Sure Enough, Taking Disciples Had a Higher Drop Rate!

"Hello, teacher!"

Full of youthful energy, Ino hurried over, skipping and hopping.

"Hello, Ino."

Hagoromo nodded in response, then turned to Shikamaru.

As he walked over, Shikamaru rubbed his temples. Seeing Hagoromo looking at him, he could only explain:

"Uh, teacher, I forgot that night. I was supposed to bring Ino along."

Seeing his embarrassed expression, Ino, who was standing beside Hagoromo, made a face at him and said:

"Forgotten is forgotten. When we get back, I'm going to tell Uncle Shikaku."

"Ino, give me a break." Shikamaru hurriedly cut her off, holding up one finger as he spoke somewhat weakly.

"At most, I'll throw in another deluxe fruit pudding!"

"Deal!"

Before his voice had even faded, Ino clapped her hands to seal the deal.

Ino then turned straight to Hagoromo. "Teacher, Ino Yamanaka would like to become your disciple!"

Realizing he had been tricked, Shikamaru saw Ino ask to become Hagoromo's disciple outright and could only shut his mouth in chagrin.

"Are you sure? You want to become my disciple?"

With the pudding and her other demands guaranteed by Shikamaru, Ino nodded without hesitation. "Yes, teacher!"

[Detected that 'Ino Yamanaka' is willing to establish a teacher-disciple relationship.]

[Checking trust level]

[Detected that 'Ino Yamanaka' currently has an intermediate trust level. Obtained panel attribute 'Yin Release Chakra' (Proficient)]

Whoa!

Looking at Ino, Hagoromo found it strange. After all, Choji's intermediate trust level had been at least partly due to food.

With a little girl like Ino, Hagoromo felt it was because of his looks.

After all, she seemed to have a thing for good looks in the original story.

Still, it was no loss.

After all, it had actually brought his Yin Release straight to the proficient level.

That was good news.

Sure enough, taking disciples had a higher drop rate!

Moreover, Hagoromo figured he had probably been able to unlock Yin Release Chakra because both the Nara and the Yamanaka Clan primarily used Yin Release.

"Very well, but let me answer Naruto's question first, and then I'll arrange your training."

The latest addition to his panel put Hagoromo in a very good mood.

But he hadn't forgotten Naruto, who was waiting beside him.

"Naruto, now that you've seen the technique I just used, do you know why there's such a big gap between yours and mine?"

"Not proficient enough at transformation?" Naruto scratched his head, sounding a little uncertain.

"Your intuition?" Hagoromo asked, a little surprised.

Naruto nodded sheepishly. That was what his intuition had told him.

"Good. That also goes to show how accurate your intuition is, Naruto."

Hagoromo nodded approvingly, then raised a finger.

"Naruto, so far there are only two reasons your technique isn't very powerful."

"First, your grasp of Chakra Nature Transformation is only so-so, so you can't completely transform your Chakra into a wind blade."

"Second, you can't yet say you've learned this Ninjutsu. Without sufficient proficiency, everything else is meaningless."

After giving those two points, Hagoromo changed his tone.

"But there's one thing you did well, Naruto."

"Huh? Really?" Hearing Hagoromo praise him, Naruto became a little uncertain instead.

"Your Chakra control is good, so even though your Nature Transformation is only so-so, you can still produce a wind blade. It just lacks power."

Hagoromo raised a finger and tapped Naruto on the forehead as he spoke.

Judging by his Chakra control, Naruto had listened to him lately and diligently studied Chakra control.

"Hehe." Naruto scratched his head a little sheepishly.

"I'll explain Nature Transformation to you properly in a little while." Hagoromo patted Naruto on the head, then looked at Shikamaru and the others.

He truly hadn't expected this. He had originally only planned to take Choji as a disciple first, but now he had taken Shikamaru and Ino as well.

"Shikamaru, this is a medicinal bath formula."

Hagoromo took the medicinal bath formula he had just obtained from his ninja tool pouch and handed it to Shikamaru.

"Take this to your father and tell him it's a thank-you gift from me, your teacher."

"Don't refuse. After all, I do have one condition: you'll have to provide Naruto's share from now on, since there are so many medicinal ingredients in it."

Seeing Shikamaru glance at the formula and try to refuse, Hagoromo raised a hand to stop him.

Hearing that and seeing the expression on Hagoromo's face that brooked no refusal, Shikamaru finally nodded and put it away.

"Don't worry, teacher. Whatever happens, I won't let you take a loss."

After all, although Shikamaru had only given the formula a cursory glance, his family was in the medicinal ingredient business.

So he knew a thing or two about formulas.

Hearing that, Hagoromo flicked Shikamaru on the forehead in exasperation.

"You don't need to do anything. Your teacher isn't short of that much."

The little guy was still thinking of securing some benefits for himself.

That said, even though Shikamaru's trust level was only elementary right now, he still thought of Hagoromo, his teacher.

But looking at the disciples before him, Hagoromo couldn't help feeling a little at a loss.

What they needed to be taught was too different. Although Shadow Clones could solve the problem,

he wouldn't be able to immediately know how his disciples were progressing.

Still, there was no better way for the moment.

Hagoromo could only create two clones. He said to one of them, "Go teach Naruto the fundamentals of Chakra Nature Transformation."

"You teach Ino to practice Chakra control."

The Shadow Clones each took their assignments and went off to one side to begin teaching, while Hagoromo's original body looked at Shikamaru and Choji, rubbing his chin.

"Choji, Shikamaru, your clans' Ninjutsu doesn't rely on Chakra alone. It has to do with your physiques too, right?"

Hearing that, Shikamaru and Choji both nodded.

After all, it wasn't just the Multi-Size Technique of Choji's clan. Even Shikamaru's Shadow Imitation Technique required a good physique.

Otherwise, even if he overlapped his shadow with his opponent's, it would be truly awkward if the opponent was too strong for him to move with the imitation.

"This is a 'Physique Training Method' I put together. Once Naruto finishes his Nature Transformation theory lesson, you'll train together."

Seeing Hagoromo pull out another little booklet filled from cover to cover, Shikamaru couldn't help feeling that this teacher truly looked after them too well.

[You gifted your disciples the 'Physique Training Method', deeply moving your disciples Shikamaru and Choji. Their trust levels have soared to "advanced".]

[Detected that 'Shikamaru Nara' and 'Choji Akimichi' currently have advanced trust levels. Obtained Yin-Yang Release Chakra Nature Transformation (Proficient)]

Hagoromo hadn't expected that giving them something like this would make Shikamaru and Choji come through so well, dropping a Yin-Yang Release Chakra Nature Transformation for him.

[Yin Release (Yang Release): Manifested in spiritual energy, it can create something from nothing.]

[Yang Release (Yang Release): Manifested in life force and physical energy, it can breathe life into forms created by Yin Release.]