Training Ground 98.
As Satoru approached, he sensed three brats lurking in the nearby bushes.
His eyes darted.
He didn't expose them, but instead, he began his training.
First, his daily Might Guy-style one-finger handstand, about two hundred of them, then two thousand push-ups, one-handed push-ups, and form practice...
Body and spirit are the root cause of the amount of Chakra one possesses, so Satoru naturally never neglected his Taijutsu training.
Such movements were a piece of cake for Satoru.
Although he didn't have Might Guy's physical talent, Satoru had a brain.
He used a technique to compensate for the lack of physical talent.
...
"So amazing." Of the three, the only girl, Inuzuka Hana, watched Satoru's training methods with deep admiration in her heart.
Her eyes sparkled.
The Inuzuka clan's combat system also specialised in Taijutsu, and having practised Taijutsu since childhood, she could naturally discern the difficulty of such training.
Even her father couldn't do it so easily.
Gulp!
Should they hit him? Could they find an opportunity?
At this moment, Inuzuka Hana swallowed, feeling that hope was a bit slim.
"Is this Iruka Sensei's teacher?
He's so powerful, if we manage to land a punch on him, he won't beat us up, right?" The boy with the side-parted hair and suspenders next to her was already thinking of backing out.
Another fatter boy with cat whiskers was bolder: "What are you afraid of? We're just kids. According to child psychology, as long as we don't intentionally pee on him, he wouldn't bear to hit a child."
"Is your child psychology reliable?" asked the boy with the side-parted hair and suspenders.
Inuzuka Hana's eyes hardened: "Don't be afraid. As long as we say Iruka Sensei told us to before he reacts, he'll shift the blame to Iruka Sensei."
She recalled Iruka Sensei's words; he also hoped that their juniors would be able to hit Satoru in the future.
They must have a conflict. As long as they divert his attention, hehe!
"Hana-nee-chan makes sense."
The two boys nodded in agreement.
This was a basic lesson in espionage and defection, taught by Iruka Sensei.
...
Achoo~
Iruka was tidying up his students' homework, wiping his nose.
"What's going on? Is it already a cold, even though the weather has just started to turn cool?"
Then he shook his head, looking at the homework in his hand, feeling very satisfied.
With the support of the teacher's new Genjutsu, he was like a tiger with wings in the academy.
...
"Hmm? These brats, are they here to hit me?
Do I know them?
Also, Iruka, that guy, couldn't have done something at the academy and is now shifting the blame to me, could he?"
Satoru had three questions in his mind.
He pondered, but his movements didn't stop.
His self-created Satoru Style Taijutsu struck the wooden dummy in front of him.
Bang! Bang!
He had combined various Taijutsu from Iwagakure, Raikage, and Konoha to create a Taijutsu that was more suitable for his own physique and fighting style.
It wasn't stronger than other Taijutsu, but it was more suited to him.
Suddenly.
Satoru stopped his movements and looked in one direction.
The three brats finally emerged.
Led by a girl with an inverted triangular pattern on her face, the two boys followed closely behind her.
"Hey, Uncle, are you a Ninja?"
Inuzuka Hana, seeing Satoru look over, widened her eyes, which sparkled, looking very adoring.
This made her two little followers behind her very uncomfortable.
Their big sister was indeed a born Ninja; her personality could feign such a demeanour.
Satoru looked at the patterns on her face, an Inuzuka kid, he thought: "Yes, don't you have classes?"
He wanted to see what these kids would do, still wanting to hit him.
"Wow, so amazing, Big Brother, you're awesome."
"Is your dream also to be Hokage?"
"We're off today, and we came here to practice Ninjutsu. Can you teach us, Big Brother?"
The three children, in unison, showed admiration in their eyes.
Unbearable.
Although he knew these guys were faking it, they were really cute when they were so small.
Much cuter than Itachi.
At a similar age, Itachi was already burdened with worries, but these children still had their childlike innocence.
He felt like he had become younger again.
Satoru shook his head: "No, I don't want to be Hokage. I want to give the position of Hokage successor to you. You are the future Hokage.
Come, where have you learned in school? Let me teach you.
I'm a genius in this area."
Inuzuka Hana and the two boys' eyes lit up instantly upon hearing about the Hokage successor position, feeling like it sounded pretty good.
They exchanged glances, but still stuck to their plan.
"Big Brother, I also want to be a powerful Ninja. Can you hug me?
Can you let me feel the greatness of a Ninja?" Inuzuka Hana asked with sparkling eyes.
Satoru nodded: "No problem, but you should introduce yourselves, right?"
"Inuzuka Hana."
"Fuma Shikun."
"Izuno Zaizai."
The three little ones were already impatient, Inuzuka Hana even opened her arms for a hug.
"Alright."
Such a brief introduction, he only recognised Inuzuka Hana, Kiba's older sister.
But if he remembered correctly, her personality seemed not much different from Kiba's, so she must be faking it now.
But he still picked her up.
To be honest, Inuzuka Hana, who was the same age as Itachi, didn't know how she could make such a gesture asking for a hug.
Izuno Zaizai and Fuma Shikun exchanged glances, and both of them, one after another, kicked Satoru.
"Watch me flatten you."
Inuzuka Hana, who had been picked up, couldn't wait any longer, she immediately changed her expression and roared, punching Satoru in the face.
Satoru's hand loosened, and Inuzuka Hana, with her two little followers, quickly fled along the path they had come from.
"Hehe, let me give you a taste of the success of Ninja tactics.
Now it's time for you to let me experience what it's like to be a teacher again."
After pretending to be in pain for a while, Satoru smiled.
The brats' tactics were good; he admired people who used their brains, but it was just that their plotting was too blatant.
Rabbit Rabbit Monkey Tiger Monkey...
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall."
...
"Yay, the tactic succeeded! We hit Iruka Sensei's teacher!"
"As expected of our big sister, she can even fake such a sparkling look."
"What? You bastard, do you want a beating?"
"Ah, I'm sorry, big sister, you're naturally sparkling."
The three of them used all their might, knowing they couldn't beat Satoru, and wanted to escape.
Suddenly.
They felt something was wrong; why was there a cliff in front of them?
Whoosh!
The three stopped at the cliff face.
Looking at the ground dozens of meters below, their eyes spun.
The two boys even collapsed to the ground.
"What's going on?"
"Are we under a Genjutsu?"
Inuzuka Hana realised something was wrong and looked at the distant forest and the even more distant Konoha residential area.
Looking back again, cliffs surrounded them.
They were standing on a giant block.
"It's Earth Release, a huge Earth Release."