The warmth of the morning sun filtered through the open windows of the Hokage Tower, bathing the room in gold.
But despite the light, the air inside was stiff with tension.
The Jonin had gathered — a half-circle of Konoha's elite shinobi before the Hokage's desk. Hiruzen Sarutobi sat, calm as always, pipe in hand, watching with hooded eyes as the first set of reports began.
"Asuma Sarutobi, Team 10," the Hokage said.
Asuma, leaning back with a familiar slouch, gave a nod. "Passed. All three showed initiative during my coordination drill. Ino's chakra control's ahead of the curve, Shikamaru's analytical skills saved the team mid-exercise, and Choji didn't quit even when cornered."
Sarutobi hummed. "Your test was?"
"A hostage rescue sim — middle-difficulty." Asuma puffed smoke. "They passed, but barely. No favors given."
The Hokage nodded. "Duly noted."
"Kurenai Yuhi, Team 8."
Kurenai, standing with a poise that contrasted Asuma's calm, stepped forward. "Passed. Hinata, Kiba, and Shino coordinated across sensory, tracking, and close-range engagement. Their cooperation under stress exceeded expectations."
"Test difficulty?"
"Moderate-to-hard. Deep forest tracking with sabotage planted throughout."
Hiruzen smiled faintly. "Good work, Kurenai."
She nodded and stepped back beside Asuma — just in time for the floorboards to creak loud behind them.
Heavy footsteps. Like boots pounding stone. Then—
"Yo, sorry I'm late," came the rumbling voice, deep and impossibly relaxed.
All eyes turned to the figure filling the doorway.
Daigo Guretsu strolled in, his height dominating the room as usual. His dark hair was tied up like always, that wide grin etched into his face, Kurenai sighed beside Asuma.
"Of course he'd make an entrance," she whispered.
Daigo stopped at the center, in front of the Hokage. He saluted lazily.
"Team 7. Passed."
Murmurs stirred among the Jonin.
Someone from the back leaned in. "The hell kind of test would he even use?"
Hiruzen raised an eyebrow. "I'm glad to hear that, Daigo. But we need the details."
Daigo grinned. "Of course. Wouldn't want to break protocol. I'm very professional." Asuma snorted.
Kurenai crossed her arms. "Try telling that to the door you kicked in yesterday."
Daigo ignored them and continued. "I ran a survival and pressure drill. Field-based. I used summon support to simulate a hostile environment — three low-tier boar warriors from my clan. Genin-level enemies, coordinated formation, task was to retrieve my sword placed in the middle."
He held up two fingers. "Two things I was testing: battlefield awareness, and ability to adapt under stress. No advice given. No tips. No teamwork handed to them. They had to earn it."
The room went silent.
Guy gave a small nod from the side, arms folded, eyes serious.
Hiruzen tapped his pipe against the ashtray. "Continue."
"They failed to coordinate at first," Daigo admitted with a shrug. "Didn't work as a unit. Naruto rushed in, Sasuke played lone wolf, Sakura didn't know where to position herself. All of them got knocked around."
Kurenai gave a small glance up — she knew this wasn't surprising to Daigo. It was part of the process.
"But," he said, voice dropping with conviction, "they didn't quit. They read the enemy's rhythm. They adapted. Naruto distracted, Sakura trapped, Sasuke moved with surgical precision. And they took the sword — together."
The grin returned. "I didn't even need to throw a punch myself."
Hiruzen raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"
That gained the attention of the entirety of the Jounin roster, and Daigo just shrugged.
"I didn't fight 'em 'cause it would've been a waste of time." The room went still.
"They wouldn't have gotten close. Not even a little. I'd have mopped the floor with them, and none of 'em would've learned a damn thing. That's not a test — that's me showing off."
He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "So I gave 'em something tough, but beatable. My summons hit hard, they had formations, they forced teamwork. That's enough for genin."
He snorted. "If they couldn't even get past that, they weren't worth my sword anyway."
"So I gave them a fight they could just barely survive. That's the art. Not coddling them. Not crushing them. Testing them honestly."
And with a casual shrug: "Now that they did pass… I can finally start beating the crap outta them proper."
Hiruzen was quiet then he nodded.
"Well reasoned. The report is accepted."
Daigo grinned wider. "'Course it is."
Kurenai sighed again. "You'll give them heart attacks, Daigo."
"I train warriors, not civilians," Daigo said. "This is war prep, not recess."
Hiruzen gave a small chuckle. "Very well. The first round of Genin has passed. You're all dismissed. Return here next week for progress evaluations."
As the Jonin filed out, Daigo lingered. Kurenai walked up beside him as they walked out the office.
The heavy wooden doors creaked shut behind them, and Daigo let out a breath through his nose, hands stuffed lazily into his Jounin vest. Kurenai walked beside him, arms crossed, eyes forward.
"Went smoother than expected," she murmured.
Daigo barked a laugh. "You should've seen their faces when I lifted that big mama over my head."
Kurenai glanced sideways. "You mean the summon the size of a house?"
"Yup," Daigo grinned. "Tusks and all. Kids looked like they watched reality snap in half. Sakura nearly passed out. Naruto's jaw hit the dirt. Sasuke just… narrowed his eyes harder."
"And you wonder why no one else volunteers to take your training advice," she deadpanned.
