He Really Taught Them Ninjutsu!

"The first mission is to clear the river!"

Minato Namikaze unfurled a D-rank mission scroll, then led the members of Team 3 to a riverbank with their tools in hand. Konoha was enormous, with plenty of open spaces.

The three carried bamboo baskets on their backs and held garbage tongs.

They were utterly bewildered!

Kakashi especially. He was only six this year, having entered the Jonin Academy at five, and the basket on his back was nearly as tall as he was.

Tang Ping was more than a head taller than him.

Still, no one suggested that Kakashi take a rest or anything of the sort.

Ninjas would not look down on or treat someone differently because of their age.

Because Chakra existed!

No matter how young someone was, it did not mean they were easy to provoke.

"Next, do as I do. Continuously release Chakra steadily from the soles of your feet... and you'll be able to stand on the water."

As Minato Namikaze spoke, he walked onto the river's surface. His body remained incomparably steady, as if he were standing on solid ground rather than water.

Water walking!

It was also a Chakra control technique.

Once they mastered it, ninjas could fight on water, and rivers or similar obstacles would no longer stop them.

All that could be said was that Konoha's training system was indeed comprehensive.

In the early stages, there were not only team leaders to pass down experience, but also all kinds of missions to hone them. No wonder they had withstood encirclement during several Ninja World Wars.

Not only did they have more ninjas, their overall quality was indeed formidable.

"Yes, Teacher Minato!" x3

The three began.

However, their performances varied.

Kakashi was incredibly steady, nothing like a seven-year-old.

Although Yamaa Koji wobbled a little, he still managed to stand firmly on the water. It was obvious at a glance that he had practiced beforehand.

Did someone guide him?

A flicker of doubt crossed Minato Namikaze's mind.

Ninja Academy teachers did not teach water walking.

For ordinary Ninja Academy Students, who did not even possess much Chakra, methods of controlling Chakra were far less important than accumulating it. That was why the academy did not teach them.

Splash!

Tang Ping plunged headfirst into the river.

"Tang Ping!"

Yamaa Koji hurriedly reached out, but forgot that he himself was only barely standing on the water. He was dragged straight into the river.

"Kakashi, you're teammates. Shouldn't you help at a time like this?"

Minato Namikaze looked at the small white-haired boy standing silently on the water, sympathy in his eyes.

He knew very well about the boy's father, and even knew that Danzo had always wanted to mold him into a sharp blade of Root. That was precisely why the Third Hokage had asked him to take the boy as his disciple.

Note that the "disciple" mentioned here was different from students assigned to a team.

It meant the kind who could inherit their teacher's will and everything else.

With Minato Namikaze protecting him, Danzo would not dare make a move.

As for asking him to observe Uchiha Tang Ping, perhaps the Third Hokage also intended for him to take Tang Ping as a disciple.

There was no better protection than becoming the disciple of a top-tier powerhouse.

"...!"

Kakashi did not answer.

At this point, he had yet to emerge from the darkness of his father's death.

If it had been Obito or Rin, he might have helped. But Tang Ping and Koji were teammates he had only just met...

This was the real ninja world.

Not like in anime, where everyone on the righteous side was nothing but "Yasashi."

Fortunately, the river was neither swift nor deep, making it easy to climb ashore.

A stretch of river specifically used for genin to practice water walking naturally could not be dangerous.

"Cough, cough!"

Tang Ping climbed onto the bank and spat out quite a bit of water.

He had swallowed a few mouthfuls just now. Thankfully, the water was fairly clear, or it would have been disgusting.

"Tang Ping, are you all right?"

Yamaa Koji, who was also soaked through, asked with concern.

Tang Ping had taught him and Honda Taka tree climbing and water walking before, using Uchiha Clan training methods as an excuse. There was no reason for him to have forgotten them now, right?

"I-I'm fine!"

Tang Ping waved a hand slightly.

His Chakra had suddenly increased earlier, and he simply had not adapted to controlling it yet.

It was like a person whose strength suddenly multiplied several times. They too would have trouble controlling it.

But once he recognized the problem, he only needed to be more careful.

They spent the entire morning completing the D-rank mission. After the group of four finished lunch by the river, they finally began their formal training.

