Igo WT 1

// A breath escapes him as the strain of the weight begins to rest upon him, and strain him it does. Almost instantaneously, the skin of his face would flush a healthy red sheen and beads of sweat would form upon his brow. For a brief moment, the very real fear that the giant rock would collapse his arms and tumble down onto the top of his head and crush his skull into oblivion played at the forefront of his thoughts, but through grit teeth, he forced the thought into the back of his mind and began to focus on the task at hand.[1]

Along with the sweat, almost immediately his arms begin to shake, and only just barely, through all of his effort and perhaps the little he'd had saved up in reserve, he managed to hold the unweildy stone fast. Noticing the flash of *humanity* in Vetu's eyes, he felt a small bit of motivation strengthen his resolve, and through grunts and gritted teeth, he somehow managed to begin lowering the stone and *just barely* pushing it back up into it's resting position.[2]

With each set, he would exhale a loud jet of air and more and more sweat would form on his skin, until the back and front of his vest was starting to soak through.[3]


// He hadn't even been keeping count, and after what felt like an actual eternity, Vetu finally reached over to take the boulder from Igo. Relief washed over him like a physical wave of water ans his burning arms would drop limply to his sides.[4]

He'd go to bend over, trying to hold his small weight by placing his hands on his knees, and to his dismay and self-disappointment, they wobbled slightly for a few seconds before adjusting to hold him up. After a few longer moments of rest, he'd straighten and pull the water flask from his belt, raising it to his lips and pulling a few long draughts from its liquid contents. Unsure if whether or not Vetu had brought his own, he would offer the flask to the bigger guy.[5]

If he took it, he'd wait for him to return it and if not, he'd just replace it into its pouch on his belt before taking a few deep breaths, nodding a couple times, more to encourage himself if anything, and then said to Vetu, "Okay. I'm ready."[6]

He holds his arms out before him.


takes the flask, returning it to its pouch at his side and turns to assume his training position, just as Vetu begins to lower the rock into his hands. A terse gasp escapes him as he struggles to adjust for the weight of the stone, which he was convinced now had weighed AT LEAST 1.5 times his own body weight. He stands their for a moment, almost sure that he would either topple over forward, or that the stone would fall backwards, directly into his chest and collar bone, or worse, his face.[7]

He only manages three full reps by himself before the weight of the stone would begin to sag his arms downwards. Vetu, whose own hands were waiting under the stone, would most likely notice this as with each further repitition, Igo's arms would sag lower into Vetu's grip with each downward motion.[8]

In only a few seconds, and barely halfway through his first set, his face was flushed bright red and the veins in his neck and temple seemed about to pop from his skin. He'd rely on Vetu's assistance to complete the rest of the set, as soon a small puddle of sweat had begun to form at his feet, and spittle flew from his lips with each exhale.[9]

"T-t... ten!" he gasps, finally completing the last repition.

took a deep breath as he entered the old Nara glade. It was quiet, except for the gentle lapping of the water of the pond against the sand and reeds surrounding it. He took off his chuunin vest, his armor and his undershirt, and then put on the training weights Miu had given him. Then he got back into push up position.[10]

Igo began to breathe slow and deliberately as he began to do pushups. Each inhale he went down into the down position. Each exhale, he rose into the up position. On and on like this he went; until his arms burned as shook with the effort.[11]

Finally, he rolled over and laid onto his back, breathing heavily. He stared up into the sky, trying to catch his breath. It took a few moments, but finally, he did. Then, Igo took another deep breath, and his counting began again.[12]

He curled his torso upward, twisting his body and alternating which knee would come to meet the opposite elbow with each rise. One, two, three... Igo tried to occupy his mind with the counting. He tried to ignore the burn he was beginning to feel. Then, when he couldn't, he told himself it was a good burn to have.[13]

He continued on with the crunches for minutes, until he physically could no longer force his body to do so any longer. When he counted the final repitition, he let himself splay out onto the grass beneath him with an exasperated gasp. His chest heaved as he lay there, gasping for air. A smile came over his face, and he laughed at himself, shaking his head.[14]

He looked up at Miu with a sheepish grin. "Y'know... for as good as I am at ninjutsu... I'm bloody terrible at taijutsu." Igo pulled some weights over his wrists and walked over to the tree. He took a few moments to breathe... and then he began to shadow box.[15]