"Hey," Daigo said with mock offense, "I wanted to show 'em the bar. If you're gonna train under me, you gotta know how far the mountain goes."
Kurenai smirked faintly, brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "You sure you didn't just want to flex?"
"I did both," he said proudly, flashing her a wink. "Multitasking."
ROOFTOP OVERLOOKING THE TRAINING GROUNDS — SUNSET
The orange light of the setting sun painted the tiled rooftops in warm gold. Kurenai sat on the railing, her long hair swaying gently with the wind. Daigo stood beside her, arms resting on the same railing, his posture unusually relaxed.
They were alone, above the noise. Just the wind. Just them.
"You actually like them?" Kurenai asked after a while, voice low.
Daigo snorted. "They're little nightmares. One's a powder keg, one's a brat in love, and one's walking around like he's the next Kakashi with something to prove."
Kurenai gave him a sideways look. "And?"
Daigo grinned, slow and genuine. "They're perfect."
Kurenai chuckled. "I figured you'd say that. Mine's different. Calm, quiet… but I can feel something boiling under the surface."
He looked at her with a raised brow. "You worried?"
She shook her head. "No. I'm curious."
Daigo turned toward her fully now, his grin fading just slightly into something softer. "You'll do fine. You're good with people. I'm just good at hitting them until they figure things out."
She smirked, tugging him a little by the vest. "Yeah, but they'll follow you. Even Naruto, once he realizes you're not just a walking earthquake."
There was a pause. Their foreheads touched lightly, her fingers brushing the underside of his chin as he leaned in.
His voice dropped, rough but quiet. "You gonna stay over tonight?"
"I might," she whispered back. "If you promise not to wake me up at four in the morning to spar again."
Daigo grinned like a bastard. "No promises."
Their leaned into another, their lips almost meeting when—
BAM!
The rooftop door slammed open like a bomb went off.
"Ohhhh shit—" came the unmistakable voice of Anko Mitarashi, swaggering out with a dango stick in her mouth and zero situational awareness. "Hey lovebirds! I knew I'd find you up here—"
She froze mid-step, dango half-bite.
"…Am I interrupting?"
Daigo didn't move, just groaned loudly. "I was about to kiss my woman, Anko."
Kurenai sighed, already stepping away with a tired smile. "You have impeccable timing, as always."
Anko grinned wickedly, hopping up onto the edge of the railing like a frog.
"Don't blame me. You two are easy to track when you're all moony-eyed."
She paused, then added, "So… who wants to hear about what happened to Asuma's team? Spoiler: it involves crying."
Daigo and Kurenai shared a look.
Then Daigo muttered, "Kill me."
The next day,
The morning sun pierced through the tall trees of Training Ground Zero, spilling dappled light across cracked stone, uneven grass, and the faint remains of old scorch marks from training long past.
Team 7 stood in a line, already sweating from the brisk jog Daigo had forced on them just to get their blood moving.
Daigo stood with arms crossed, that ever-present grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. His sword was sheathed at his waist, gleaming faintly in the light, and he cast a long shadow across the dirt.
"Alright, you little larvae," he said with casual thunder in his voice. "Today's about control. You've got chakra, sure — everyone does. Even civilians. But if your chakra was a river, right now it's flooding everywhere, wasting potential. We're gonna narrow it, focus on it. Turn it into a pressure hose."
He kicked the base of a tree behind him with his heel. The bark was shredded from years of use, gnarled and scarred.
"Tree-walking. Your goal is simple: stick your feet to the bark using chakra and climb vertically without falling. You'll need to adjust the output constantly. Too much and you blast off. Too little and you fall."
Naruto blinked. "Wait, we can do that?!"
"You will do that," Daigo said. "Or you'll be crawling home with bark in your teeth."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. Sakura raised her hand politely.
"Oh my god Sakura, put your f*cking hand down, this isn't the Academy." Daigo rolled his eyes with Sakura lowering her hand fast with her cheeks now resembling her hair. Sasuke's lips threatened the uprising while Naruto frowned slightly, that was unnecessary.
"I-I-If it's about chakra control… I think I can do this already," she said quietly.
Daigo's grin widened. "You're not wrong. Smaller reserves mean better control. That's just physics, really."
He stepped aside and gestured to the tree. "Show 'em."
Sakura walked up, pressed her sandal to the bark, and with a few seconds of focus, casually jogged up the trunk like it was a flat road. She reached a branch, flipped, and landed gracefully.
Naruto's jaw dropped. "Wha—How did she do that so fast?!"
Daigo pointed at her without looking. "Low chakra. Less to manage. That's not an insult, it's just how it works. That also means she gets a new assignment."
He looked directly at Sakura.
"Tree sprints. Up, down, nonstop, till you can't feel your legs. Builds leg strength. Conditions the flow. Helps you memorize the feedback. If you can't go for ten minutes straight, you start over."
Sakura nodded, swallowing. "Yes, sensei."
Naruto's eyes twitched. "THAT'S NOT FAIR! She already gets it and now she gets punished for it?!"
Daigo turned to him and Sasuke. "Uh huh, what's your point exactly?"
Naruto's eyes goggled with his jaw unhinged, and with that Daigo jabbed a thumb at the nearest tree. "Start. No lunch until you can at least climb five steps."
