In the blink of an eye, the entire morning had passed.
At the Ninja Academy, mornings were generally dedicated to theory classes, while the afternoons focused more on practical training.
Thanks to his adult-level thinking and the memories of his predecessor, Shane was just barely able to keep up with the morning theory lessons.
As for the afternoon's practical training—
As long as they didn't test the Three Basic Techniques, he could get by without revealing any flaws.
And regarding the Three Basic Techniques—
According to his predecessor's memories, evaluations were held about once a week. The rest of the time was spent teaching hand-to-hand combat and the use of ninja tools.
The last assessment was three days ago, so there was no immediate worry about exposure.
As for the next one—
Four days should be enough for him to grind the Clone Technique to entry level.
With that as a foundation, he wouldn't need to worry too much about being tested.
Time quickly passed, and soon it was afternoon.
On the training field—
Sugimoto looked down at the thirty-plus students before him and said sternly,
"Next, I'll divide you into pairs. You'll then spar with each other. Until I call for a stop, you're not allowed to quit. Even if you're defeated, you must get up and continue fighting. Understood?"
At his words, the students immediately began murmuring in protest.
After all, in the past, their sparring had always been in turns. Sugi Itō would supervise nearby and offer commentary and analysis.
But now they were being told to all fight at once—and that they couldn't stop even if they were beaten? That had never happened before.
Shane didn't know what the others thought, but he sensed one thing clearly—
Urgency.
Yes, urgency.
Normally, this type of group battle training was only introduced in the fifth or sixth year. To be asked to do this now clearly meant the curriculum was being accelerated.
Combined with the current state of the ninja world, it wasn't hard to guess—
The school was planning to graduate them early.
Still, that was understandable.
During times of peace, a six-year education system worked fine. But during wartime, when the front lines were desperate for manpower, shortening academic time was inevitable.
"If I'm not mistaken," Shane thought, "the annual Konoha graduation exam is held from October 7th to 10th."
After the three-day evaluation, results would be reported to the higher-ups and officially recorded on October 15th after approval from the Hokage.
And today was September 3rd.
In other words, in just over a month, he might be forced to graduate.
This thought gave Shane a strong sense of urgency.
"Silence!"
Sugimoto's voice came down sharply, immediately quieting the crowd.
"Next, those I call will step forward. Hanada Sundo."
A burly student stepped out.
"Hirai Matsu."
Another student followed.
"You two are a pair," said Sugi Itō.
"Yes, sensei!" the two responded in unison.
"Good."
Sugimoto nodded and continued, "Yamanaka Hana, Aoki Ryuko..."
With each name called, the class was quickly divided into a dozen or so pairs.
Shane was no exception. His assigned partner was a civilian-born ninja named Moriki Tetsu—someone with decent talent and combat ability roughly equal to Shane's predecessor.
But that was the predecessor. The current Shane had no confidence in winning.
Don't be fooled by the fact that they were just ten-year-old kids—
When it came to actual combat experience, Shane didn't even come close.
After all, his previous life's school never taught him how to fight.
Fortunately, his adult mindset allowed him to remain calm.
Soon, Sugimoto's voice rang out again:
"Remember—no weapons allowed during this match."
Shane let out a small sigh of relief. Though training kunai weren't sharpened, getting hit in a vital spot still wouldn't feel good.
This suited him fine. He needed to accumulate experience, and if he could suffer less while doing so, all the better.
He wasn't a masochist, after all.
That's right—Shane was already prepared to take a beating.
'Let's just hope it won't be in vain…'
With that in mind, he glanced at his panel. If his guess was correct, by the end of today, a new skill would be added.
"Get ready—form the Seal of Opposition!"
Sugimoto's voice echoed again.
Shane and Moriki Tetsu raised their right hands at the same time, forming the opposing seal.
"Begin!"
As soon as the words fell, Moriki Tetsu charged forward, swinging a heavy right punch straight at Shane's face.
Despite being mentally prepared, Shane was still caught off guard by the speed of the attack.
But whether it was thanks to inherited memories or the body's muscle memory, he instinctively reacted at the critical moment, dodging the punch with a sideways movement.
Not only that—almost simultaneously, he counterattacked, aiming a punch at Moriki's face.
Boom!
Moriki raised his right arm just in time to block the strike.
As they passed each other, Moriki pivoted on his left foot, twisted his waist, and swept his right leg toward Shane's head with a full-body rotation.
'Damn, this little brat is seriously going for the kill!'
Feeling the gust of wind pass near his ear, Shane cursed internally.
But he also understood—
This is a ninja's battle. Be ruthless to yourself and even more ruthless to your enemy. Fighting is like dancing on the edge of a blade.
And this was still just the beginner phase.
Once Sugi Itō allowed the use of weapons, things would only get more dangerous.
If he wanted to survive in this chaotic world, he had to adapt—fast.
Otherwise, even with a proficiency panel, he'd end up as nothing more than a waste.
With that realization, Shane stopped overthinking and threw all his focus into his memories and the battle before him—rapidly absorbing what his predecessor had left behind.
—-----
Time ticked by, and the fights on the training field continued nonstop. Cries of pain echoed occasionally as students were injured.
But no matter how miserable the cries, Sugimoto didn't call a stop.
During this time, Shane was knocked down multiple times.
Though he had his predecessor's memories and could temporarily deal with Moriki Tetsu, his moves were too stiff. Before long, his weaknesses were exposed.
And then—he suffered.
Whether Moriki had some grudge against his predecessor or not, his attacks were merciless.
By the time school was over, Shane's body was covered in bruises.
"Hiss—"
Rubbing his swollen eye as he walked through the streets, Shane surprisingly didn't feel resentment. On the contrary, he felt grateful.
Because now, his panel had gained a new skill—Basic Taijutsu.
---------
"Panel!"
With a thought, Shane opened it.
A faint blue screen appeared in his view:
yaml
CopyEdit
[Name: Uchiha Shane
Age: 10
Body: 5
Mind: 7
Chakra: 6 (127)
Bloodline: Sharingan · Unawakened (51/100)
Skills:
Chakra Extracting Technique: Lv0 (2/100)
Clone Technique: Lv0 (19/100)
Basic Taijutsu: Lv0 (35/100)
----------
From this, it was clear:
After just one battle, his Basic Taijutsu had reached Lv0 (35/100), immediately surpassing his Clone Technique progress and becoming his fastest-developing skill.
Based on Shane's estimate, his predecessor was probably just barely at Lv1 in this skill.
In other words, two or three more fights like this would be enough for him to fully assimilate everything his predecessor knew about Basic Taijutsu.
And he owed this rapid progress to Moriki Tetsu's harsh attacks, which forced him to respond with full effort.
(End of Chapter)