Chapter 16: Nawaki: As If Any Real Ninja Would Ever Get Blown Up by an Explosive Tag

Time flew by, and over a month passed in the blink of an eye.

With a month of steady training behind them, the visible changes in the boys were plain to see.

Unlike Shingo, who poured nearly all of his time and energy exclusively into taijutsu, Nawaki and the others divided their focus, dedicating less than half of their stamina to physical training.

The remainder of their time was spent drilling ninja tool throwing and chakra control, laying the groundwork for learning ninjutsu and mastering clan secret techniques later on.

Shikaku and Inoichi made the fastest progress in chakra control, having already mastered the art of walking on water.

With their naturally sharp minds and the added influence of their respective clan secrets and Yin Release affinity, they clearly possessed a higher innate talent for the precise manipulation of chakra.

While Nawaki and Chōza lagged a step behind in chakra control, having just completed tree-climbing practice, their physical gifts were far superior. Fueled by the robust Yang Release chakra pulsing within them, they actually progressed faster than Shikaku and Inoichi when it came to weighted training.

A month prior, Nawaki would throw a fit and complain endlessly about the awkwardness of the thirty-kilogram weights.

Now, he could complete an entire routine of basic exercises while lugging around fifty kilograms.

Chōza's progression was even more exaggerated.

The weights strapped to his body had been bumped up to seventy kilograms.

Yet what pleased Chōza the most wasn't the increase in his load, but the fact that his appetite had surged correspondingly, demanding roughly half again as much food as before.

Even so, his increasingly sturdy and gradually slimming physique presented Chōza with a minor dilemma.

He could feel the positive changes in his own body and knew such adaptations were beneficial for his training.

Yet, deep down, he still felt that members of the Akimichi clan ought to carry a bit more bulk.

From then on, the boys stopped bringing premade bento boxes to lunch, opting instead to pack basic staples like rice balls and flatbreads.

Whenever morning training wrapped up, Shingo would head out nearby to hunt.

Wild chickens, rabbits, wild boars, wolves...

Whatever they caught went straight into the cooking pot that very day, freshly slaughtered and roasted on the spot.

When he didn't feel like cooking, he pulled out previously smoked dried meat, and they would just make do.

If they wanted a change of pace, they'd fish by the stream, while Shikaku, Chōza, and the others occasionally brought ingredients from home, mainly venison and beef.

During this period, Shingo's stats and occupational experience rose steadily.

Both his Chef and Hunter classes leveled up once, and the resulting skill points were poured straight into chakra control.

By now, his chakra control had reached Level 6, while Mind's Eye and Strong Fist had both leveled up a few days prior.

Shingo's current status window looked as follows.

…

Name: Shingo

Age: 6

Bloodline: Hyūga Clan

Kekkei Genkai: Byakugan (Missing)

Basic Stats:

Strength: 12.1

Speed: 7.2

Constitution: 13.2

Spirit: 9.7

Common Classes:

Chef Lv.2 (17/200)

Craftsman Lv.1 (91/100)

Hunter Lv.3 (26/400)

Transcendent Class:

Warrior Lv.4 (334/800)

Class Skills:

Mind's Eye Lv.3 (13/400)

Attunement with Nature Lv.1 (96/100)

Class Skill Points: 0

Innate Skills:

Warrior's Physique Lv.3

General Skills:

Chakra Control Lv.6 (44/3200)

Gentle Fist Lv.2 (52/200)

Strong Fist Lv.3 (14/400)

Nimble Hands Lv.1 (49/100)

Gourmet Palette Lv.2 (6/200)

Tracking Lv.3 (14/400)

General Skill Points: 1

…

Naoki checked in on them a few times mid-journey.

After confirming that they were training well and making clear progress, he mulled it over thoroughly and ultimately chose not to force Shingo and the others back to school.

For them, the early curriculum of the first-year academy classes was indeed far too simple.

Getting out to train was fine, but their academic studies could not fall behind.

Every afternoon after classes let out, Naoki would bring a copied set of lesson plans to the training ground, handing over the day's academic material to the boys.

Occasionally, he would bring along snacks as a reward.

He trusted the boys completely, confident that they would study diligently once they got home.

Well, perhaps he didn't trust all of them completely. He trusted the others, but as for Nawaki, he made a mental note to drop word to Tsunade just in case.

Fortunately, there weren't many academic subjects at this stage, focusing primarily on foundational common knowledge like ninja history and geography.

After finishing their daily training, the boys could still squeeze out enough energy to review the material.

The other instructors had also caught wind of the situation regarding Shingo's group and specifically sought out Naoki to discuss it.

To that, Naoki's reply was simple:

Genius deserved a genius's privileges.

Besides, Naoki knew what he was doing.

When the time came to truly dive into crucial subjects like cipher work, intelligence gathering, and ninjutsu theory, he would give Shingo and the others advance notice and order them back to the classroom.

It was precisely because Naoki had their backs that Shingo and his peers were able to carve out this dedicated time for training.

Until today, when they finally took their seats back inside the Class 1-A classroom once more.

The reason they weren't out training today was because Naoki had announced the previous evening that, with a full month of the semester behind them, class combat tests would be held this morning.