The blond groaned then both him and Sasuke rushed forward, chakra flaring.
WHAM!
Naruto blasted off into the trunk and landed flat on his back.
Sasuke got three steps up, lost his balance, and crashed to the ground with a grunt.
"Too much," Daigo called out to Naruto before turning to Sasuke, "Too little. Dial it in."
As they started again — grumbling and sweating — Daigo walked over to a clear patch of earth, where a massive iron bar lay in wait. The kind you'd use to hold up a gate to a fortress. Attached to either end were massive stone weights, shaped like boars.
Naruto, catching his breath, squinted. "What the hell's that for?"
Daigo didn't answer. He just took off his vest, dropped into a handstand... and lifted the entire bar with the soles of his feet.
Sakura paused mid-sprint, stunned. "What the—"
"Focus!" Daigo barked, upside-down, voice sharp as a cleaver. "You ain't got no time to gawk! MOVE!" And they did.
The day passed in sweat and curses. Naruto slipped dozens of times. Sasuke clenched his fists harder with each failure. Sakura's legs burned from the endless sprints, but she refused to stop.
Daigo never dropped the bar. Not once. He shifted positions now and then handstands, one-armed, balancing the bar on his feet while planking, but he never stopped.
Every time they fell, he shouted. Every time they slacked, he moved closer, looming, demanding.
Hours passed and by sunset, all three were lying flat on the ground, staring at the sky like they'd seen the afterlife.
Naruto's face was smeared with dirt and tears. "I'm gonna die here."
Sasuke grunted. "You talk too much…"
Sakura whimpered. "My legs… don't exist anymore…"
Daigo finally dropped the bar with a thud that shook the ground. He stood over them, wiping his hands, that ever-grinning menace glowing in his eyes.
"Not bad for day one. You'll either get stronger… or explode." He turned away.
"Same time tomorrow. And don't be late. Or I'll come drag your corpses out of bed."
He walked off whistling. Naruto wheezed. "I think… I hate him."
Sasuke closed his eyes. "Shut up, loser."
Sakura just groaned.
It didn't take long before they clumsily made their way back home, a long shower would wait for them there, also food.
And as the silence settled over the beaten, sweat-drenched field…
…a single leaf shifted unnaturally near the highest branch of a tree overlooking the clearing.
In an instant, Kakashi Hatake emerged from the shadows, one hand still holding open a slim orange book — unread.
His lone visible eye tracked the path Team 7 had taken, their chakra signatures fading slowly into the distance. He gave a slow, thoughtful blink.
"…He didn't go easy on them." He shut the book with a soft snap.
A quiet breeze stirred his silver hair.
"Hmph. They're lucky," he muttered, almost to himself. "They won't understand it now, but they will."
Kakashi took one last look at the deep grooves in the trees, the crushed training ground, the massive footprints left by the boars and especially Daigo's handprints left by his workout with the massive dumbbell.
"…Still," he added, disappearing in a flicker of leaves, "I kinda feel bad for them now."
______________________________________________________________________________________________
The next day hadn't involved training but a more interesting outlook in the life of a shinobi.
Team 7 stood stiff in front of the mission assignment desk, blinking as a bored Chūnin read off their first official duties.
"…Weeding Mr. Odagiri's garden, walking Mrs. Nobuki's twenty-five dogs, cleaning the Inuzuka kennels, and…" He paused, squinting. "Ah yes, capturing the Daimyō's wife's cat. Again."
Naruto's eye twitched. "AGAIN?!"
Daigo, arms crossed, leaned against the wall behind them, sword resting comfortably at his waist. His face unreadable.
"That's it?" Sasuke muttered, brow furrowed.
Sakura, though tired, offered a polite bow. "Thank you, sir."
As they left the building, not even an hour later Naruto exploded.
"THIS IS STUPID! I thought we were gonna fight bad guys! Do cool missions! Not—" he yelped as twenty-five dogs nearly dragged him face-first into a mud puddle. "NOT THIS!!"
Sasuke gave a deep sigh, prying dog leashes from around his wrist. "It's pathetic."
"Speak for yourselves," Sakura muttered, covered in paw prints and dirt. "You didn't have to clean the Inuzuka kennels."
Behind them, Daigo watched like a man observing ants. Not annoyed — just curiously amused. "You know," he said, voice dry as sunbaked stone, "when I was your age, I was doing corpse retrieval from collapsed bunkers. Not cat chasing."
He squinted as Naruto, clinging to a tree, tried coaxing the Daimyō's wife's cat, a clawed, demonic thing called Tora, down with a piece of tuna.
Naruto grinned. "See, easy peasy!"
SLASH.
Three seconds later, Tora leapt from the tree, mauled Naruto's face, and darted off again.
Naruto dropped like a rock. "Nevermind."
Later that day
Back at the Hokage Tower, Team 7 looked like survivors of a small war. Covered in scratches, dog slobber, leaves, and questionable kennel residue.
Naruto flopped onto the floor. "That… was… the worst day of my life."
The Chūnin behind the desk didn't even blink. "And tomorrow's list is just as full."
Sasuke's eyebrow twitched. "You're kidding."
"Nope."
Daigo, still perfectly clean, whistled a casual tune. "Hey, this builds character."
