Back to Training 2/4

Itama followed Hatsuma as closely as he could as they jumped from branch to branch. The distance between them wasn't far, but the denseness of the tree made her body barely visible. With an annoyed look Itama followed along, he came close to activating his speed release a few times but always decided against it. He didn't know how difficult his upcoming training would be and didn't want to waste his stamina trying to play catch up. Even if the drain would be minuscule, it wasn't worth it in his eyes.

So for the next half an hour, the two ran like that through the trees. Hatsuma's blurry figure is in the lead, with an annoyed Itama following far behind. By this point, the two were around 20 miles away from the Senju compound. Far enough away to practice without care, and close enough to get back in case something happened. After finding the distance to her liking, Hatsuma looked for a decent-sized clearing in the woods.

They searched around for another minute or so before she found a spot close to a river that she thought would work.

The two appeared in the empty clearing near the river, Hatsuma dropped the bags on the ground and Itama did the same thing next to her.

Itama looked around at the scenery of the area. It wasn't anything special, there was a river, some rocks, and trees. It wasn't exactly a picturesque area, but it was quiet and not too open. That's all that mattered.

"Honestly, Sensei, I thought we would be going somewhere cooler than this."

"Sorry to disappoint. Anyway, let's get started. Here, put this on your forehead and use your chakra to keep it there." she handed him a leaf from one of the trees.

'The famous leaf training method, huh? Ok, I can do this' Itama nodded with determination before placing the leaf on his forehead and using his chakra to hold it in place.

After a few seconds, Itama had gotten a good rhythm going and was keeping the leaf completely stationary. He had his full focus on the leaf, causing him to not notice the foot coming towards his face, sending him flying into one of the trees. Leaving the leaf now floating in the air.

Hatsuma grabbed the leaf out of the air and looked at Itama who looked up at her.

"What the hell, sensei! I was doing what you told me!" he rubbed his back while standing up.

Hatsuma nodded, "Yes, but who told you to keep your full focus on the leaf? Who said you are safe here?"

"Huh? Your joking right Sensei? How can I fight you while trying to keep the leaf on my head!?"

"Figure it out" she flicked the leaf in his direction, and before he could register, it embedded itself into the tree behind him.

"Pull the leaf out and stick it to your forehead again. Last five seconds, and we will be done with this." she widened her base, her legs tensing.

"Dammit!" Itama pulled the stiff leaf out of the tree and placed it back on his forehead and circulated his chakra again. The leaf stuck to his face immediately, and he focused on trying to keep it there.

Just as he got control of the leaf, he saw, out of the corner of his eyes, his sensei's left food coming toward his face. Itama quickly ducked his head and sped forward out of her range. He quickly turned around and faced her, and his eyes widened in shock when he saw the leaf in her hands. He quickly felt on his forehead and realized it wasn't there anymore.

"At least you dodged the attack this time. Again." she flicked her wrist and the leaf landed just before his feet.

Itama sighed before picking the leaf up and placing it back on his head. Like last time, as soon as he got comfortable, a kick flew toward his face. He jumped back out of the way instead of ducking. He felt the wind from the kick on his face as he backed up. Seeing that he didn't get hit from the first attack, Itama quickly checked his forehead. He sighed out in relief from feeling the leaf still on his head.

"Pay Attention!" he heard a shout from behind him, and the next thing he knew he had a mouth full of dirt.

"Ugh pfpf pf. At least let me celebrate a little" he spat out the dirt in his mouth.

"Get up" Hatsuma commanded.

Itama shakily stood up and wiped the dirt from his body. He picked the leaf up out of the dirt and put it back on his forehead. Once the leaf settled he immediately focused on his surroundings allowing him to dodge the kick coming from his stomach.

He jumped back from the kick, he didn't bother to check the leaf, instead focusing on his sensei who was already rushing him. She threw a right punch to his gut, and Itama redirected the attack to pass just by his side. After using the seventh hell, he tried to back away. But before he could get away with it, Hatsuma used the momentum from her missed attack to spin and attack him with a spinning backhanded fist.

Itama's eyes widened as he saw the fist coming toward him, he moved his arm up to block the attack. With a thud, the fist connected to his arms, pushing him a few feet back.

'That's unnecessary' he complained while shaking his numb arm.

He quickly felt for the leaf and smiled when he felt it. Before he could even smile, Hatsuma attacked him with a left low kick aimed at his feet. Itama jumped over the attack with a smile forming on his face. But that smile quickly went away when he saw his sensei quickly bring her foot back to the ground with a stomp that cracked the earth and with a twist of her hips hit him flush in his stomach with her right arm.

Itama's eyes bulged out as his stomach caved in from the fist. Spit flew out of his mouth as he flew into a tree on the border of the forest. The tree cracked from the force of the impact. Itama slid down the tree and slumped into a fetal position.

"You Passed. I'll let you rest for a few minutes, and then we will start with your Speed Release." She walked off into the bags and began to prepare the things she would need.

Itama looked up at his sensei with eyes filled with anger. But his attention was pulled elsewhere due to the leaf that slowly floated down in front of his eyes. He looked in disbelief as he watched the leaf float down. Soon a wide smile formed on his face that quickly turned into laughter.

"Hahaha, ow ow ow. Ok no laughing for a while" Itama laid on the ground and held his aching stomach. A wide smile still plastered on his face.