In Their Shadow

Chapter 26

The dim lamp lights hanged overhead the sweating, dirt covered, and drenched Yuma. Standing over his downed body was Danzo, a passive expression on his face. Danzo remained standing over him, until he saw Yuma began to stir, moving his hands beneath him to push himself up. Danzo sighed in relief, glad the boy hadn't died during the training.

'Unlike so many others that had.' Danzo thought, impressed in the boys endurance.

"How...How long was I out?" Yuma asked, not remembering anything.

"fifteen hours, its now Thursday morning. Or to be more precise, nine in the morning." Danzo stated.

"W-What!? B-But how!? All I remember doing is sparring against Sai with only a kunai!" Yuma exclaimed in shock.

"You are right, but that wasn't the last thing you did. After I had came back once your spar with Sai was over, I trained you until five in the afternoon with target practice. I then trained you in chakra endurance by having you constantly spam your shadow ability. You lasted an entire hour before collapsing in exhaustion." Danzo said without flinching, his expression unchanging.

"I...don't remember that."

"Not surprising, memory blockage is quite normal for those who have undergone chakra exhaustion; its quite taxing on the mind and body after all."

"O-Oh...That makes sense..." Yuma said, rubbing at his eyes.

"Although now we know your shadow use limit has increased, albeit not by a lot, but its a start. Now, your ready for these."

Danzo turned to Sai, who handed him three scrolls, then back to Yuma with a glint forming in his eyes. He threw the three scrolls at Yuma's feet, causing him to jolt. Yuma looked at the scrolls littered around his feet in wonderment, pulling one open for examination.

"Earth Release: Fist Rock Technique...Water Release: Hidden Mist Jutsu...Taijutsu Form: The Acrobat...Danzo, what're these?" Yuma asked.

"They are self study; homework for you to practice on. I want you to master at least one of those by the end of this upcoming weekend. You will need at least one of these techniques to even make it through the second phase of the Chunin exams next week. Decide on which you wish to learn before the end of the day, its up to you to decide."

Danzo turned to Sai, nodding at him.

"Take Yuma home, our training is done for the day." Danzo said.

"Yes, lord Danzo..." Sai said, picking Yuma up and placing him on his back, as he was most likely too tired to walk.

"W-Wait, how am I supposed to decide on which one?" Yuma asked in confusion.

"Talk to those in your team, and ask your comrades what they think you lack. That will help you in your decision, young Yuma." Danzo said, as Yuma's vision began to fade from the exhaustion coming back to him.

"Go to sleep Yuma...You deserve it..." Sai whispered to Yuma, and before his mind descended into slumber...

"Thank you...Sai..." Yuma said, his consciousness fading away.

Sai flinched at his words.

Sai climbed up the stairwell, Yuma sleeping on his back. After a couple minutes, he finally reached the top, walking into the quaint little dojo that deceived and distracted others from the ROOT dojo below. He left the Shimura dojo, a passive and unsmiling expression taking form on his face. He made his way down the streets of Konoha, navigating his way to Yuma's apartment apartment complex.

He climbed the apartment steps, arriving at Yuma's apartment room. After picking through Yuma's back pockets to find the key, he unlocked his door. Walking in, he noticed the abundance of ramen cups littered all over the floor, and the usual roaches in the corner. He made his way to the futon Yuma usually slept in, and placed him gently in it. After doing so, he stared at the pile of roaches passively, before huffing and walking over to get rid of the pests.