted musings nothing can hold.

Yuske knew that he has to plan his actions more carefully and try to conceal himself better. On the other hand, it was within reason to play and get dirty, which is quite ordinary behavior for a child, and maybe such a thing will help Yuske to look like a typical brat: with wind and stupid ideas in his head.

Being a believer of the school of truth it is worth mentioning that in chakra affairs he really turned into a child and was ready to do the most bizarre things, which would seem inappropriate ridiculousness from an outsider's point of view.

In anticipation of the evening and finding his element, and of course to give his body more opportunities to recover, it was decided to take an afternoon break for a soothing and much-needed nap.

The doubts about the futility of training were blown away, because when he woke up, Yuske immediately felt lightness in his entire body and the presence of a little more strength than before. The increase in chakra reserves was most likely to blame, there could be no other explanation.

The youth thought that he needed to confirm his guesses in the future, but realized the difficulty of achieving this phenomenon, for he intended to exercise constantly, but to confirm his guesses he would have to stop all physical exercise for a certain period of time and then start them again. If the chakra volume spikes again, his speculation about the relationship between physical and spiritual energy would be confirmed.

What is remarkable is that the first results are always easier to notice than the following ones, because the body is getting used to the gradual strengthening. A sudden spike in strength is always readily noticeable, in contrast to the absence of any exercise before.

On the other hand, small daily increases in strength are quite difficult to discern, and it is only after a long period of time spent practicing that one can truly notice progress. The body, so to speak, is becoming numb to change, and makes it difficult for the person in question to feel the changes in himself.