To say his form was sloppy was an understatement. His movements were choppy and unfluid. As slow as he already was, the weights made it seem like he was throwing punches in slow motion. It wasn't long at all before a thin sheen of sweat covered his forehead, neck, shoulders and chest, but he pushed on, throwing unpracticed punch after unpracticed punch.[16]

It lasted for maybe three and a half minutes tops. Igo threw nonstop punches at imaginary foes left and right until finally, his arms burned and he could no longer hold them up. He struggled with the straps on the weights around his wrists, but once he'd gotten them unclasped, they clanged to the ground. Igo felt like his arms were no longer being pulled down by the earth itself.[17]

He still had the weights on his ankles though. Not wanting to waste a good moment to excercise(and probably die of exhaustion), Igo took a breath, and then began counting out jumping jacks. He threw his arms up at either side, then pulled them down. His legs spread, then came together over and over again. He forced himself through an entire 2 minute rep.[18]

When he was finally finished, he all but collapsed onto his back, chest rising and falling rapidly and sweat dripping off of him as though he'd just been submerged under water. He just stared up into the branched of the tree for a long while, catching his breath and relaxing his body. After what seemed like minutes, a smirk touched his lips. He was going to be sore in the morning. [19]

strapped the training weights to his wrists and ankles. He took a deep breath and pulled out his tanto. After a moment, he took a /very/ basic kendo stance. And then he began to drill himself.[20]

First, men. Then migi-men, and hidari-men followed. His movements were imprecise and and slow. His cuts were choppy and ugly. But it was training.[21]

Igo continued with the drill well into the afternoon. When he'd finished one repition, he would begin another. It wasn't long before his chest heaved with breath and his entire body burned. And still, Igo continued on.[22]

It wasn't till the sun had mostly set did he stop. By then a sheen of sweat had covered him. His arms burnt like no scorch chakra he'd ever felt had. And so did his legs. [23]

He collapsed onto his back. His chest rose and fell rapidly as he gasped for breath. He reached across himself with one arm and undid the band of weights. He gasped as it felt like his arm had been freed from the weight of hell itself.[24]

He pushed himself into a seating position. Still breathing heavy, he freed his other arm from the weights. Then he pulled his legs in with great effort and undid the weights from them. Igo took a deep breath and smiled to himself, collapsing backwards again to stare into the night sky.[25]

drops into pushup position and takes a deep breath. He looks down at his wrists. Then he peers down between the ground and his body, at his ankles. The weights were secured. [26]

So, down he went, into the first rep of his pushups. On the upward push, he exhaled sharply. Then, he inhaled as he went down again. The entire time, he counted slowly, but surely.[27]

He continued to work for minutes. Up and down, he went. Finally, his breathing had become labored and his arms and legs began to burn with effort. Making one final push, he did a few more, and then allowed himself to roll over onto his back. [28]

"150.." he gasped between breaths.

His chest rose and fell rapidly as he desperately sucked air in. He lay there for a few more moments. When he caught his breath, he sighed, rolled his eyes at himself, and then forced himself into a crunch. He held it for a brief second, then laid back slightly, just enough to relax his midsection. [29]

He went on doing ab crunches for several more minutes. This time, he pushed beyond the burn. He forced himself to continue until he physically could not roll his abdomen forward again. When he finished his last one, he winced. [30]

He fell backwards with a grimace. His chest chugged away, gasping for as much oxygen as it could take in. His lungs burned with the effort of his training. He laughed at himself, but it came out as a choked gurgle. [31]

It took him several minutes to regain his composure. When he did, through a series of groans and grimaces, he rose to his feet. He took a long, deep breath. Then, he began to do jumping jacks. [32]

It wasn't long before he began to feel the strain of the weights on his wrists and ankles. Every time his feet splayed, it felt like his legs were chained to a wall, and he was pulling against them. Every time his arms rose, it felt as though the devil himself were trying to drag him by the wrists down to hell. But still, He went on. [33]

When finally, his arms were so leaden he couldn't lift them over his shoulders, he stopped. He collapsed backwards onto the ground once more. His chest rose and fall so fast he felt as though he were shaking the ground. He stared up at the sky for a moment. [34]

A smile crossed his lips. He pulled his arms up onto his stomach and struggled for a moment. Finally, he undid the latches to the wrist weights. He breathed easily as it felt as though the weight of the entire world was lifted from his arms. He did the same with the weights around his ankles next.[35]

Then, with effort and much soreness, he limped off to the spa to bathe.