Naruto groaned. "I want a refund on my ninja license…"
"Too late buddy." A random Chunin passing by gave his two Ryo making Naruto groan.
Daigo stepped forward, placed a single scroll on the desk, then gave the Chūnin a nod.
"Report submitted. Team 7 completed all D-rank missions. No casualties, minor trauma, and excessive complaining."
The Chūnin glanced at him. "That last part isn't necessary—"
"Not for me it ain't," Daigo grinned.
Later still, on the quiet streets of Konoha,
Team 7 walked together for the first time without Daigo leading. Tired. Worn out. But something about them had changed — subtly.
Sasuke didn't walk far ahead like before. Sakura didn't hover next to him. Naruto didn't lag behind. They walked… side by side.
"Hey," Naruto said, looking at Sasuke. "You were pretty fast with that cat."
"Hn."
"And Sakura… your idea with the tuna was smart. Sorry it didn't work out."
Sakura blinked. "Thanks."
A silence passed. Then "…I still hate D-ranks though," Naruto groaned.
Sasuke and Sakura both muttered, "Same."
Evening at the Guretsu Residence,
The Guretsu household sat tucked between a quiet grove on the edge of the Jonin district — not quite in the heart of Konoha, but close enough to reach the Hokage Tower in minutes. Their house was built more like a refurbished mountain lodge than a traditional Konoha home: wide wood beams, stone floors, and an open concept that smelled faintly of boar hide, old steel, and ginger tea.
The living room was lit by the amber flicker of a low-hanging lantern. A tapestry from the Boar Clan hung proudly over the fireplace — the only trace of Daigo's connection to his savage upbringing.
The rest of the space bore Kurenai's refined touch: red cushions arranged with precision, soft carpets with geometric patterns, and shelves of plants she carefully tended.
Daigo sat on the floor, wearing loose training pants and a body shirt. His sword was propped nearby against the wall as he lazily munched on some tea leaves, legs crossed.
Kurenai emerged from the small adjoining kitchen with two bowls of miso soup, her long black hair tied in a loose braid. She wore a simple yukata, dark red with faint plum blossoms stitched across the hem.
She handed him a bowl.
He took it with a grateful grunt. "Mmm… finally, food."
Kurenai sat beside him, folding her legs neatly. "So. How are your three delinquents holding up?"
"One got mauled by a cat, one got mobbed by mutts, and the third may never wear white again thanks to kennel sludge. I'd say morale is at an all-time low."
Kurenai raised an eyebrow. "You say that like it's a good thing."
"It is." He slurped his soup. "They were actually walking together after all that. Even Sasuke didn't look like he wanted to stab anyone. I call that progress."
Kurenai chuckled, shaking her head. "I thought my team would break first."
"You've got the bug king, the shy princess, and Captain canine and his sidekick." He jabbed a skewer toward her. "You'll be fine. The quiet ones are sneaky good under pressure."
She smiled softly at that, leaning against his arm. "Still… It's strange, isn't it? Raising Genin like this. Teaching. Watching them grow."
Daigo grunted, finishing the skewer. "It's weirder for a guy like me. But I dunno… maybe I'm finally doing something that makes sense."
"Taking care of them, huh?"
He let out a chuckle. "Trying to. They still have no clue what I am. They look at me like I'm a goddamn Bijuu with a sword."
"You are a Bijuu with a sword, kinda." she deadpanned.
He leaned in and kissed her temple. "You always know how to give the best compliments sweetheart."
She sighed before his lips switched in a smile. They sat together in silence for a while, listening to the cicadas outside.
The next day,
Training Ground Zero was uncomfortably quiet when Team 7 arrived.
The air was damp, the ground soft, and at the center of the terrain was a wide, naturally formed pond — deep, still, and glinting like glass in the early morning sun.
Naruto looked at it, then back at his teammates. "Don't tell me…"
"You guessed it," came Daigo's voice — from inside the pond.
There he was. Standing upside down — on his hands — on the water's surface. Perfectly balanced. And resting atop the soles of his feet, as if gravity were a mere suggestion, was a massive log the size of a tree trunk, sharpened into a crude barbell, with metal plates the size of dinner tables hanging off each end.
"…Okay, now tell me," Naruto muttered.
Daigo, grinning like he always did, flipped off the water with a casual splash and landed next to them in a crouch, not even winded.
"Tree walking? Too easy now, yeah? You've all gotten passable at it," he said. "But passable won't save your skin when you're running up a cliff during a flood or crossing a river in enemy territory. So today…"
He gestured to the pond. "…we walk on water."
Naruto blinked. "oh."
The Lesson Begins. Daigo stood at the pond's edge, arms crossed.
"Water walking is harder. The chakra flow has to be constant. Not just focused, but alive — like a current. You stop even for a second, the water lets you know."
He nodded toward the lake.
Naruto stepped up, gathering chakra. "I got this."
He stepped onto the water—
—and immediately sank.
SPLASH!
It didn't take long for the blonde to swim back to the surface coughing.
"…yep. I got nothin'," he coughed some more.
Sakura stepped forward next. Her focus was clean, tighter than either of the boys'. She placed a foot on the surface and paused.
Her foot held.
She put the second one forward.
And then—
SPLASH!!
"Better," Daigo called, "but not perfect."
