[Uchiha Umetaro]

[Training for Act of Tree Climbing, D Rank Ninjutsu]
Umetaro had recently gotten in the habit of climbing trees. They were the perfect vantage point with which to spy on people. Humans weren’t conditioned to look up, and in that lack of awareness was untapped potential for fear.

And ghosts liked high places, right? After all, they could float and were incorporeal, why would they stay bound to the ground? If Umetaro could learn to fly or float ominously, why would he never touch the ground again! There were so many mobility options if you could do that.

But, for now, he was content to drop out of trees menacingly when it suited his purposes. He would learn to float once we figured out the particulars of becoming incorporeal and like smoke. Small steps towards enlightenment, he had to remind himself. One step at a time.

Supposedly there was a technique that allowed ninja to walk up trees and other vertical surfaces with ease. That would certainly make his life a lot easier, but he didn’t know how it worked.

But he knew someone who likely did.

And so there he was, hanging around the Hokage’s Estate, waiting for one Yamanaka Tomomi, a known spooky person. Maybe they'd help.

[Yamanaka Tomomi]

Another busy day. Maybe they should stop thinking of it that way, considering every day was like this. Another… day. That sounded so drab, but it was the case. Oh well. Tomomi packs up their things and heads out of the estate, ready to travel home. On their way out, they pick up a familiar chakra signature. Someone they’ve seen a decent amount of lately.

They pause in their tracks, looking around and feigning a shiver. "Ooh, I feel like someone is watching me,” they joke. "I hope it’s not a specter.” Now where is Umetaro hanging around? He’s probably either already practicing a technique trying to hide, or waiting for a chance to ask for help with something else.

Once they actually start looking, it doesn’t take Tomomi particularly long to seek out Umetaro’s chosen perch. They elect not to do anything sneaky or surprise him and just approach in a straightforward way.

"Ah, I see it is a ghost of a certain sort,” Tomomi greets. "Have you come back to do some more filing or do you need a favor?” They ask, putting their hands on their hips and looking around, trying to spot any pranks/traps Umetaro may have set up.

[Uchiha Umetaro]

"I am trying to become more… spooky,” Umetaro said, and nodded his head vigorously. "I would like to learn the ways of the spider. The way of the pond skater can come later, of course.”

He had mentioned this to someone recently. The ways of the spider: walking up walls, seeing from many angles, creating webs and traps… All things that intrigued Umetaro, but none of which were his current focus. But there were all sorts of spooky things to learn, and the Hokage’s Assistant knew all about them. Of course, being spooky was part and parcel of being near Kawai Niko and her spies but… This Tomomi person was more approachable. They seemed to be willing to impart knowledge on occasion, even if they sometimes used it to work with Umetaro’s sworn enemies.

But, a tool was a tool. And Umetaro planned on utilizing what he could get.

"I have tried learning the way of the spider through the body flicker,” Umetaro said, and nodded along as he talked. "But it was wholly different. I ended up just slamming my head into the wall instead of walking up it… So my approach is incorrect. But both would involve moving chakra across the body, would they not?”

[Yamanaka Tomomi]

The way of the spider and the way of the pond skater. Naturally, that meant tree walking and water walking. Had none of Umetaro’s team leaders over the years bothered to teach him? With all the jumping around he had done it made some sense, but it did make Tomomi want to review some files.

"They do,” Tomomi confirms. "You actually learned them somewhat out of order. People usually learn the tree walking technique first, then the body flicker later.” They say, putting up first one finger, then the other. "You may have picked up some "bad” habits from the body flicker that are making it more difficult to perform the technique.”

There are some good trees to practice on on the third training grounds, which aren’t too far from the estate. It’s not long of a walk to get there, so they start to head in that direction.

"I can show you how to do it. I’ll have to actually observe you to guess what you’re doing wrong, but my guess is that you’re putting out too much chakra,” they explain. "You tend to get overzealous. It’s a good trait because it makes you eager to learn, but it’s also a weakness, because you sometimes get ahead of yourself. Like when I taught you the flicker and you launched yourself through the air the first time.”

[Uchiha Umetaro]

Too much chakra, huh. That made sense. The Uchiha were all about burning bright, after all. Fire required a lot of chakra to use properly. Breaking through the illusion of solidity certainly was a lot of work. But to work with that illusion of reality was certainly not a matter that came to Umetaro easily.

"Mmmm, mmm,” Umetaro sounded as he nodded his head aggressively once more. "Yes, I remember that.”

He had gotten in the habit of using the Body Flicker whenever he thought it was appropriate, which was all the time and always. When would you not want to turn into a ghostly afterimage for fun and profit?

"So, how does it work?” Umetaro asked as they walked. "It can’t be just like the body flicker but with less chakra. That’s much too simple for a spider.”

Spiders were crafty creatures, skilled in ways humans couldn’t begin to understand. But they tried to fathom the complex patterns weaved in their webs, and sometimes walked away with greater understanding. This technique was proof of that. The trick was in figuring out what lessons you were meant to learn, and what were beyond your comprehension. It was a skill that Umetaro felt he was developing, but it was a struggle for even the greatest of minds the world had ever seen.

