Ninja Academy, Classroom.
Teacher Yamada was on the podium, endlessly explaining the key points of refining Chakra, hoping those few students who still hadn't managed to do it would complete the process soon.
Meanwhile, more than half the students in their seats were doing their own thing. Yamada didn't mind. Aside from the clan kids, even for the other students who had already refined Chakra, the current content was a waste of their time. As long as they didn't disrupt the class, Yamada let them be.
Taiichi was one of those students. He no longer needed supervision; extracting Chakra was slowly becoming a habit. Right now, he was practicing hand seals for ninjutsu. After all, knowing a jutsu and being able to cast it were two different things. Practice was essential.
Take hand seals, for example. Memorizing them was just the first step.
The second step was forming the seals proficiently and accurately with both hands.
The third step was mobilizing Chakra simultaneously while forming the seals. The purpose of the seals was to guide the Chakra for the efficient release of ninjutsu.
Only when all three steps were complete could one cast a jutsu. As for seal speed, that relied entirely on long-term training to build muscle memory.
At 11:30 AM, the morning classes ended.
As soon as the teacher left, the classroom erupted into noise.
Students who lived nearby went home for lunch, while those who lived further away had to stay at school and eat the bento they had prepared in the morning. Taiichi, Gai, and Kakashi were among the latter.
After their sparring match yesterday, the friendship among the three had deepened. Now, they gathered together, chatting as they ate.
Just as the three were tackling their bentos, a voice interrupted them.
"Taiichi... I have some sushi here. Would you like to try some?"
All three looked up simultaneously, three pairs of eyes staring straight at the source of the voice.
Shizune blushed a little under their gaze. Taiichi was slightly surprised, but recalling their interaction before, he smiled naturally and didn't refuse. "Thanks, Shizune. Don't mind if I do."
So, the lunch trio became a quartet. Though, you could clearly tell it was two groups: Gai and Kakashi sat closer together, while Shizune and Taiichi formed a pair.
Since Shizune offered her food, Taiichi naturally had to reciprocate. "Shizune, this is braised pork belly I made myself. Give it a try."
"Wow! Amazing! Did you really make this yourself, Taiichi?"
Shizune was shocked. She hadn't expected Taiichi to be so skilled, capable of cooking such a complex dish.
She picked up a piece with her chopsticks. The taste was incredible—a deliciousness she hadn't anticipated.
"See? Shizune! Taiichi's cooking is a delicacy of the human world!" Gai interjected at that moment.
Taiichi shot Gai a glance. Seeing Gai practically drooling, he pushed his bento box forward. "Here, you two try some too!"
Gai and Kakashi exchanged a look, and without standing on ceremony, both grabbed a piece of meat and started eating. Gai had eaten Taiichi's food before, but it was Kakashi's first time. Immediately, he wore the same expression as Shizune—shocked, he looked at Taiichi with wide eyes. Having tasted Taiichi's food, the two also shared their own lunches with him.
They finished eating in just fifteen minutes—Shizune's leftover sushi had been polished off by Taiichi. The lunch break lasted until 1:30 PM, but Taiichi wasn't idle. He picked up Basic Ninjutsu Theory from his desk and started reading, while his hands continued practicing seals.
Gai was fast asleep beside him, Kakashi had disappeared to who-knows-where, and Shizune slowly drifted off to sleep watching Taiichi.
At 1:30 PM, classes resumed with theory and Ninja Tool Throwing.
Theory class was the same as always: people sleeping, snacking, or spacing out. There were also those studying seriously, like Taiichi, Shizune, and Rin Nohara. Everyone managed their time according to their own needs. After all, this was the ninja world; those who didn't learn properly were gambling with their lives.
After theory came Ninja Tool Throwing. After a few days of practice, everyone had clearly improved. At the very least, they could hit the target now. As for Kakashi, Taiichi, and Asuma, they were hitting the bullseye every time.
> [You practiced Ninja Tool Throwing. Your comprehension has improved.]
> [Your skill Ninja Tool Throwing has leveled up. Experience +1]
> [You focused on Ninja Tool Throwing practice. Apprentice Ninja Class Experience +1]
...
> [Congratulations, your skill Ninja Tool Throwing has reached Lv3 (0/400)]
As the skill leveled up, the muscle memory and insights from long-term throwing practice integrated into every inch of Taiichi's muscles.
With Ninja Tool Throwing now at Lv3 after just a few days, Taiichi picked up a kunai again. With a flick of his wrist, he hit the bullseye, feeling even more effortless than before. So, he picked up two kunai simultaneously, holding them between his index, middle, and ring fingers, and flung them at the target.
Thwack, thwack. Two sounds rang out in succession. Both kunai hit the target. Although they weren't in the bullseye, the difficulty of this throw was exponentially higher.