Sasuke didn't say anything. He watched. Calculated. Waited for Sakura to get clear before trying his own approach. He made it a few steps, hovering on the surface with sheer will, but then—
SPLASH!!!
"I hate this," he muttered as soon as he breached the surface, soaked.
While the kids trained, Daigo resumed his own routine. This time he stood on the water, bent at the waist in a low squat, balancing two massive jugs of water — one on each shoulder — while a smaller boar paced back and forth on a floating log he kept balanced with his feet.
Naruto glanced up mid-choke. "What even is that?"
Daigo didn't look back.
"This is what I call core training with personality," he said, voice steady despite the mountain of weight on him. "If I lose focus, the boar falls. If the boar falls, I get gored. So I don't lose focus."
Sakura blinked. "That's… actually kind of smart."
"It's dumb," Sasuke said bluntly, wringing out his shirt.
"It's both," Daigo called.
Hours Later…
Their muscles ached. Their bodies screamed. But they were learning.
Sasuke was the first to get it — his chakra control was improving rapidly. He still couldn't sustain long movement, but he could stand and shift without sinking.
Sakura was the most consistent. She didn't even splash anymore.
Naruto… was improving. Slowly. His chakra reserves were large, too large for precise control. But he was determined — sprinting onto the water, splashing, cursing, swimming back, and trying again.
Daigo watched all of this while juggling water barrels on his feet now — lying flat on his back atop the pond.
"Pace yourselves," he shouted. "You break something, I'm not carrying you to the hospital."
Evening. The sun dipped low. The trio finally collapsed under a nearby tree. Soaked. Bruised. But smiling in that half-dead, half-proud way ninja do when they survived something they shouldn't have.
"…We're still alive," Sakura whispered.
"Speak for yourself…" Naruto groaned.
Sasuke said nothing — but his shirt stuck to him, soaked through with pond water and sweat.
Daigo finally walked up to them, towel over his shoulders, grin as sharp as ever.
"You know what the best part is?" he said.
Naruto sat up. "No?"
"We're doing this again tomorrow."
All three groaned in unison.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
The walk back to Konoha was quiet… or it would have been if Naruto hadn't been groaning every ten steps.
Team 7 dragged their feet back toward the village. Clothes clung to sore limbs, damp from pond water and sweat. Naruto grunted with each step, Sasuke walked in silence but slower than usual, and Sakura massaged her calves as she hobbled forward.
Daigo walked ahead like he'd just gone for a pleasant jog.
"My bones hurt," he whined. "My bones hurt, sensei!"
"You'll get used to it," Daigo said, completely unfazed as he stretched his arms with a loud crack of his spine. "That means it's working."
"I'm gonna die," Naruto continued.
"I'm not even sure I have muscles anymore," Sakura muttered, rubbing her calves as they crossed through the village gates.
Sasuke didn't say anything. But his jaw was tight, and his shirt was still damp. He looked like someone who'd been repeatedly dunked in cold water… which wasn't far off.
Daigo finally stopped walking and clapped his hands once.
"Alright, enough whining. You smell like you lost a fight with a fish market," he said, nose wrinkling. "And that means one thing."
Sakura blinked. "More training?"
"No," Daigo grinned, baring teeth. "Hot spring."
"Wait, seriously?" Naruto's eyes lit up.
Daigo was already leading them through the back streets of the village, cutting through alleys only seasoned shinobi would use.
"Yup. I've got a favorite spot. Clean water, not too crowded, and the spring's hot enough to cook an ox if you sit still too long."
"…Has that happened?" Sakura asked, glancing at Sasuke.
Daigo tilted his head. "I'll never tell." They were almost at the hot springs when a familiar voice called out.
"Daigo?"
The man stared at the direction to find an unexpected surprise. It was Kurenai and she wasn't alone.
Team 8, Kiba, Hinata, and Shino, stood in the street, flanked by the beautiful lady who looked mildly surprised and secretly amused.
Daigo blinked. "Well. This is a nice surprise."
The man walked forward with a grin, basically swagging the whole way though. His team of course behind him like lost little ducklings.
"Heyyy," Daigo grinned. "Speak of the beautiful devil."
Up ahead, Team 8 was exiting from a different path, Shino trailing silently, Hinata nervously fiddling with her jacket zipper, and Kiba groaning about something Akamaru had apparently peed on. And Kurenai had a knowing look on her face.
They all stopped at once when they spotted Daigo.
Kiba flinched. "Oh no. It's him."
Shino adjusted his glasses. "…We meet again."
Hinata's eyes widened. "Daigo-sensei…"
They all instinctively stood a bit straighter. None of them had forgotten how the man had exploded into their classroom that first day — dragging thunder and chaos behind him with a grin like a demon's.
Kiba nudged Shino. "How do you think that door's holding up?"
"Like a wild animal went though it," Shino replied, eerily calm.
"A boar, actually," Daigo said as he approached, having overheard and all three of Team 8 froze.
Kurenai sighed from behind her team. "They're still scared of you."
Daigo laughed. "Haha nice!"
He turned back to her with that ever-present grin. "Me and the brats are hitting the spring. I say we drag your team along. Let the kids bond, yeah?"
Kurenai narrowed her eyes. "I was just about to take them to shower—"
"Exactly!" Daigo cut in. "See? Fate. The steam goddess provides."