[Yamanaka Tomomi]

"Do you know how a spider climbs?" Tomomi asks. "All those little hairs on their legs. They distribute pressure across them and use them to grip. With all that friction, it stops them from sliding down the wall. It's a very interesting biological feature, just one of their many interesting talents," they explain.

The field is busy with trainees as usual. Tomomi maneuvers around them to find a suitable tree, tall and sturdy without many lower branches in the way. It makes the climb trickier because of having few places to rest, but it's the best way to learn.

"Our goal is to emulate that with chakra. We don't want to output it all over our body because it's wasteful and might throw us off the tree if we don't balance it carefully. So we start with just the soles of our feet."

He stops to breathe in, then out slowly, something he always feels the need to demonstrate when he exercises chakra control. It's how he does it in the field, even if he never pauses to do it like this.

"You focus like I taught you before, but instead of letting the chakra bloom outwards around your whole body, you want it to sink down, down into your feet."

[Uchiha Umetaro]

"Okay, feet, like a spider, got it,” Umetaro said, and nodded twice. That was certainly an interesting thing to note, that spiders can do things humans can’t even without chakra! It proves that humans really needed that edge in order to strive towards mastery and enlightenment.

Animals supposedly could use chakra as well, but Umetaro had never met one that did. Unless, of course, they had met one of the many kitsune spies Kawai Niko keeps on retainer to devour disobedient ninja. But you could never know whether someone you met was a kitsune or not, so it didn’t seem productive to dwell on it too much when there was more interesting work to be done.

Umetaro sized up the tree. There was a tree about this height in the graveyard, actually. It was certainly a good hiding place from the rest of the world. This technique would help him find even better places, it seemed.

But first, chakra control. That was certainly important. Umetaro was getting better at it, slowly but surely. But he still wasn’t a master by any means. Perhaps ninja spiders were excellent at control, and that’s why their webs would be so beautiful…

He focused on the bottoms of his feet, following Tomomi’s instructions. Almost too well, as he mirrored his breathing for emphasis and stance too, while he was at it. The grass beneath his feet rippled with energy.

[Yamanaka Tomomi]

Tomomi observed as he prepared himself to utilize the technique. Alright, that's a decent start. Umetaro seems to get the concept of chakra control decently well for his rank, but that control may be more directional than related to intensity.

They focus their own chakra into the soles of their feet, then coat the bottom of their sandal. They take a step onto the tree and then just keep walking up, stopping about midway to turn and look back down at Umetaro.

"As you begin walking up the tree, you want to shape your chakra to grip the grooves of the bark. If you use too little, you'll slip and fall. But if you use too much, you'll shoot yourself right off the tree. And damage its trunk in the process."

Tree walking is interesting. It's about gripping, but it's just as much about "magnetism," in a way. Not really a centrifugal control, because that's a specialized technique in other nations, but it's about balancing forces. You can't just grip the tree, because just gripping it won't help you keep your whole body "upright" relative to the trunk. It's a delicate balance.

"Now go ahead and try. We can't tell what you need to change until we see how you fall."

[Uchiha Umetaro]

Umetaro’s feet felt heavy. He picked up his feet to move, and it felt like iron weights were strapped to the bottom of them. He walked with exaggerated, labored steps, the way he imagined an elephant must walk.

Clearly, something wasn’t right, but tried to power through it regardless. One step after the other. Foot after foot after foot. He was breathing heavy the time he made it over to the tree several minutes later.

He tried lifting his foot to the tree, but instead toppled over onto his back. The chakra discharged from his feet instantly, sending him backwards in an impromptu back roll. Hmm… that wasn’t what he wanted.

"I’ll… try that again,” he said, not waiting for a response. He rolled over and sprung back to his feet.

"Maybe… I’ll start closer to the tree,” he mumbled, and walked back to the tree. He held his leg up to the tree, and placed his foot flat against it.

With a crutch like this, perhaps that would help speed the process along? It’s not like he needed to walk across the ground with chakra in his feet, just when he was on the tree. He breathed in, and focused his will towards the bottoms of his shoes.

[Yamanaka Tomomi]

They watch fondly, resisting the urge to laugh. Presumably Umetaro wouldn't like that, even if they didn't mean anything by it. They just remember their own fumbling early attempts. Of course, they had always been the type to try to get away with too little instead of too much, and had often toppled for the trouble.

"Very good observation," Tomomi says. They could have pointed it out before, but they didn't want to ruin a teachable moment. "You never want to waste chakra. Some techniques will require you to gather and hold it beforehand, but this isn't one of those. For most techniques, you don't want to exert any chakra until the moment you perform the jutsu. Otherwise, you're just burning yourself out to no end," they explain.

"If you do that too much on the field, you could run out of chakra in the middle of a fight. That wouldn't be very good," they continue, pacing around the trunk of the tree as they give their little lecture.

"The most important skill you'll ever learn is how to control your chakra to get the exact amount you need. Subtle and intricate, like the spider," they say, stopping again to watch Umetaro. Will the advice cause him to rein it in too much, or will he actually be able to sustain a decent amount now?