"Kakashi, your body is still developing, so I will only guide you in combat experience!"

Minato Namikaze explained the training plan he had prepared.

"Yes, Teacher!"

Kakashi nodded silently.

He lacked neither techniques nor ninjutsu. All he lacked was actual combat experience. Otherwise, Taiyi would not have stopped him during the previous assessment.

"Koji, your foundation is good. I'll teach you the C-rank ninjutsu Wind Release: Gale Palm. Are you willing to learn it?"

Minato Namikaze asked Yamaa Koji.

Teaching ninjutsu was strictly regulated. It was not something one could simply pass on at will.

If a ninjutsu had been exchanged from the village using contributions, it could not be casually taught to others.

Only self-created ninjutsu or ninjutsu acquired through other channels could be freely passed on. Otherwise, one would be punished.

"Thank you, Teacher Minato!"

Yamaa Koji nodded repeatedly in excitement, looking extremely thrilled.

This was where the benefits of having a team leader showed.

And this was only a team leader. If he became a formal disciple, he could inherit everything from his teacher.

That was why the relationship between teacher and disciple was even closer than that of father and son in the ninja world.

However, there was a dangerous pattern in the ninja world.

Killing one's teacher!

The Third Hokage and Orochimaru, Orochimaru and Sasuke, Nagato and Jiraiya, Minato Namikaze and Obito... and so on.

See that? These top-tier powerhouses were all killed by their own disciples.

Of course, most of those belonged to the Hokage Faction. Other teacher-disciple relationships were not nearly so dangerous.

"As for you, Tang Ping, I'll teach you the C-rank Fire Release: Flame Bullet!"

Minato Namikaze chose a ninjutsu for Tang Ping.

Note that Minato Namikaze not teaching Kakashi ninjutsu was not favoritism.

It was simply unnecessary.

His father was the White Fang. Kakashi did not lack ninjutsu at all.

"Thank you, Teacher Minato."

Uchiha Tang Ping was also extremely excited.

Ninjutsu was something he was deeply interested in.

Previously, even after exhausting every method, he had only obtained the Summoning Technique. Now, he could finally learn a true offensive ninjutsu.

Ninjutsu!

Only after learning it did one realize just how complicated it was.

It was not enough to know the sequence of hand seals to perform it.

The Chakra flow route was the key.

Making Chakra flow through one's meridians, and at a sufficiently fast speed, was no easy task.

In anime, people could quickly learn ninjutsu, but that was naturally impossible in the real ninja world.

Did they think learning ninjutsu meant "setting aside the facts"?

If ninjutsu were really that easy to learn, most genin would not be unable to use C-rank ninjutsu, and even chunin would not know only one or two.

The reality was that mastering C-rank or higher ninjutsu took weeks or even years.

Of course, that referred to self-study.

With someone teaching them, it would naturally be much faster.

The benefits of having more Chakra also became apparent during training.

For someone like Yamaa Koji, a single C-rank ninjutsu drained all his Chakra. If it were the current Tang Ping, it would take at least several uses to drain him.

The more Chakra one had, the faster one could master ninjutsu.

The future Naruto would be able to quickly master the A-rank Multiple Shadow Clone Technique precisely because he could keep trying again and again.

Having lots of Chakra meant he could do whatever he wanted.

Tang Ping was the same compared to Koji. His progress was dozens of times faster. Half a day of training was equivalent to Koji's progress over an entire month, to the point that even Minato Namikaze found it strange.

Tang Ping's Chakra was actually only several times greater than Koji's.

But when learning Fire Release, the Natural Power Potion he had injected had been refined using the future Fusang Tree, so it naturally gave him a considerable boost with Fire Release.

By now, he had barely managed to learn Flame Bullet.

The future prince had learned an A-rank ninjutsu in less than half an hour at the same age. Tang Ping learning a C-rank ninjutsu in half a day was not excessive, right?

Well, he had embarrassed all transmigrators.

By dusk, Tang Ping, who had been training alone, was also preparing to return and rest.

Tang Ping's dream truly was to lie flat.

But now that someone had their eyes on him, he naturally had to find a way to improve his strength.

He did not want to be able to do nothing but accept his fate when danger came.

However, as he passed through a patch of forest, he heard some movement.