Kurenai just sighed before nodding, when Daigo was here he had the habit of dragging you to his own chaotic rhythm.
Although this might be a good idea. Kurenai thought staring at Hinata, the girl was looking at the blonde menace from her man's team.
"…So hot springs, yeah?" he said, looking back. "Boys' side, girls' side. I call dibs on the coed spring. With my girl."
"HUH?!" Naruto and Sakura exclaimed while Sasuke raised an eyebrow.
Team 8's jaws collectively dropped before looking at Kurenai, then back at Daigo, then back at their teacher.
Kurenai, cool as ever, only sighed, a blush barely visible behind her eyes.
"I suppose," she said, stepping toward him, not denying him.
Kiba leaned toward Hinata. "Wait, what?!"
At the Baths,
Team 7 and Team 8 split as expected.
Sakura and Hinata entered the women's side, sighing at the warm mist that greeted them. Sakura sank into the water with a deep breath, while Hinata settled quietly beside her, modest as ever.
"…Sooo…" Sakura asked, glancing sideways. "Are you and your team doing okay?"
Hinata nodded. "We mostly do drills… patrols. Some survival games."
"Must be nice. Our teacher made us run up trees and walk on water. Then he lifted a giant boar like it was a pillow."
Hinata blinked. "He… lifted a boar?"
"House sized, like it was nothing."
"…That explains the… rumors."
Meanwhile, in the men's section, steam wafted as Naruto, Sasuke, Shino, and Kiba soaked.
Kiba leaned over to Naruto. "Is it true what they say about your sensei?"
"Depends," Naruto said. "Do they say he trained inside a crater filled with angry animals and once broke a boulder with his face because he felt like it?"
"…Yeah, actually."
"I don't know about that crater part. He still didn't take us there but, from those last two days, knowing Daigo-Sensei? I think that checks out."
Shino's glasses glinted behind steam. "He made quite the entrance during team assignments. I recall classroom doors exploding."
Naruto nodded proudly. "Yup!"
Sasuke grunted. "Tch. He's a loud idiot with muscles."
Kiba smirked. "Still better than some faceless old guy with a fishing rod, huh?"
Naruto crossed his arms behind his head. "Anyway, he said we're gonna get strong. Stronger than him. Then he'll beat us all up just to prove a point."
Kiba raised a brow. "That's… actually kinda badass." Then he leaned closer.
"Hey, so… what's the deal between him and Kurenai-sensei? They walked in together. Again."
Naruto grinned, mischievous. "Yeah, kinda curious huh?"
Sasuke looked away, uninterested. "Hn. Don't care."
Kiba's ears twitched. "I mean… she is kinda hot."
Naruto's grin widened. "You've got a crush!"
"I DO NOT—!"
Shino adjusted his glasses. "She does spend a lot of time near him. They seem… close."
Kiba muttered, flustered, "She's our sensei. She's classy. Mysterious. And he—he's just some giant lunatic with a sword."
"Big everything," Naruto snorted. "You didn't see his boars yet!"
"Shut up!"
Meanwhile, in the co-ed section, Daigo leaned back against smooth stone with arms spread across the edge of the pool. Kurenai sat beside him, serene. Both wearing the minimum.
"So," she murmured. "You're taking them to the Boar Pit anytime soon?"
"Hell no," he replied. "They'd die. I'll give them a couple of months to prepare. Then I'll drag them down into the belly."
Kurenai raised a brow. "And then they'll die?"
"Only a little." He looked up, steam rising around him. "But they'll get better."
There was a pause.
"…You looked good when you walked in earlier," she said suddenly.
Daigo smirked. "You say that but you always look way better, hell you look best right now."
Kurenai rolled her eyes, but the blush on her cheeks betrayed her calm. He reached out and gently touched her hand under the water. She didn't pull away.
They sat in the quiet steam, lost in each other for a while — until a loud splash echoed from the men's side, followed by Naruto's scream and Kiba's howling laughter.
"…Should we check on them?" Kurenai asked.
Daigo waved lazily. "They'll live. If not, I get a new team. Win-win."
Kurenai giggled as she smiled, leaned over, and rested her head lightly on his shoulder.
"…Don't fall asleep," he warned. "I'll carry you out."
"Like you always do," she whispered.
The next day,
The morning sun greeted the Hidden Leaf with cheerful golden rays.
Team 7 didn't return the favor.
Naruto groaned as he shoved a crate of vegetables onto a cart using only his feet — his hands planted firmly behind him as he walked up a vertical wall.
"Why do we gotta do this while doing that?!" he barked.
"Chakra control," Sakura answered from the other side of the cart, her own sandals suctioned upside down against the same building wall. "And because Daigo-sensei said so."
"Yeah, well maybe Daigo-sensei can do it himself," Naruto grumbled, slipping slightly and kicking a turnip into the air.
Sasuke caught it mid-air and tossed it back into the cart. "Tch. Idiot."
They were halfway through their assigned D-rank missions for the day: produce delivery, scroll sorting, trash cleanup, weed pulling — all with chakra training stipulations.
Every task had rules: No stepping on the ground unless instructed; No using hands unless necessary; Balance while walking, even while lifting; Use chakra subtly, efficiently.
It was grueling in its own right — made worse by the realization that Daigo was nowhere to be found.