[Uchiha Umetaro]

Umetaro focused, attempting to listen to what Tomomi was trying to tell him. He tried to focus on the bottom of his foot this time, and use less chakra. Less, in this case, was more? Something like that. Tomomi was certainly speaking words, but Umetaro was having trouble hearing them over the buzzing in his ears. Smacking right down onto the ground definitely rumbled the blood up in that head of his, alright.

But his foot began to glow and grinned. He was getting the hang of it. He could feel the resistance of the tree, and that was a lot more solid than the ground. This was a lot different than he was anticipating. Easier, even, actually. He breathed in, and brought his other foot above the first.

And then he was parallel with the ground. Fear overtook him, and he began to flail his arms like a bird, but his feet stayed attached to the tree. Woah- this was certainly a new sensation.

He inched one foot up the tree, loathe to pick up his foot. He didn’t want to fall, of course, but walking was one foot after the other, right? And so he breathed in once again and quickly stepped one foot up and quickly put it back down a little further ahead.

He breathed out a sigh of relief. Okay, didn’t fall that time. Now to keep doing it.

[Yamanaka Tomomi]

That's good progress. No toppling yet, no tipping backwards or sliding off or going flying. Those things could still happen, but all seemed peaceful for now. They make a satisfied sound and take some backward steps up the tree to give Umetaro more room to practice.

"Now try to come meet me in the middle here," they recommend. Umetaro picks up on things pretty quickly. He's a smart kid. But he also doesn't seem to listen much and just does his own thing. Takes the vague general information he hears and tries to stretch it across his own interpretations. That isn't bad, but it does make Tomomi wonder if there's a point to monologuing at him.

They are teaching, so they guess they should.

"Now, you don't want what happened on the ground to happen on the tree. Moving like you're through mud. So as you lift your leg to take your foot off the tree, you want to release the chakra. Otherwise it'll keep sticking and make it harder to be agile. The chakra motion necessary almost reminds me of riding a bicycle. You're trying to cyclically add and release pressure. You'll be slow to start, but it's easy to get a hang of after a while."

[Uchiha Umetaro]

"Okay, lighter. Bicycle. Got it,” Umetaro said. He did not have it. In fact, he’d never been on a bicycle in his life. But lighter was something he vaguely understood. This whole lesson was basically Umetaro being told he was doing too much at all times. That he needed to cut back, be more graceful, lighter, all of that jazz. More like candlelight than a bonfire.

He focused, and his feet felt lighter. Oh, was this how it worked? He started to walk slowly, one foot after the other, looking down at the tree trunk. He was making his way up to Tomomi, but certainly not at a speed that could be considered average, or fast. Not yet, at least.

"Hey hey, I- uh- I think I got the hang of it,” he said, still holding his arms out to the side. As he talked, he started to wobble, and fear almost got the best of him. But he wasn’t too high up. Even if he did fall, he wouldn’t hurt himself too badly. He had done worse to himself in his days through climbing trees the mundane way.

Was this safer? Maybe, if he got the technique down. The way of the spider was important learn, after all.

[Yamanaka Tomomi]

"There we go, you're definitely getting it," they agree. Umetaro is going slow and unsteady, but is still managing surprisingly well. "You're controlling your chakra right." They remember how strange it felt to do at first, but with extended practice it becomes a relatively simple thing. Automatic. Umetaro will just need to run a lot of practice on it.

They step to the side and begin walking down the tree, passing by Umetaro to return to the bottom, where they hop off. "Now you want to try to stop around the middle of the trunk to test this part. It may sound simple, but it can trip people up. Turn around. Walk back down."

It requires a very subtly different chakra distribution, adjusting how the magnetic friction of the chakra holds the body's weight. More in the toe, less in the heel. It's all about acting against the direction of gravity.

"Once you can do that, you'll have to focus on picking up speed. It's the same process, you just have to grasp it well enough to do it rapidly." Are there other drills they could have Umetaro run using the ability? Walking up buildings and such, hopping from one tree to another. They'll consider the possibilities once Umetaro can actually move properly.

[Uchiha Umetaro]

Umetaro heard and comprehended exactly one phrase in that entire spiel. "Picking up speed”. He could go faster! Definitely! It would just take him a second to catch his breath. Man, all of this chakra control stuff was hard work! Climbing trees like a monkey felt effortless in comparison to this. No wonder why spiders were so fast, if this is what they were doing all the time, just to get by. They were certainly stronger beings than humans, that was for sure.

"I’ll be there in a second!” he said. He lifted one foot off of the tree and resisted the urge to scream and flail. He rotated his back heel on the tree, letting gravity do part of the work for him. It was amazing how much you could do if you just trusted the process. And Umetaro was all about the process. Well. He thought. It was certainly a work in progress, whatever it was.

He kept the chakra in his heel as he swung around, and then tapped the ball of his foot to the tree trunk, once again tethering his chakra to the space between his shoe and the tree! Aha! Look at that, Umetaro’s got it!

And then he put his other foot down and instead of letting the vertigo get to him, he sprinted to the earth as fast as his legs would allow, causing him to sprint a meter behind Tomomi before he remembered to release the chakra in his feet.