Inside the Makade courtyard, sitting in front of a tree, Ashura sat in the lotus position in deep concentration.
He found that this helped him immensely when it came to focusing on his chakra and it even helped him when thinking.
And right now he needed all the help he could get.
A few more moments went by before Ashura's face scrunched up in aggravation as he scowled at the stupid tree in front of him.
I lied, Foliage is definitely not your friend!!!! I've been trying to climb this stupid tree all day and it's apparently it's allergic to me.
He exhaled, as he looked over at his smirking father who seemed to be getting a kick out of his frustration.
Ashura gave him a short glare before looking back to the tree.
After his father's earlier demonstration of using chakra to climb the tree he had initially been excited about having his ability to adhere to objects restored, however his father refused to tell him or Kakashi exactly how to do it, wanting them to figure it out instead.
BOOOM!
Ashura shifted his glance lazily toward the flying grey speck.
"Agghh….damn." Kakashi said, as the tree bark exploded from under his feet and threw him from the tree.
He corrected himself midair in a fluid motion and slashed the tree with a kunai to mark his progress.
He landed on the ground with a roll and popped back up.
"You've been at it for hours now, just running up the tree isn't going to work." Ashura said with an eye roll at his masked friend.
"Well I've made it a lot higher than you have blondie, so I must be doing just fine. "Kakashi said with an eye smile, as he picked up his kunai and dashed at the tree again.
"Bakakashi…" Ashura said under his breath while sticking his tongue out.
He then once again shifted back to the tree staring at it frustration.
During the 5 hours that they had been at it Kakashi had made it three-fourths the way up the tree while Ashura had only made it halfway.
Ashura wasn't content with just mindlessly running up the tree and wanted to take a break to understand exactly how his chakra reacted with the tree.
He had already come to the conclusion that if he used too much chakra he'd get thrown from the tree and if he used too little, he wouldn't stick at all.
It was finding the happy medium that was annoying him.
In his past life he never had to think about sticking to walls, he just did it naturally. It had been second nature, just like breathing to him.
As he sat pondering, a kunai flew through the air and landed beside him. It wasn't thrown to hurt him so it didn't trigger his spider sense.
He looked up to where it was thrown from and saw Kakashi standing at the top of the tree giving him a smug look and wave.
"Oh looks like you've made it to the top, good job Kakashi. Guess that makes the score six to five, huh Ashura?" Kiyoshi teased as he thoroughly enjoyed seeing his son struggle with something. For a while there he was starting to wonder if his little prodigy was even human.
"I haven't lost, I just don't want to do it that way…" Ashura frowned, as he threw the kunai at his father.
Which he caught effortlessly as he stuck his pointer finger inside of the finger ring letting it spin round and round till it lost momentum.
"Show off.." Ashura said as he turned back to the tree in front of him.
Maybe he was just over complicating it.
Maybe he should just use Kakashi's method….
He glanced back up to see Kakashi still looking at him smugly as he was now sitting down on the uppermost branch swinging his legs.
A tick mark appeared on Ashura's forehead.
That's it, screw it!! If that's how you wanna play Scarecrow I'll show you why no one challenges a spider to a climbing contest!
Ashura huffed in annoyance as he stood from his lotus position and placed both hands on the tree in front of him and concentrated.
Okay this is your area of expertise, your turf. This kids got nothing on you.
Ashura inhaled deeply and exhaled as he focused completely on the feeling of his hands on the tree.
Kiyoshi raised an eyebrow at his son's actions.
"What are you up to now Ashura…" he whispered to himself.
Ashura's mind drifted to the first time he had ever wall climbed in his past life. The feeling of defying gravity. The feeling of doing what no man could. The feeling of freedom.
While this was going on, In the tree above, Kakashi's smirk dropped as he watched his rival's strange actions.
It was soon replaced by a look of confusion as he suddenly got a foreboding feeling.
While Kakashi was going through his mini crisis in the tree above Ashura let the feelings he felt fill him and started to climb in the only way he knew how.
Kiyoshi's jaw dropped as he watched his son start to climb up the tree.
