Chapter 175: Making Progress

"Ami! Stop trying to brute force your chakra; it takes finesse and control, not power! Sakura, stop gloating at Ino and move onto the next exercise! By the Sage..."

Rubbing at my temples, I sighed as I looked over the girls assembled in front of me, each of them working on various chakra exercises now that we had finished our warmups and normal Taijutsu practices, but...

Well, it was a mixed basket of emotions, that I could say with certainty.

Some of the girls were just... okay with their chakra techniques, like Tenten, Kasumi, and Midori, while others were excellent with their chakra, like Hinata, Sakura, Ino and the twins Aki and Ika.

That left just Fuki and Ami, who were both struggling a little with the more precise requirements I had for my students, the two girls heavily favoring the physicality of being a Kunoichi more than anything else, which included their newly discovered dislike of chakra.

They could complete basic jutsu's given some time and quiet, but when I placed them under more pressing circumstances or had them try to do it quickly, they both failed to complete the jutsu's in a rather... surprising manner.

Which was also why I was glaring at the purpled haired girl as she tried - and failed - to activate a Henge by flooding her body with chakra and weaving the signs needed.

"Ami! For the love of..! Stop with the full flood of chakra, and send it out in bursts! Each sign needs a certain amount of chakra before it activates! Come on, do it again!"

She just glared at me before doing it again, her hands blurring as she tried to do it quickly as well, making me sigh as her frustration bubbled over to me as well.

Grabbing her wrist, I stopped her and said "Slowly. Do one sign, then the next. I know you can physically make the signs, but without chakra they're just fancy looking movements. Take a deep breath, and calm down."

Ami frowned as her chakra refused to flow through her hands, my fingers pinching specific points that stymied the flow and made her focus on me.

"Alright, now try again, but slowly this time. Dog... Boar... Ram..!"

She completed the hand signs as I said them, and I smiled wryly as I watched the small girl go from... well, a small girl to a mature woman, copying my appearance rather well and standing in front of me, her hands still clasped together.

Looking her over, I nodded at her and looked back towards her face as she dropped the jutsu, her brown eyes determined as I said "Do it again, same speed. Keep it up, and focus on completing it a few more times, alright? Then we can work on speeding it up... Not everything in life can be completed with brute force Ami, remember that."

I left the purpled haired child behind as I approached Fuki, who was frowning as she stared down at the leaf resting in her palm.

Crouching down, I stared at the girl with wine red hair for a moment before lifting the leaf and gently pressing it against her wrist, startling her back to awareness.

"Focus on the pressure, alright? Close your eyes, and focus on what you feel... Nod when you feel it..."

She nodded as soon as she closed her eyes, making me chuckle silently and half roll my eyes as I waited another few seconds to say "Now, guide your chakra to this point. Not a lot, but not too little... try to cover this portion of your skin in chakra, and hold the leaf."

Fuki screwed her eyes shut completely as she concentrated, until eventually the leaf was left to stick to her wrist.

Pulling my finger away, I didn't say anything and counted in my head for a few seconds more, where I then said "Open your eyes. Keep your chakra there, alright?"

Blinking, she stared at me for a moment then turned towards her wrist, her mind quickly processing that she was - in fact - now holding that leaf there entirely on her own, though it did flutter away after a few more seconds.

But, that was progress, and I smiled at her as I said "Do it again, and make sure to feel it on your skin before sticking it there with chakra. When you can keep it there for a minute, try to stick it to your skin without pressure."

She nodded, taking the leaf from the ground and placing it back on her wrist, her eyes closing shut as she restarted the exercise.

I got up and began to move around again, tutoring each of my students individually even as time slowly wound down for our independent class, making sure that they all had made some progress during their time with me and giving them some more pointers before we were joined by Iruka and all of the boys.

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Just a heads up, this is likely getting pushed back to a once a week upload, or at least an upload before ten days elapses between chapters.

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