A few people were heading toward the Land of Rain, and since their mission wasn't particularly urgent, it actually felt more like a sightseeing trip.
"So for ninjas, chakra control is extremely important. Whether performing ninjutsu, genjutsu, or even taijutsu, without precise chakra control, you'll use up more chakra while weakening the power of your techniques. So your next training exercise will be… climbing trees?"
"Do ninjas really need to learn how to climb trees?" Yuuma Akimoto asked, raising her hand curiously.
Seiji Ito put down his sword and thoughtfully replied, "I suppose Sensei isn't talking about regular tree climbing, right?"
"Of course not ordinary tree climbing, but something like this."
As he spoke, Hayate Gekko walked straight up the trunk of a large tree using only his feet, then turned upside down until he was hanging with just his feet touching the bark—no other assistance at all.
"You can actually do that?! That's amazing! You're incredible, Sensei Hayate!" Yuuma Akimoto's eyes widened in fascination. Everything Hayate did was totally new and exciting to her.
"Um… can I say that I've already completed this training before?" Shiki Uzumaki raised his hand to speak. Though he usually preferred keeping a low profile instead of showing off like some kids, he couldn't afford to be careless when it came to advancing his training.
"Already trained? Are you kidding us, Shiki Uzumaki?"
Hayate still had trouble believing him because normally this kind of training required ninja to have developed a certain level of chakra and basic techniques first. Otherwise, practicing like that would be pointless—no matter how hard they tried, they'd just end up falling flat on their faces.
Shiki actually understood this perfectly well. When Kakashi trained Team 7 to climb trees, every member was already quite skilled.
Sasuke was obviously already at that level.
Even Sakura, who everyone thought was just an average student, aced almost all her tests.
And Naruto naturally possessed an enormous amount of chakra. Although it's true that his chakra control was poor, through sheer determination, he mastered tree climbing within a week.
In short, most kids at the Academy weren't ready for this kind of training yet. Even if they somehow met the requirements, there would rarely be someone willing to teach them.
Realizing this, Shiki also understood where Hayate's skepticism was coming from.
"I guess I'll have to show him or he won't buy it."
Then Shiki stepped forward toward the same tree where Hayate hung upside down.
His foot firmly touched the bark.
Hayate's eyebrows slightly furrowed; Shiki's performance genuinely surprised him. That one step alone made it clear—Shiki wasn't just some kid trying to learn tree climbing.
Most people who learned [Tree Climbing] at this age didn't master it very well, usually overusing chakra to some degree and leaving traces on the tree trunks.
For Shiki to step so lightly onto the tree meant only one of two possibilities. The first was that he was simply boasting like a typical child.
However, according to Hayate Gekko's understanding of Shiki, this possibility was almost nonexistent. Although Shiki sometimes enjoyed cracking jokes,
he was actually a very serious person who never intentionally exaggerated his abilities.
In fact, if there were no need to show off, he appeared as harmless as a gentle sheep. Yet Hayate always felt he was more like a venomous snake hiding somewhere, waiting patiently in the shadows for the moment to strike fatally.
The second possibility seemed even harder to believe: that Uzumaki Shiki had already attained an extremely high level of chakra control.
Only someone capable of using chakra with such exquisite precision—controlling it down to the smallest amount required underfoot without any waste—could steadily walk upright on a tree trunk.
Could a child this young really possess such refined chakra mastery?
After all, ninjas specializing in taijutsu generally performed worse in this aspect.
Seiji Ito also watched Shiki's movements with great interest. For Seiji, ever since Shiki had once refused to consider them teammates, he had carried a lingering resentment toward Uzumaki Shiki.
Even though during subsequent missions, Uzumaki Shiki had completely proven himself as a reliable comrade,
that resentment had already been deeply ingrained in his heart. He wasn't sure whether it was because the sunlight that day was strangely harsh, illuminating Yuuma Akimoto's cute face in a way that made her expression seem so terribly dejected.
He just knew from that moment onward, he had regarded Uzumaki Shiki as his rival.
Just like he couldn't explain why he'd angrily sliced through Uzumaki Shiki's books.
So right now, his gaze locked onto Uzumaki Shiki's back.
Of course, Shiki remained unaware of the thoughts forming among those around him, walking forward just as usual during training.
Second step, third, fourth—it was surprisingly easy. He reached the treetop alongside Hayate Gekko and hung upside-down beside him.
"Sensei," Shiki said, "Now you must believe me, right? I think you should assign me more suitable training."
"Freak!" Hayate inwardly exclaimed.
At that moment came Yuuma's admiring voice from below:
"Shiki-nii is so amazing!"
Yet nobody noticed how tightly Ito Seiji clenched his fists beneath his black sleeves.
Chapter 96: Bandits
"Boss, that seemingly frail young man appears to be a ninja from Konoha," Kazuki Fujino whispered cautiously, barely above a breath, though his concern still sounded somewhat weak.
Yet despite being merely a new recruit within this bandit gang, his words gained immediate agreement from everyone around.
Dozens of men wielding blades looked toward the middle-aged man crouching at the forefront with pleading expressions in their eyes.
They were lying in ambush here only to rob wealthy people, not to throw their lives away.
Their leader didn't seem to hear it at all, though — he just kept watching the group of four chatting quietly.
[Crunch… crunch…]
The harsh, grating noise immediately filled the air, like a rat scraping its teeth against wood.
But when they heard the sound, the dozen or so men exchanged shocked glances.
They all knew that sound too well — it was the grinding of their boss's teeth.
Who knew how their leader's teeth grinding could ring so clearly in everyone's ears?
But hearing that sound could only mean one thing.
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