Strength Training for Joki, Senshi

Age : 30 Posts : 644

1000 steps. That’s how many steps Senshi had to walk today. Generally, that would be easy for the genin, but today, he was mimicking Hercules in his actions, for on his back was a rock as large as he was. It was heavier than most genin could handle, but Senshi was determined to increase his strength so that every time he landed a blow, it would hurt, or so any time something was hurled at him, or something tried to crush him, he could brush it off and keep defending himself. With this rock on his back, held steady by his hand and a robe that tied him to it, he began walking.

Before he had begun this grueling process, he had been worried about falling. Being strapped to a boulder with the possibility of slipping could be lethal. His determination to become better outweighed his concern for his own safety, so he found himself, several steps up, carrying a large boulder. This wasn’t an easy task, despite being a shinobi. He had heard stories about shinobi that could lift boulders that could lift boulders the size of a small island. He believed it, too. It had taken him hard work to get to this point alone, so a lifetime of hard work HAD to pay off, right? He was twenty steps up now and already he was sweating and his breathing was increased. His muscles were putting forth a great effort just to begin the journey up the steps. Each step seemed harder than the last. Lactic acid was building from the physical activity, causing a burning effect in his tearing muscles. Inside of the muscles, micro tears formed, which would require protein in order to repair, making the muscle stronger and producing the effect that Senshi was looking for. Eventually, Senshi was able to put the struggle in the back of his mind, thinking only about how good he would be in the future. As his muscles worked overtime, his mind worked on his focus, making him mentally strong. He tuned in every now and then, checking into reality at around halfway up, where his muscles were shaking and his shirt was dripping with sweat. He tuned in again with only three hundred steps to go. The last time his brain checked back into what he was doing, he was just fifty steps away from the top and he needed all of his concentration to finish the last trek of the journey.

Every step was slow at this point and required all of his effort, including grunts with every movement. His entire body was shaking intensely, so intensely, in fact, that it was hard to keep his balance. His veins protruded from his neck from the strain. He hardly noticed any of this. The only thing in his mind was the intense desire to just make it to the top. Just ten steps away, he tripped, his right knee landing on the step and his hands coming down from the rock to break his fall. His thoughts went to quitting. His thoughts went to how futile his effort was. But that was just a momentary distraction. His face become tense with a renewed determination, made stronger by his weak side trying to make him quit. He placed his forehead to the step, putting weight on his head. He brought his hands back to lift the weight of the rock again. His right foot came down to the step below, and with that, he began to walk again.

As he reached the top, a feeling of great success came over him. Senshi had pushed through his hardest self-imposed challenge yet. He took several more steps forward before drawing a kunai from his pouch. He leaned the weight to the left and cut the rope. WIth a large thud and much dust, the boulder fell to the ground and rolled over, rocking back and forth a few times before settling still. Senshi collapsed to the ground in exhaustion and sweat. He looked up into the foggy sky, thinking about coming back the next day in order to get the boulder back down to the bottom of the steps.

Required word count:600
Word count: 698