"Go!" with a massive jump, "Crack!" they landed horizontally, and within a heartbeat, they started racing towards the top of the cliff.
"Give it up. I will win." Kudo smirked, controlling his chakra flow to maintain consistent pressure while running up. The three of them were level as they rose 10 feet into the air. Kudo suddenly extended his arms, causing Ai and Enya to divert sideways, wary of sabotage. "Tsk," Ai threw him a glare, "If that's how you want, then," "Fire style: Scorching ray." A beam of ire shot out haphazardly as they made their way up.
"Hahaha, this is fun!" Kudo sprinted ahead, opening a gap, "No, you don't!" Enya slammed his hands together, "Earth style: Earth Pulse." Beneath their feet, the earth moved like water, throwing their balance off.
"Stop playing around!" Takao shouted from the bottom.
"My turn!" Kudo grinned, taking in a mouthful of air, "Water style: Exploding water bullet jutsu!" A bullet of water shot out, ascending and then mid-air, "Boom!" The water bullet exploded, water falling like rain. "Kudo you stupid idiot!" Ai screamed as water washed down the cliff, making it slippery. "I will get you for this," Enya said as he made the tiger seal, focusing more chakra into his legs to get more grip.
"These fools." Takao shook his head, 'Though I have never seen that jutsu before.' His gaze was focused on Kudo as he rushed forward, skimming along the cliff. 'He must be gifted to improve on a jutsu like that. Its power is fully at rank C but limited in destructive capability. He might truly rival Lord Second in the future.' Takao's thoughts ran amok observing his students. They were truly talented; most of the jutsus, like earth hardening, quicksand, water bullet, scorching ray, were D-rank jutsus meant to teach elemental transformation of chakra, and his students were solid in that area. Very few knew jutsu that involved chakra that changed in form like the Rasengan.
Atop the cliff, Ai stepped on the cliff first, but her arms held Kudo back as Enya joined in. "This is not fair!" Kudo yelled. "It is fair, since the sensei didn't say anything," Enya replied. Eventually, Kudo arrived in third place on the cliff top.
"Stop playing around and get down here. Repeat tree-walking again, but this time no nonsense." Takao's glare reached from the bottom.
Looking down, it's just a steep distance with the cliff wall barely in sight. Kudo stepped first, rushing ahead. "You can't stop me this time!" he shouted. "Hahaha." He jogged down the wall, with Ai and Enya trailing behind him.
'I wish I could go faster.' Kudo thought of racing down the cliff wall, but he knew he wasn't ready for that. Reaching the bottom, he somersaulted onto the ground, avoiding the pit of quicksand. Ai and Enya likewise didn't fall in.
"You surely took your time, because of that, there won't be any break. We will continue to the last exercise. Water walking. Let's go."
"But sensei-", "No. If you don't arrive within 5 seconds. I will extend the session." Takao walked faster as the students rushed to keep up. "Man, this is all your fault, Kudo," Enya grumbled, rubbing his stomach. "What?! No way-" "Kudo, I swear if you don't shut up." Ai spoke with her hand, slicing her neck in a friendly gesture.
A few minutes later, they stood near a lake that stretched a few kilometers, water glazing in sun rays as a few fish swam about.
"Ai, this is proof that Sensei thinks about you. Imagine if you meditate and reflect on yourself here, perhaps you might get married—Ouch-ouch-Let go!" Kudo shrieked while Ai pulled his ear. "Shut up, you fool!" "Thwack," She kicked him and chased while Kudo tried to escape.
"The two of you…" Takao rubbed his temple, "Knock it off, let's begin. Your task is to walk 100 meters on top of the lake and come back. Of course, I will push you to your limits." Takao said, grabbing Kudo and Ai by their nape and hurling them towards the lake.
"Run!" Takao shouted while doing hand seals, "Water style; great waterfall jutsu." A tempest of water met the calm lake water, causing swirling waves as his student raced towards the 100-meter mark.
"Sensei is definitely trying to kill us!" Kudo shouted as he ran. Waves came crashing towards them, causing them to focus their chakra so they wouldn't fall in the water.
"By the way, if any of you falls in the water, then we start over!" Takao's chakra-infused words reached them from the shore.
"If it weren't for you guys, we wouldn't be so dead right now," Enya spoke, trying to stop himself from puking from the motion sickness. "Keep moving." Ai yelled from the front, 'If we reach the mark, the wave will be less.' She thought, feeling her half-depleted chakra reserves.
After 10 minutes of chaotic movement, they finally reached the 100-meter mark in the latter, "Do we really need to go back? Guys?" Kudo asked, looking at his sensei from the shore, grinning at them.
"Yes," Ai replied, taking out a rope, "we will move as one, we gotta make sure we don't fall, or we have to do this again." Kudo and Enya nodded, taking the rope.
Over at the shore;
"Come to me, little pups," Takao flashed a maniacal grin, his hand flashing in impossible to see as he gazed on his student running towards him.
"Water style; Rampant current" "Wind style: Howling winds"
'Combination jutsu; Severing whirlpool' 'Let's see how you handle this little pubs.' The jutsu was a signature jutsu of his that he had been trying to develop for a while. He was still working on launching both jutsu simultaneously.
Over in the lake;
Kudo, Ai, and Enya looked at the whirlpool and tornado dancing on top of each other, hurling the lake like paper as they moved towards them, gradually becoming a monster linking the sky and lake, drawing clouds.
"Well, damn, he really is trying to kill us," Enya whistled, "You think!" Ai barked, looking at the ominous jutsu.