He had only left them a note: 'Do all the missions. Use chakra control. Don't screw around. When you're done, meet me at Ground Zero. And bring water. Lots.'
It took them half the daytime to finish up those missions, of course their next course of action would be the obvious.
The midday sun beat down on the scorched dirt of Ground Zero. Team 7 arrived, sweaty, exhausted, and mildly annoyed with a cargo of water with them. The place looked empty, until it wasn't.
"Think he's gonna throw another boar at us?" Naruto muttered.
Instead of Daigo's usual lone figure, seven people stood across the field. Six of them wore green jackets with red armbands, hospital trainees.
The seventh was Daigo, leaning lazily on a training post while chomping into a rice ball.
"Oh good, you made it!" he called with a grin. "How many turnips did you drop, Naruto?"
"Seven," Sasuke answered without missing a beat.
"Hey!"
Around him were the six additional members, all young women, most were in their late teens or early twenties, clearly still in the early years of their medic careers. They wore hospital training uniforms, sleeves rolled, clipboards in hand, medkits ready, bandages, salve kits, scrolls, and water jugs hung from their belts.
Sakura blinked. "Are… those medics?"
Daigo sat up and pointed with a toothpick. "Fresh meat from the hospital. They patch you up while I break you. Great deal, right? You suffer, they learn. Win-win."
One of the medics — clearly the oldest — blinked. "We, uh… didn't expect this kind of arrangement…"
"Adapt or be useless," Daigo grinned. "Ain't that the first rule in medicine?"
The medic nodded nervously.
Daigo pushed off the post and motioned toward the medics. "I made a deal with the hospital. These six here aren't full-fledged medics yet, but they can patch bruises, stop bleeding, and keep your bones where they should be. Which is good. Because I'm about to beat the breaks out of you."
Even Sasuke's eyes widened slightly, Naruto and Sakura had their colors vanish from their faces.
"Now don't worry," Daigo said, waving a hand. "I'm not using my sword, hell I ain't gonna be using much chakra, that would be too much."
"Too much?" A medic, a young one, uttered from the group.
Naruto gulped while Sasuke narrowed his eyes, offended. How weak does he think I am?
Sakura exhaled, adjusted her stance, and stepped forward.
"Then what will you be using Sensei?" She asked, getting a bad feeling.
Daigo grinned and cracked his knuckles, the sound sharp as thunder. "Just these hands."
He raised a finger, smiling. "The first one to land a solid hit on me gets to not eat pond weed tonight."
Naruto, like always, launched first with a roar, three clones bursting beside him. They came at all angles — high, low, flanking — fists ready.
Daigo ducked. Then turned. Then flipped Naruto and two clones over his shoulder with a single sweeping movement.
The last clone leapt — Daigo headbutted it. Poof.
Sasuke slid in from the side, shuriken flying. Daigo swatted them aside with his forearm, catching one in his teeth.
"You're telegraphing," Daigo barked before spinning on a heel and slamming Sasuke's chest with a rising palm. The Uchiha flew.
Sakura hesitated — Daigo appeared in front of her, finger poking her forehead.
"Wrong choice."
Boom. She hit the dirt hard. The medics rushed in, chakra flaring. Naruto's army of clones — three hundred strong this time — charged. Daigo burst through them like a boar through brush. Clones poofed violently. Dust and dirt exploded around his bare feet. Then a cry:
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
Sasuke's jutsu lit the training ground with roaring flame. Daigo stood still, watching it come.
FWOOOSH—
The fireball engulfed him. Naruto, his clones and Sakura shielded their eyes. When the dust cleared, a smoldering Daigo stood tall, skin singed, hair slightly frizzed… grinning like a lunatic.
"You giving me a steam bath, boy?!" Then he charged.
They didn't stand a chance. Sasuke landed hard beside Sakura, who was clutching her ribs.
"Did he just eat a fireball?" Sasuke growled.
"I think he liked it," she hissed.
Naruto collapsed beside them. "He's a monster…"
Daigo fought like his samesake, no elegance, no fancy flourishes. His style was rooted, wild, and impossibly heavy. Every punch, every movement, felt like the crash of a boulder.
But unlike the beasts he mirrored, he didn't waste movement. He dodged by inches. He blocked with precise turns of his shoulders. He attacked from odd angles with fists, knees, elbows, shoulders — even his head.
Every time they came close, he countered. Every time they coordinated, he interrupted. Every time they hesitated, he flattened them. It was as if you mixed a Juggernaut, a tank and a brawler. He was just impossible to fight against!
Yet he didn't gloat.
"Back up. Get healed. Try again," he barked and they did.
The medics learned quickly, healing bruises, stabilizing sprains, and recharging their chakra just enough.
By midday, one of the medics whispered to another, "I kind of feel sorry for them"
Another murmured, "Yeah well, that's what you get when you learn under Konoha's Silver Boar. The man isn't sane, even by Shinobi standards."
"No kidding." Another one said before running to Naruto as soon as he got punted by a well placed kick to the ribs.
Sakura screamed, launching shuriken—Daigo spun mid-roll and deflected them with his forearm, skin thicker than leather, moving with boar-like, brutal economy.
"C'mon," he shouted. "Where's all that spunk? You were mad earlier. Use that!"