Gai watched, dumbfounded. Even Kakashi looked at Taiichi in surprise. It had taken Kakashi a long time to reach the level Taiichi was at now, yet Taiichi had done it in just a few days.
"Taiichi, do you have some kind of trick?" Shizune couldn't help but ask.
"What trick? I just kept practicing, and suddenly felt like I could do it. I tried it, and unexpectedly, it worked," Taiichi said, not without a hint of pride.
The group rolled their eyes in unison.
...
At 5:00 PM, the school day ended.
Taiichi said goodbye to Gai and the others and hurriedly ran to the orphanage. He wanted to ask Nono if she had received any news from Tsunade today.
When he arrived, he saw everyone preparing dinner. Taiichi jumped in to help, which delighted the bunch of little brats. They cheered that they finally got to eat Big Brother Taiichi's cooking again, working with renewed vigor.
Taiichi suppressed his anxiety and cooked with everyone.
After dinner and cleanup, Taiichi pulled Nono into the office.
"Big Sister Nono, did you get any news from Lady Tsunade today?" Taiichi asked straight away.
"Not yet," Nono replied calmly. She had lived this way for a long time and was much more patient than Taiichi.
"That shouldn't be. The verification process is fast; why is there no news?" Taiichi was puzzled. But thinking about Tsunade's personality and her recent state, he felt unsure.
"You don't think... Lady Tsunade forgot, do you?"
"Taiichi, don't be so anxious. Maybe Lady Tsunade got held up by other matters," Nono comforted him.
"You're right. I'm too impatient. This isn't something we can control. We can only wait for Lady Tsunade's reply." Taiichi adjusted his mindset.
Taiichi chatted with Nono about his daily life at school for a while before leaving the orphanage. Before he left, Nono comforted him again, telling him not to worry.
Back home, Taiichi picked up the scrolls as usual. Today, he was going to practice the Three Basic Jutsu. With the foundation laid over the past few days—both in Chakra and basic knowledge—Taiichi had reached a certain level. It was time for formal Ninjutsu training, even if it was just the basics.
First up: the Clone Jutsu.
Taiichi stood still, feeling the Chakra flow within him. Then, he slowly formed the hand seals for the Clone Jutsu: Ram - Snake - Tiger. He carefully felt the movement of Chakra triggered by each seal.
He tried this back and forth seven or eight times until it felt right. Taiichi suddenly accelerated his hand seals, forming the three seals in an instant. softly shouting "Clone Jutsu!", he felt the Chakra inside him flow rapidly along a specific trajectory, then a chunk of it vanished. A puff of white smoke appeared, and a "Taiichi" stood beside him.
"Yes! Success on the first try!" Taiichi was excited. The panel immediately gave a notification.
> [Congratulations, you learned Clone Jutsu Lv1 (0/100)]
Taiichi examined the clone in front of him carefully and found many flaws. The most obvious was that it was significantly shorter than his real body—a huge giveaway. Of course, this was just the beginning. With constant practice, making it indistinguishable from the real thing was guaranteed.
feeling the Chakra in his body, he realized the consumption for the Clone Jutsu was quite small. So, he moved on to the Transformation Jutsu.
Same process: familiarize, test, then Ram - Monkey - Bird - Dog - Snake. A puff of white smoke, and a "Might Gai" appeared on the spot.
Similarly, with Ram - Boar - Ox - Dog - Tiger, the prepared wooden log transformed into Taiichi's appearance, while Taiichi himself used the opportunity to escape. That was the Substitution Jutsu.
Sure enough, Taiichi thought to himself, he had a talent for Ninjutsu. He learned all three basic jutsu instantly. The only thing left was to practice to increase proficiency. Checking his Chakra again, he found the consumption wasn't high, and it was slowly recovering. So, he decided to practice more.
> Name: Taiichi Matsushita
> Class: Apprentice Ninja Lv2 (184/200)
> Talents: Diligence, Academic Genius
> Age: 6
> Constitution: 10
> Strength: 11
> Agility: 10
> Spirit: 18
> Chakra: 785 (4200)
> Attribute Points: 5
> Skill Points: 5
> Skills: Basic Taijutsu Lv6 (465/1000), Basic Meditation Lv6 (895/1000), Chakra Refining Technique Lv2 (145/200), Ninja Tool Throwing Lv3 (35/400), Transformation Jutsu Lv1 (15/100), Clone Jutsu Lv1 (12/100), Substitution Jutsu Lv1 (16/100)
> Evaluation: You learned the Three Basic Jutsu. You are now standard battlefield cannon fodder.
Looking at this somewhat plain panel, seeing the evidence of his gradual strengthening, Taiichi felt a surge of excitement. Unconsciously, more strength welled up in his body, supporting him to continue his training.