Training in the Clan (Please Bookmark)

After Uchiha Kiyoshi got up today, completed his daily training, and finished breakfast, he did not read.

Instead, after making some preparations, he headed for the training grounds in the Uchiha Clan's back mountain.

There were only four months left before the Ninja Academy opened. Today was the day the Uchiha Clan gave advance training to six-year-old children.

As a major clan, the Uchiha Clan began its advance training one or even two months earlier than other ninja clans.

It was not that other ninja clans did not want to start early. Rather, the advance training was not merely to let the clan's younger generation refine Chakra sooner; more importantly, it was to build a solid foundation for them.

How did they build that foundation? By spending money, of course! Massive amounts of training every day, paired with a Medicinal Bath once a day—the expense was no small sum.

Take the daily Medicinal Bath alone. Though it could not compare to the baths used by children who had started training one or two years earlier, a single dose still cost five thousand ryo! And the clan provided all of it for free!

Uchiha Kiyoshi received subsidies from both the village and the clan, yet he only got eight thousand ryo a month! Even though he cooked most of his meals at home, with additional expenses, he still spent at least three thousand ryo every month!

Over four years, Uchiha Kiyoshi had only managed to save two hundred thousand ryo.

The clan's training would last until one month before the Ninja Academy opened, which meant three months, or ninety days. At five thousand ryo per Medicinal Bath every day, that came to a total of four hundred and fifty thousand ryo!

That was more than twice the money Uchiha Kiyoshi had saved over four years!

Although a large portion of the herbs was gathered by the clan itself, that was still money! They could sell them for a profit. They might get some discounts when buying herbs in bulk, but the discounts would not be that significant.

And that was only the cost of the Medicinal Baths for each junior. There were all sorts of other expenses as well.

Every year, there were more than a dozen juniors of the right age. All told, the clan's training program cost more than twenty million ryo!

Smaller ninja clans simply could not afford to spend so much money merely to start training a few months early.

Uchiha Kiyoshi marveled at the clan's generosity as he walked toward his destination.

Before long, Uchiha Kiyoshi spotted the gathering place from afar. Many juniors his age were already waiting there.

There was still half an hour until the clan's appointed time, so Uchiha Kiyoshi was in no hurry and strolled over at an unhurried pace.

He might have looked lazy and relaxed now, but this was one of the rare times he had been able to relax over the past few years. Naturally, he intended to enjoy it properly.

The other children were playing with one another. Some invited Uchiha Kiyoshi to join them when they saw him arrive, but he turned them down.

Uchiha Kiyoshi really had no way to play with a bunch of little brats. Wasn't that childish?

He was not worried that anyone would find his behavior suspicious. There were plenty of precocious children in the Ninja World. Since his parents had died four years ago, Uchiha Kiyoshi had always acted mature for his age, and no one had questioned it.

Just before the appointed time, two ninjas arrived before Uchiha Kiyoshi and the others. Their clothes bore the Uchiha Clan crest, resembling a table tennis paddle, and they wore Konoha Headbands.

One of the taller ninjas had them line up, counted their numbers, and then began his lesson.

First, he introduced himself.

"Hello, I am the ninja assigned by the clan to guide you this time. My name is Uchiha Ryu, a Jonin. I will be teaching you Chakra cultivation and kunai throwing for the next three months. The one beside me is Uchiha Shin, a Special Jonin. Like me, he will be responsible for guiding you, though he will focus more on Taijutsu."

As he spoke, Uchiha Ryu pointed to the shorter ninja beside him.

Uchiha Shin also introduced the area he would be responsible for.

"Alright, brats. We don't need any troublesome self-introductions. Let's get straight to today's proper lesson."

Since they were all from the same clan, Uchiha Ryu could recognize them all, so he did not ask them to introduce themselves. He was not interested in that sort of thing anyway.

"Alright, the first thing we will learn today is Chakra refinement."

After quieting the excited group of brats below, Uchiha Ryu continued.

"As ninjas, the most important thing is Chakra. The amount of Chakra you have directly affects how many Ninjutsu you can use, and it also affects the power of those Ninjutsu. So from now on, you must cultivate your Chakra properly and increase your Chakra reserves as much as possible."

Seeing the half-understanding looks on the children's faces, Uchiha Ryu patiently explained.

"...Alright, by now, everyone should understand the importance of Chakra, right? Next, I will explain how to extract Chakra."

Under the fervent gazes of the children, Uchiha Ryu did not waste any time and slowly explained the details of Chakra refinement.

"Chakra is an energy formed by fusing Physical Energy and Spiritual Energy. It is indispensable for ninjas when using Ninjutsu.

"The key to refining Chakra is controlling the ratio between Physical Energy and Spiritual Energy. This ratio is generally different for every person. Only by finding the right ratio can you fuse Chakra.

"Next, I will explain how to sense Physical Energy and Spiritual Energy..."