Sasuke threw fire again. Daigo ducked, ran through it, and headbutted him square in the gut, launching him into a tree.
Naruto jumped back in, chakra buzzing under his skin, but Daigo caught his arm mid-spin and flung him over a hundred feet.
The medics scrambled into action. This continued on as Daigo ducked under Naruto's punch, flipped him by the arm, and slammed him into the dirt—back first.
Sasuke tried to flank but caught a knee to the stomach and doubled over. Daigo caught him by the collar and tossed him into Sakura's path just as she charged.
"Think! Work together! Not just throwing punches, but planning! Predicting!"
He wasn't coaching. He was challenging them to adapt or break.
Each round was harder than the last. They lost count of how many times they got tossed to the medics.
Medics rotated in shifts, sweating, learning to regulate chakra flow quickly under pressure. Some girls winced at the bruises they uncovered. Others found themselves in awe of how durable the kids were getting.
"He's insane," one muttered. "But… they're adapting. Fast."
By the time the sun dipped behind the trees, the field looked like a warzone.
Daigo stood at the center, arms crossed, breathing steady. His outfit slightly burned and roughed up yet he didn't have anything on him
Team 7 lay sprawled at different ends of the field, panting, chests heaving, their muscles screaming in protest. But none of them passed out.
Daigo looked over them with a wild grin and cracked his neck. "Still breathing, eh?"
He stomped over to a nearby crate, opened it, and threw down ration bars and cold water bottles.
"Eat. Drink. Heal. Then limp your asses home. You earned it today."
The medics moved in to give final checks, exhausted but sharper in their chakra precision than when they arrived.
Naruto groaned. "You're not a teacher… you're a curse!"
Daigo grinned, wide and proud.
Evening had crept into Training Ground 0. The last rays of sunlight stretched across the crater's rim, turning the dry, cracked earth a dull gold. The younger medics were packing up their kits.
Some quietly laughed as they recounted moments of the training day — Naruto tumbling into a water pit, Sasuke scowling after being tossed by Daigo again, Sakura gritting her teeth and refusing to be left behind.
But Sakura herself wasn't with her teammates now.
She was kneeling near one of the medic teams, watching with quiet intensity as a brunette trainee in her late teens hovered her hands over Naruto's bruised forearm, pale-green chakra shimmering softly between her palms.
Sakura leaned in slightly. "You're guiding the chakra through his tenketsu," she said, more of a thought than a question.
The medic girl blinked, surprised. "Y-yeah… focusing on the minor tenketsu here and here. Otherwise, you risk pushing the bruise deeper. You've got a good eye."
Sakura didn't respond right away, just stared harder. There was something graceful about it — the control, the precision. It wasn't explosive or loud. It was exact, methodical.
She liked that.
From a short distance away, Daigo saw her. Saw the way she was analyzing, absorbing. She wasn't gawking like Naruto would. She wasn't dismissing it like Sasuke might. She was studying.
He scratched his chin, eyes narrowing in thought. A few moments later, as the medics wrapped up, he walked over.
"Learning how to fix idiots already, huh?" he asked, jerking a thumb toward Naruto, who was currently trying to convince another medic to give him an extra ration bar.
Sakura blinked, then looked up at him. "It's… fascinating. The chakra flow. The precision. I didn't realize how detailed it was."
Daigo crouched beside her, arms resting on his knees. "It's more than detailed. It's deadly if you mess it up. You pump chakra wrong into a wound, you don't heal it — you tear it wider. Being a medic-nin isn't like being a walking bandage. You're a surgeon in the middle of a battlefield."
Sakura glanced back toward the trainee medics. "Could I… learn it?"
Daigo smiled — wide, toothy, that usual grin that somehow didn't mock, but challenged.
"Could you? Yeah. Should you?" He tilted his head. "That depends."
Sakura frowned slightly.
"You've got the control for it. You picked up tree walking first. That means your chakra's tight. No excess, no waste. That's step one for medic-nin."
She straightened a bit.
"And I've seen how you use the Clone Jutsu. Clean. Fluid. No slop. That means your chakra molding is sharp, which means you could be good at Genjutsu too."
"But with Sasuke here—"
"Forget Sasuke," Daigo said bluntly. "He's an Uchiha. Sure his eyes do the heavy lifting, if he even ends up unlocking them. You don't need to compete with him, you just need to sharpen your own edge.
Sakura blinked.
"You've got good instincts," he continued. "A sharp mind. Discipline. The chakra control to do medical work, and the subtlety for Genjutsu. That's rare."
She looked away, flustered. "I'm not… strong like the others."
Daigo snorted. "Doesn't matter, your greatest strength is your precision and yes while I do have a lot of power myself, do you know what helps to punch through boulders?" He smacked his palm. "Precision. And you? You're built for precision."
He stood and stretched his arms over his head with a crack. "Both Kurenai and I can help polish your Genjutsu. She's damn good and I'd say I'm better...Don't tell her I said that though." Daigo shuddered
"As for medical ninjutsu?" He cracked his knuckles. "Well. I'll see what I can do."
Sakura stood slowly, brushing her knees. "So… I should do both?"
Daigo turned, walking off with a shrug. "Why not? Ain't like you're doing anything else with that big brain of yours."
She stared after him then smiled.