After a whirlwind of mission reports and 3 days of hospitalization, Team 5 was free to return to their homes, but the 3 families scolded Shimura Takao until the man ran away. Team 5 was given a 7-day vacation, but 3 days were used for healing, and unfortunately for Kudo, his mother took another day. After seeing how distraught she looked at his scars and bandages, he spent a day with her. Going to plays, eating, exploring the village, and reminiscing, just like when he was younger, filled with endless vitality.
Day 5 after their first C-rank mission;
Takao had assembled the team back in training ground 27. Team 5/Sparrow looked better; they were doing warm-up exercises, running around the field and alternating between sprints, walking, and frog jumps.
"Now, I have read your mission reports, and congratulations, as you will be doing this more often, especially for C-rank missions and above. While each of you is a competent individual fighter, there is clearly a lack of synergy in teamwork. You each prefer to handle battle alone; while that makes you stronger, it prevents the team from being even stronger. Today we will be doing some team exercises: tug of war against me, three-legged race, etc.
After that, for the next few weeks we will be focused on learning ninjutsu that allow you guys to synchronize attacks and even form combination jutsu. Just because Kudo used water and Ai uses fire doesn't mean it won't work. Steam blinds the enemy as much as you, but if you have experience fighting in such situations and have sensor shinobi, then loss of sight is an advantage to the team.
I specialize in 3 natures: Earth, Wind, and Water. With some minor fire as well; that is, I will teach you what you need to know, so trust me and do your best. Also, starting from now, we will do our physical training with weighted seals to toughen your bodies. Let's begin."
Takao took some rope out; he carved out 3 lines on the ground and tied a band in the middle of the rope. "You take the other end, and I will take this side. Your objective is to take the midpoint of the rope and bring over the second line from the midpoint line while I try the same on my end."
Ai, Enya, and Kudo, in hushed voices, got ready. Kudo stood at the front, Ai in the middle, and Enya at the back; Takao flicked a coin. As soon as it landed, Kudo felt the rope explode from his hands, searing them, as Takao exploded with unbelievable strength, but his students weren't pushovers. "Hold!" Kudo shouted, his legs skidding, "Arghhh!" Compared to their shouts, Takao let out muffled grunts. The rope went back and forth by tiny margins. "You will only get more tired faster if you don't synchronize your efforts. Remember: teamwork." Takao said, looking at the flushed faces of his students.
"Enya, synchronize with Ai!" Kudo grunted, his chest falling up and down rapidly. Like rowing a boat, the three students started working in tandem; they exerted effort at the same time, pulled together, and even their steps were synchronizing. "Pull!!"
After an hour of constant exertion, Kudo and the rest toppled over with exhaustion while Takao, who was still standing, strained. "Rest for 5 minutes and then comes the 3-legged race." While his students groaned, he smiled; finally, things were shaping up.
Kudo limped back home, feeling sore all over; the rest of the afternoon had been physical punishment; repeatedly, they had to work together to get it right. Thinking about the upcoming days, he couldn't help but tremble.
The days marched on, and intense focus was put into their synergy as a team; the team eventually transitioned to group combat against their sensei, and the difference was stark. What had once been poor alternating attacks considered teamwork had laid the foundation for genuinely fighting as a team. Kudo was still a frontline fighter; his physicality, which was strong, became even stronger as they trained using gravity seals. In over a year since he started using the seal, he was now able to withstand twice the gravity; at level 2, he was using 10% of the seal. Ai took advantage whenever Takao overextended to put Kudo down, dealing lethal blows while Enya struck seamlessly with sneak attacks. They now made Takao push more to win.
The most exciting, however, was that their ninjutsu training was about to begin in a week. Though they remained in the village, that didn't mean they stopped doing missions. They took on at least 3 missions per week, something Takao said was a principle of his: "Execution is the best teacher," he said.
"Right, today you are going to learn grappling and sacrificial hits. Fighting as a team doesn't mean every attack you make is a successful one; some are distractions, create distance, and immobilize the enemy. Fighting is not technique or forms; you won't be given that chance because fighting is gritty, nasty, and merciless because survival matters more. A shinobi that survives is a shinobi that is useful to his village. So, watch and learn." Takao made a shadow clone and started showing grappling techniques and how irrelevant they can be if the enemy has superior conditioning.
Training ground 7; 3 hours later…
Kudo stood shirtless, the blazing sun scorching him; he was currently 11 years old, just a few months before turning 12. Plates of iron bars were strapped onto his body as he maintained a horse stance, then moved through gradual Konoha taijutsu forms. His body was more than lean, with muscle mass beginning to build up; his chakra levels that were low chunin, showed some minor increase. 'In the next 2 months, my chakra levels will reach middle chunin level. My physical conditioning needs more work; the workouts feel easier. The academy taijutsu, I have mastered it, and I need to start with my great-granddad's advanced taijutsu; it looks awesome. For movement, I have the body flicker, and for escape techniques it's just the substitution jutsu. I know 2 D-rank lightning jutsus and 6 D-rank water jutsus. Only 1 C-rank water wall jutsu. For genjutsu, I know the D-rank Swallowing Dark Ocean and Hollow Waves. I need a C-rank genjutsu. For C-rank ninjutsu, Dad got me those, so I'm okay for now.
So, the goal is an all-rounder as a shinobi. Jonin is the lowest rank I will aim at.' Kudo's gaze focused on the water, waves churning but looking still.