Perhaps because the children below were listening in a muddle, Uchiha Ryu explained while allowing them to ask questions and answering them. In this way, the children gradually gained a basic understanding of the Physical Energy and Spiritual Energy Uchiha Ryu had discussed, as well as how to sense them.

When Uchiha Ryu finally got them to understand, he let out a sigh of relief. Honestly, this truly tested a ninja's foundations. It was like teaching mathematics to children—without sufficient skill, one simply could not teach it well. An ordinary ninja might not necessarily have done better than Uchiha Ryu.

Uchiha Ryu nodded in satisfaction.

"Very good. It seems everyone has understood the knowledge concerning Physical Energy and Spiritual Energy. Next, I will explain how to fuse Chakra."

"Of course, don't be fooled by how difficult Chakra refinement is. Once you successfully fuse it for the first time, your body will remember the ratio. Refining Chakra afterward will not require so much effort."

After another lengthy explanation, Uchiha Ryu finally relaxed when the children nodded.

"Finally finished. The rest should not be so difficult to explain."

After comforting himself internally, Uchiha Ryu looked toward Uchiha Shin.

"We will officially begin learning kunai throwing tomorrow. Next, you will begin Taijutsu training. I will leave that to Uchiha Shin."

After Uchiha Ryu finished speaking, some of the children deflated upon hearing that they had to train in Taijutsu. Of course, others were full of energy and confidence.

Seeing this, Uchiha Shin did not indulge the discouraged children. He directly intimidated them with force and made them begin Taijutsu training.

"Taijutsu refers to combat techniques that either enhance the body through Chakra before fighting, or rely directly on a powerful body in battle.

"There are no shortcuts in Taijutsu training. It requires diligent practice, day after day.

"The most important things in Taijutsu are physical fitness and combat experience.

"For the next three months, you will undergo extensive physical training every day, as well as plenty of sparring. Of course, the clan will provide Medicinal Baths to ensure that no damage is left in your bodies.

"Alright, for today's first lesson, you will start with physical training.

"Each of you will run twenty laps around the training grounds. As for the punishment if you fail to finish... heh heh, I am sure you absolutely do not want to experience it."

How could a group of six-year-old children withstand Uchiha Shin's intimidation? They all resolved that they would definitely complete the task.

Besides, the Uchiha Clan's training grounds were smaller than Konoha's training grounds. One lap was five kilometers, so twenty laps were only a hundred kilometers. It would not be hard to finish... right? Heh heh... not hard, right...

Some of the more careful children did the math. Sure enough, it was one thing not to calculate it, but once they did, they were startled. One hundred kilometers—was this a joke?

Unfortunately, once Uchiha Shin announced the start, they had no choice but to run, however unwilling they were.

Throughout the process, Uchiha Kiyoshi kept a low profile. He had actually understood Uchiha Ryu's instruction after hearing it once, but he still listened carefully to the explanations that followed. Explanations from different angles could always deepen his understanding.

As for the task Uchiha Shin had assigned them, Uchiha Kiyoshi was not particularly worried.

After training continuously for four years, Uchiha Kiyoshi's physical fitness was arguably the best among everyone present. He could still manage to run one hundred kilometers in a day.

On the contrary, Uchiha Kiyoshi was quite pleased. Since Uchiha Shin dared to assign a hundred-kilometer task to a group of six-year-olds who had barely trained, or had trained very little, it showed that the Medicinal Baths provided by the Uchiha Clan were even more effective than he had imagined.

At Uchiha Shin's command, several energetic children were the first to dash out. Compared with the others, they were clearly a level faster. The remaining children also desperately chased after those ahead of them.

Uchiha Kiyoshi did not blindly accelerate. Instead, he tried to maintain a steady pace, keeping his speed at roughly seventy or eighty percent of his maximum.

Even so, Uchiha Kiyoshi did not fall behind and remained in roughly the same group as several children desperately chasing from behind.

Uchiha Kiyoshi's choice was indeed correct. The other children had only run two or three laps before they had to slow down, gasping for breath. Aside from being somewhat tired, Uchiha Kiyoshi's speed was unaffected, and his breathing remained fairly steady.

Seeing this, Uchiha Shin secretly praised him. "He knows to run at a steady pace from the beginning. A smart child."

As time passed and the number of laps increased, Uchiha Kiyoshi gradually began to gasp for breath, sweat pouring down his entire body like rain. Yet he still gritted his teeth and kept running at the same pace.

Uchiha Kiyoshi knew that if he wanted to improve his physical fitness, he had to push past his limits time and again. But doing so would inevitably damage his body. Under normal circumstances, before mastering Medical Ninjutsu, he could not afford the exorbitant medical expenses.

So this special training was an opportunity for him. With the Medicinal Baths supplied by the clan, Uchiha Kiyoshi planned to train his body properly over these three months.

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