Standing on the training grounds, Naoki glanced down at the roster in his hands.

Next to each student's name, clear notes had been recorded.

A month's time had made the gaps within the class distinctly visible.

Two-thirds of the students had successfully refined chakra.

The rest remained blocked right at the initial threshold.

The matchups for today's spar were carefully devised by Naoki after weighing the students' usual performance.

Among them, the pairings for Shingo's group had shifted compared to last time:

Nawaki versus Chōza.

Shikaku versus Ruri.

Inoichi versus Ami.

As for Shingo, his opponent for this test would be Naoki himself.

No one raised any objections to this arrangement.

Only Ruri fell silent for a brief moment before requesting a match against Shingo.

Ami was similarly dissatisfied, still holding onto a preference to fight Ruri.

With an inward sigh, Naoki flatly rejected both of them.

The ensuing test results held no major surprises for Naoki.

Nawaki and Chōza fought to a standstill.

Neither could break through the other's defenses, and both ultimately exhausted their stamina, leaving the match to end in a draw.

Over on Shikaku and Inoichi's side, things weren't nearly as deadlocked.

After a few dozen exchanges, complete suppression secured them an easy victory.

Victorious, neither boy showed any signs of surprise; that matter-of-fact sense of this-is-how-it-should-be deeply rankled the two proud Uchiha girls.

Both had witnessed the match between those two a month ago.

While Shikaku possessed a brilliant mind, neither girl believed she would lose to him in a direct physical confrontation.

As for Inoichi, it went without saying.

If he couldn't even beat that Hyūga boy, by what right did he expect to beat them?

Yet the result was a crushing defeat for the two of them.

The bout between Shingo and Naoki, however, truly opened the surrounding students' eyes.

Naoki did not make Shingo take off his weights.

On one hand, this was merely a monthly minor test; on the other, he wanted to avoid making Shingo stand out too prominently at the academy.

Even so, the power Shingo displayed still vastly exceeded the understanding of his peers.

Speed, strength, reflexes, proficient application of Strong Fist...

Even if the rest of them swarmed him together, they probably wouldn't be able to do a thing against Shingo.

"Alright, that's enough."

Naoki shook his right hand, which still felt slightly numb, picked up the roster, and wrote down a full score in Shingo's evaluation column once more.

"Even relying solely on taijutsu, Shingo, you could easily apply for early graduation right now."

The moment those words left his mouth, the surrounding students instantly fell silent.

Those who had been whispering amongst themselves about the previous match all instinctively turned their gazes toward Shingo.

Early graduation.

For first-year students who had only been enrolled for a single month, those words carried an immense shockwave.

The next instant, Nawaki darted straight over to Shingo's side, clapping him on the shoulder with undisguised pride and a broad grin.

"Not bad, Shingo! You're so strong, why not graduate this year? How about breaking the record for the fastest graduation in the academy's history?"

Shingo straightened his battle-ruffled collar and gave a crisp, straightforward reply:

"Pass."

"Huh? Why?"

Nawaki hadn't expected Shingo to shoot the idea down so decisively; to him, early graduation sounded intensely cool.

"The shinobi world is dangerous. Since the Second Hokage established the six-year system for the academy, it means those six years are precisely the most suitable period for children to lay the groundwork for their future. Becoming a ninja by graduating early is not a good thing in my book."

Nawaki froze for a moment.

Shingo's perspective was clearly something he hadn't given much thought to before.

"But... if you become a ninja sooner, won't you be able to help the village sooner?"

"You can only truly help the village when you've grown strong enough, and a few years won't make or break that. Besides, I'm still worlds away from being ready. A ninja's battles aren't that simple; ninjutsu, genjutsu, reconnaissance, tracking, intelligence gathering... There's still way too much I haven't learned."

Nawaki opened his mouth to argue, only to find that after saying those words, Shingo gave him a rather peculiar look.

That gaze sent a mild, inexplicable chill down his spine.

Before Nawaki could speak up, Shingo continued:

"Focus on your training instead of always daydreaming about early graduation. Head out on missions before your base is solid, and if you run into danger and lose your life, you'll never get the chance to protect the village. Keep in mind that the human body is fragile, a single explosive tag is enough to kill a person."

Nawaki felt deeply uneasy under Shingo's gaze:

"Shingo, are you joking? How could a ninja die that easily?"

"They won't if you train honestly right here in the village. If your skills aren't up to snuff, or if you stay reckless and hotheaded after becoming a ninja, well... then all bets are off."

Standing nearby, Naoki listened to the exchange and nodded approvingly from time to time.

He rubbed his left hand, wholeheartedly agreeing with Shingo's words.

He had long since noticed Nawaki's reckless and flighty temperament.

It wasn't necessarily a bad trait, as it showed he had boundless energy, a cheerful disposition, and strong resilience.

Yet if he carried that same impulsive recklessness into real combat after graduating as a ninja, disaster would strike sooner or later.

Having Shingo nudge Nawaki through some friendly banter like this struck Naoki as a wonderful approach.

Sometimes, kids were just like that.

A casual remark dropped by a peer carried more weight than a teacher lecturing for a hundred times.