The Strongest Hokage and the Talent Gap

Shuichi carefully sensed the feeling of Chakra remaining within his body, comparing it to what he remembered from the original story. He recalled that when a ninja controlled Chakra outside their body, Chakra that came into contact with the outside world dissipated relatively quickly.

Two scenes illustrated this trait particularly clearly. One was when Asuma infused Wind Release Chakra into his Chakra Blade; after the weapon flew only a short distance, the Chakra on it vanished.

The second, even more obvious example was the Hokage's signature technique, the Rasengan. It required a constant infusion of Chakra to maintain and could not leave the user's hand. Once the Chakra output was cut off, it quickly disappeared.

The Chakra he had refined was only at the most basic level, yet its rate of dissipation inside his body was noticeably much slower.

That was why the A-rank Rasengan required exceptional Chakra control to achieve Shape Transformation at its utmost limit, as well as an ample supply of Chakra.

In comparison, the C-rank Great Fireball Technique first required Chakra to be refined and gathered near the throat. Since it dissipated slowly within the body, the caster had plenty of time to form hand seals, complete the Nature Transformation, and then release it.

"So that's how it is. The Raikage's Lightning Release Chakra Armor involves continuously and evenly releasing Lightning Element Chakra that has undergone Nature Transformation around his own body—and maintaining it in battle, at that. What terrifying Chakra reserves and control." By using distinctive characters from the original story as references, Shuichi now roughly understood just how powerful experts at the level of the Five Kage were.

Only after personally cultivating Chakra did Shuichi understand that he still had a long way to go before he could even reach the level of those Jonin from the original story.

At the same time, Shuichi directly discarded all those Naruto spin-off stories in his mind about Jonin who were only a few years old. From now on, any intelligence reference would be based primarily on the manga he could remember.

The stat-allocation strategy he had already settled on also needed some adjustments. He had put one point into each of the first three skills and kept one point in reserve for extreme situations, such as Danzo coming to capture him.

Now, he felt that decision had been entirely influenced by the jumble of information from his previous life. Based on how much importance Konoha placed on the Ninja Academy and the hardships of ninja training he had experienced, he could basically conclude that if Konoha pulled something like that, it would have been finished long ago.

The Ninja Academy was the foundation that carried the Will of Fire, the bedrock of Konoha, and a red line where anyone who dared to mess around would die.

"I need to adjust my system's stat-allocation strategy now. Before the year the Third Shinobi War begins, I only need to save one point to add the Flash skill.

"My Mental Energy is far ahead of my Body Energy. As for this remaining point and the extra point I'll get in July, I can attend class seriously over these next two months and see how it goes before deciding.

"If studying isn't difficult, I'll put them into my body. If it still stays easy afterward, I'll add to Mental Energy. But if I feel like I don't have enough time to study, I'll put another point into the three skills." After coming into contact with the ninja school, Shuichi's outlook changed completely, and he redrafted the way he would use his system.

"Even the Butterfly Effect caused by an ordinary person can't be ignored. From now on, whenever I see potentially major events or people appearing, I have to be even more cautious. There must be plenty of hidden details I don't know about." Shuichi gave himself a mental reminder. From now on, being a good student and playing solo was the right choice.

"Looks like I need to quit my part-time job too. If I keep working, there won't be enough time. As for food, I'll just have to take things one step at a time.

"Huh, Kurenai's family is a Ninja Clan? Her Jonin father is still around, so they definitely aren't short on money. Should I act cute and mooch off her lunchbox? That way, I'd only need to take care of one meal a day." Shuichi seemed to have thought of a pretty good solution.

On the second day of school, everyone seemed to quickly settle into their own routines. Before the first official class began, everyone had arrived, and Shuichi noticed that even Uchiha Obito was not late today.

"Alright, starting today, we'll officially begin instruction in several subjects. For the first class, I'll start by teaching the history of Konoha.

"After that will be a theory class. I'll give you a detailed explanation of the Chakra Refining Technique mentioned yesterday, and tell you about the techniques and precautions that our predecessors have summarized."

"In the afternoon, we'll begin the introductory skills course. The remaining physical training is an indispensable part of ninja cultivation. Considering that you may feel tired after training, we'll do it last so you can go home and rest once you're finished."

"Likewise, this year's daily class schedule will be roughly like this. Now, I'll begin introducing Konoha's history."

"The rise and fall experienced by those before us allow us to feel, through history lessons, the hardships our predecessors endured and their hopes for us, their descendants.

"I believe you are all familiar with Hokage Rock. The images of the past Lord Hokage carved upon it, from left to right, are the First Hokage, the Second Hokage, and the Third Hokage."

Teacher Sanada Tomohisa quickly guided the students into a learning mindset. Perhaps because they had only recently enrolled and were still full of enthusiasm for becoming ninjas, and because the teacher's lessons were not particularly dull, the classroom presented a harmonious scene between teacher and students.

The history lesson began with the History of Konoha Village. "Konoha was the first ninja village established in the history of the ninja world. Because of Konoha's founding, the Land of Fire has always possessed the strongest military forces among the Five Great Nations."

"And the current Third Hokage can use all five Chakra natures, is proficient in every ninjutsu in Konoha, and bears the title of Professor of Ninjutsu. He is Konoha's strongest Hokage..."

"..."

"Did Ninja Academy teachers change this themselves in recent years, or is the world I transmigrated into different?" Shuichi wondered quietly. At the very least, he had to question this "strongest Hokage" claim.

"Then again, they couldn't exactly write in the books that the Third Hokage was the weakest Hokage in Konoha History while he was still in office. Wouldn't that be humiliating? If someone looked into it later, they could always say he was the strongest in administration, the strongest of his era, and so on. It didn't necessarily mean the strongest in combat." Shuichi felt he had guessed the truth. This was Konoha's political necessity; the Hokage's authority had to be upheld in every aspect, including propaganda.

The following lessons were conventional enough. Whenever the teacher introduced Konoha and the Land of Fire, he always mentioned their positive aspects.

Though future generations might see it as somewhat brainwashing, Shuichi felt that if he were the Hokage, he would do the same. Children were relatively innocent, after all, and a village with such a strong military nature needed unity.

After history class ended, everyone began to relax during the break, and voices talking could be heard throughout the classroom.

"Tatsuki, how did your Chakra Refining Technique go yesterday? Don't tell me you can already use ninjutsu?" Feeling that he should not neglect his friend just because he now had a girl to talk to, Shuichi recalled Ishikawa Tatsuki's bragging from yesterday and asked whether he had successfully refined Chakra.

Ishikawa Tatsuki's face seemed to turn a little red as he stammered, "I wasn't in very good condition when I got home yesterday. I only gave it a small try and didn't succeed, that's all. It should be pretty simple..."

"Yeah, you think so too? I tried it once after getting home yesterday and succeeded. How should I put it? It felt like a warm current I could control was running around inside my body." Shuichi spoke with complete seriousness.

There was not the slightest sign of lying on his little face, and he spoke as though it were only natural. Yet for some reason, what he said made him seem a little punchable.

Ishikawa Tatsuki suddenly went blank. He had actually spent all of yesterday trying to refine Chakra after returning home. Even when Ishikawa Kyoko called him to eat several times, he kept putting it off.

In the end, he exhausted himself completely before bed without succeeding. Yet the moment he arrived today, he heard Shuichi say it was simple—and that he had succeeded on his first try.

"Is this the gap in talent?" Ishikawa Tatsuki's mind began to feel muddled.