Unplug My Hole! [M]

[Big Black Fish]

name; blocked passage
rank; c
description; One unfortunate disadvantage that Kumogakure no Sato extends is sometimes the jagged peaks drop rocks amongst the Kumogakure no Sato passageways. Sometimes they’re simple small rugged rocks and other times they’re promontory boulders. Sadly when the immeasurable boulders land on Kumogakure no Sato’s passageways it falls upon the Kumogakure shinobi to clear the avenue. With the war ending there are a large amount of pathways that need clearing, unfortunately. So go clear those streets.
reward; 40 experience, ? ryo
minimum shinobi; one
mission status; interminable

The mission's scroll was accompanied with a map that acquired a red "X" on it. Of course, this "X' was an indicator of the location that passages have been blocked. With a natural sense of navigation throughout Kumogakure, I was capable of discovering the exact location within minutes. It was not far, a possible mile from where the Mission's Department was; but indeed, it was congesting a tunnel that enabled routes for trade, citizens and shinobi alike. It was apparent this was an issue that deserved mending; but not easily repaired.

Approaching the tunnel, I began to inspect the various boulders that amassed themselves in a heaping pile, directly in the passageway. Small boulders wedged themselves in grooves the size of my head, while the Mother rock applied its immensity in a dip within the floor. The dip was roughly a meter deep with a vertical slant away from the tunnel. The tunnel was inclining as all the roads were to reach the Village, therefore, gravity was playing a large factor as to why this boulder was near immovable. It was resting all its weight against the tunnel door while securely shifted in the ditch to hold its position.

I knew the means to remove it.

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[Big Black Fish]

I assessed the situation and my matter of resolve was rather simplistic; but I would not know its efficiency until put to the test. I assumed that if I were able to remove all the excess rocks that filled the gaps between the largest boulder and the tunnel I would be able to carefully insert myself between the wedge and utilize leverage of the tunnel wall to my advantage. With this plan, I began to discard the rocks that lay within the gaps. Pulling them out one by one, the depth of the wedge became more and more with each lasting rock. It took a solid ten minutes to transfer them, but when it was complete, I wedged myself into the gap.

I steadied myself, unsure of the exact weight of this heaping boulder, but I figured with proper leverage it would be manageable. I placed my back up against the tunnel wall, and my hands on the boulder, I used my feet to push against the wall to capture momentum for more push. With all my might, I pushed. The boulder lifted as I strained myself to exert all the power I attained; unfortunately, it was a hopeless cause. The boulder lifted up from the ditch, but the decline of the mountain placed an insuperable amount of resistance for one man to overcome.

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[Big Black Fish]

I figured at this point, the maneuver of a rocking method would come into play. One man would not be able to overcome such resistance of a mountains declivity. It was comparable to attempting to push a dead horse up a mountain while three more horses pulled you in the other direction. To say the least, impossible. But with the profound effects of physics, one should be capable of defeating such resistance. My method was as follows: I would dig a track on one side of the boulder of equal width to the boulder. The other would be untouched. The track would serve as a pathway for the boulder to roll down on, only, it would take more than a track to get it to slide. With a rocking force, pushing then letting it drop to gain momentum, pushing with that momentum, then letting it drop back, pushing again to let it drop; hence, rocking method. This would create a gravitational pull which would be exploited and capitalized to a particular point to my advantage.

I'm not a brainiac, but I'm not just tall either.

I first dug the mound on the right side of the boulder. A cliff lay 10 meter from it. With rocks, I carved out a pathway for the boulder to follow; but the texture of it must be smooth. Grazing my hand over the track I would remove all rocks, twigs and clumps of dirt for a porcelain surface (or as smooth as dirt gets for that matter). It was tedious work, meticulous in the most extreme, but for a purpose nonetheless.

The track was finally carved, fully prepared for use. The boulder now lay at an angle, it's upper portion resting against the tunnel wall while the lower half hung over the dug track. Placing my hands against the boulder, I began to rock it. With a back and forth motion, the boulder began to shift in its rest. The weight was collapsed in the ditch solidly, but I hoped the track would invalidate that. I swayed my body back and forth as the momentum began to increase. The rock would lift up from the ditch, but its weight would sink it back down, but only to my benefit. Once the rock rolled back down into the ditch, it would continue to roll up towards me, which I would then push precisely when it began to fall again, creating an even greater force at a third of the physical exertion.

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[Big Black Fish]

The momentum strategy worked perfectly. When I felt that the pull was great enough on the opposing side to drag it down the track, I exerted all my strength as it rolled down into the ditch. The boulder rolled with short speed, and caught the lip of the ditch. It lifted, but it began dropped its momentum almost instantly. It caught the lip and lifted, but began to fall back down into the ditch. Instantly, I ran and pushed with my hands. It began to level but I was starting to lose my footing. I spun and placed my back against it, using my upper body to support the boulders weight while my legs drove themselves into the dirt for stoppage power. With an aggressive struggle between man and nature; I prevailed. The boulder leaned over the crest of the lip and began to tilt towards the track. As soon as the weight toppled over to one side, it began to roll, picking up speed in on itself.

The boulder rolled smoothly, but found its weight sinking into the now soft dirt; creating yet another ditch. Fortunately, it no longer blocked the passageway into the tunnel and simply resided its hefty weight upon the mountainside. It did not roll off the cliff, but it no longer blocked the tunnel. Assuredly no one could push the boulder up the mountain, for their strength would have to be equivalent to twenty men. I would be in profound amazement to meet the man who could pull the sword out of Merlin's divine rock. Maybe it too would be a small boy. But I doubted it. I continued to clear out the small rubble that lay in the pathway, but the rocks were nothing of the boulders stature. Small and jagged, I picked removed the single handedly making the tunnel accessible once again.

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[Big Black Fish]

exit

[DAVID BOWE]

( twenty two exp addition )