"Class One! Everyone! Twenty laps around the field, warm up!"
Shinji, who was standing under a tree enjoying the shade, finished speaking and blew his whistle.
Hearing Shinji's words, the little kids who had just assembled groaned in unison.
"Sensei, why do we have to warm up again?"
"Exactly, at least let us relax a bit before the first class this afternoon."
Shinji said with a smile, showing no signs of softening, "Hehe, no can do. Physical training class isn't for you to rest. Hurry up and finish running, or don't blame me if you lose your break time later."
Hearing that they might not even have time to rest after running, the students immediately shut their mouths and dutifully turned to prepare.
"Ready—set—go!"
At Shinji's command, the little kids quickly ran out on their short legs.
Shinji got ready to start timing.
Seeing Shikamaru and Choji running slowly at the back of the line, he smiled and called out, "The last three in the line today will have to run an extra ten laps."
Shikamaru accelerated forward as if a beast was chasing him from behind.
"Shikamaru, wait for me!"
Choji, seeing this, panicked and quickly picked up his pace.
After a few laps, Shinji nodded.
Naruto didn't seem to be slacking off, staying in the first group the entire time.
Moreover, he could clearly sense that Naruto's breathing and steps were not disordered at all, which made Sasuke, who had always been first, a bit unbearable.
He hadn't expected that Naruto, who was clearly a loser at the beginning of the school year, would actually catch up this week. Not only in classroom participation, but even in some extracurricular lessons, he showed clear signs of improvement.
This brought to mind the weights Shinji had Naruto tie to his body over the weekend. Naruto was so earnest that he didn't take them off even when he slept.
In the morning, he even specifically came to Shinji, asking for new weights. He said that the ten-pound ankle weights no longer felt like anything to him.
Nine-Tails Chakra is truly nourishing for the body.
As time passed, Shinji looked at the students standing in front of him, panting heavily. He couldn't help but smile.
In the front, Naruto and Sasuke were competing with each other, while a group of girls wanted to catch up to Sasuke.
And at the very back were the boys in the class. Seeing Naruto and Sasuke so glorious, they gritted their teeth and chased after them.
So, the warm-up exercise, which usually took a relatively long time, was completed in less than half the time with Naruto and Sasuke leading the team. The effect of these two was quite good.
Naruto and Sasuke at the front of the line were bickering, neither willing to concede to the other.
Stuck-up Sasuke, if he wasn't still wearing weights on his feet, he definitely wouldn't lose.
In the latter half, Naruto also gradually started to run out of stamina. After all, he was carrying thirty pounds of weights on him, and honestly, if he wasn't afraid of Shinji getting angry, he would have taken them off long ago.
Sasuke glanced at Naruto and thought, 'That was close, I almost let that loser steal first place. It seems I'll have to go back and continue training with my brother, or I'll be surpassed.'
Shinji clapped his hands and said, "Not bad, it seems I underestimated you students before. Next time, I'll have to add more laps."
Shikamaru, at the back of the line, heard this and his face immediately turned pale.
If Shinji hadn't threatened to add laps for those who finished last, he wouldn't have run so hard at all. And now he was saying he would add more later.
"I'm tired, just let it all be destroyed!"
Shikamaru was too lazy to fuss anymore and simply lay down.
"Shikamaru, what's wrong?" Choji, beside him, asked with a bit of concern.
"Nothing, I just want to rest."
Shikamaru's peripheral vision caught Naruto and Sasuke still bickering at the front of the line.
'Is Shinji-sensei's individual instruction really that effective? Even Naruto has surpassed half the class, and...'
He remembered when Naruto had fallen slightly behind during the run. Shikamaru clearly saw that Naruto had what looked like weights tied to his feet.
'It seems I'll have to talk to father properly.'
—
During the break, Shinji called Naruto over. He planned to have him come for training after class on the first three days of the weekend from now on.
There was no other way. Hiruzen wanted him to go on missions during the weekend, so Shinji could only ask Naruto to work a bit harder. At most, he would cover dinner.
"Huh? Why, sensei? I have even more free time on the weekends." Naruto blurted out instinctively upon hearing Shinji's words.
However, a bigger reason was that he didn't like being alone on weekends, it would be very boring.
Shinji said, bringing up Naruto's long-standing weakness, "No choice, I will probably have missions on the weekends. So, from Wednesday to Friday evenings, you come to me, and I'll train you. On the weekends, if I have time, I'll come find you. If not, I hope, Naruto, you can review your studies more."
Even if Naruto paid close attention in class, at this stage, the curriculum was gradually increasing in difficulty, making it harder for him to learn.
Naruto said, scratching the back of his head a bit dejectedly, "But sensei, I get a little dizzy just looking at textbooks."
Others might remember things after one or two times, but he needed several repetitions. He even had to ask Shinji for help after class, otherwise, at his pace, he might be the only one in the class to fall behind.
Shinji reached out and patted Naruto's hair, speaking patiently, "So, at this stage, the training must continue, but you also need to focus on your studies. You need to know that more than just combat prowess is required to become a ninja."
"You also need a certain amount of knowledge so that when you become a Jonin later, you can lead a team."
"What's more, you want to become the Hokage."
This wasn't empty talk, after all, becoming a strong person wasn't just about superior combat ability. It also required various other qualities. Otherwise, with Naruto's growth, he would at most end up like in the original story, a Hokage who couldn't even take care of his own home.
"Ah—"
Just thinking about the knowledge in those textbooks, Naruto felt immense pressure. For him, studying was more unbearable than being asked to run a few more laps.
Seeing this, Shinji pointed to Sasuke not far away and said, "Look, Naruto. Sasuke is currently first in all aspects. Even in classroom tests, he has always been at the top. You can't lose to him, can you?"
As Shinji brought out the 'big weapon' that was Sasuke, Naruto instinctively looked over.
Seeing Sasuke's smug expression, he imagined Sasuke's triumphant look in front of him later.
Naruto said, "Shinji-sensei, don't worry, I won't lose to Sasuke."
Sasuke, who was resting not far away, heard this and looked over.
Seeing that it was Naruto who had said it, he instinctively scoffed.
"That loser."