He then moved closer to determine exactly how he was performing this feat.
He isn't gripping the bark with his hands and feet…but instead using chakra!
It was a feat that could be replicated by any shinobi but his son just was using a more advanced form of what he was supposed to.
Distributing chakra to the soles of your feet and using just enough to match the tree's equilibrium was already hard enough, however his son was also using his finger tips at the same time.
The Chakra control for his age is terrifying….
"I-I'm doing it!!!" Ashura cried while crawling quickly up the tree with practiced ease.
"Beat that Bakakashi." Peter said to the shocked boy, as he reached the branch Kakashi was sitting on.
"Well done son a little bit more complicated than what I showed you but to each his own I guess."Kiyoshi said, still astonished.
"Well done indeed, kukukuku." A voice said from behind Kiyoshi, ending in a chilling chuckle.
Kiyoshi whipped around his hanf automatically going for a strike.
"Wha- oh Lord Orochimaru I wasn't expecting you to drop by." Kiyoshi let out as he started to visibly relax.
A pale man with long dark hair and snake like facial features was standing before his father.
"Kukukuku, Sensei told me to stop by and test young Ashura. He's neck deep in paperwork and it doesn't look like he'll be finished anytime soon." Orochimaru replied, while shooting an interesting glance in Ashura's direction.
Ashura couldn't help but feel a shiver run down his spine.
"Oh, well that's understandable." Kiyoshi responded while rubbing his chin.
"Ashura, come here. I have someone I want you to meet."
"Also, You can go home now Kakashi, your father should be arriving back in the village soon."
Oh goody…..Ashura thought to himself, as he looked at Kakashi for help.
"Not on your life Sunshine." Kakashi replied, as he jumped off the branch and landed on the courtyard walls.
He then turned back to look at Ashura and gave him an eye smile and mock salute before running off in the direction of his house.
"Oh the force is strong with this one.." Ashura muttered to himself as he made his descent down from the tree.
He soon arrived next to his father and the stranger dubbed Lord Orochimaru.
Kiyoshi couldn't help but smile at the two boys' antics.
"Now, Ashura, this is Lord Orochimaru, one of the three Sannin trained under the Hokage."
'Trained under the Hokage!'
"In fact, he may very well indeed be the next Hokage." Kiyoshi said matter of factly.
Ashura couldn't help but feel shocked at this. In front of him stands the next Hokage…And here he was badmouthing the guy in his thoughts…
"Kukukuku, we will see Kiyoshi. Orochimaru replied with a hint of a smile on his face.
"Hello there young Ashura. I was informed by my Sensei that you have a sort of "danger sense," and I am here to test its limits." The man said, with his amber eyes staring into Ashura's.
'Woah even his eyes are slit! I feel like I'm looking into the eyes of a viper..'
"H-hello Lord Orochimaru-Sa-
"Tut tut tut." Orochimaru stopped him with a finger wag.
"Call me Sensei, I insist." The pale man let out with a smile on his face.
"Okay, Orochimaru-Sensei." Ashura corrected.
"Hmmmm….Kukukuku… that'll have to do I suppose.
Now I will do some simple tests to distinguish the extent of your ability and determine whether or not it's just heightened instinct or a kind of Kekkei Genkai." Orochimaru informed.
"Now grab onto me and I will take you to training ground seven."
"I would like to come as well, Orochimaru." A voice sounded from the courtyard wall.
"Sakumo, back so soon? You seem to be growing stronger and stronger by the day." Orochimaru let out with a chuckle.
"I try my best,'' Sakumo said with a smile.
Kakashi emerged from behind his father with his hands in his pockets trying to pretend that he wasn't glowing with excitement that his father was home.
"Well it wouldn't hurt if you both knew." Kiyoshi spoke.
He then looked at Orochimaru.
"Kukukuku," he chortled.
"The more the merrier." The Snake Sannin replied, as he held out his arm for Ashura to grab.
Ashura looked at it for a moment before sighing.
'Well…here goes nothing..' he thought to himself, as he grabbed onto Orochimaru's arm. Both of them disappearing in a swirl of leaves.