At dawn the next day, Mo Chen grabbed a quick breakfast and headed to the training ground where Yamato had taken him the day before.
It was just past six in the morning, but to his surprise, Yamato was already waiting there.
"Sorry, Yamato-sensei, I'm late!" Mo Chen hurried over and apologized.
After all, he was about to learn ninjutsu from Yamato, so showing him a proper attitude could only help.
"No, I got here early. Wait..." Yamato waved a hand instinctively, then seemed to remember something. His eyes widened behind his Anbu mask.
His voice trembled. "You... what did you just call me?"
"Yamato-sensei!" Mo Chen blinked, confused. "Is... something wrong with that?"
"N-no, nothing!" Yamato shook his head firmly.
While Mo Chen was still trying to figure out what was going on, Yamato suddenly seemed to have been injected with a burst of energy.
"The early morning sets the tone for the day. Your body and mind are at their best then, which is why I asked you to come early. Training at this hour gets twice the results for half the effort."
Yamato was brimming with enthusiasm. "By the way, have you had breakfast? You're still growing, so breakfast is a must. If you haven't eaten yet, I'll send a clone to buy you some."
"Getting the right balance of nutrients is important, too. Milk is essential, along with some fruits and vegetables, and..."
???
A string of question marks appeared over Mo Chen's head.
Yamato carried on talking to himself, not even waiting for Mo Chen to answer. He had already made a Wood Release Clone and sent it out to buy breakfast.
Mo Chen opened his mouth, then swallowed the words he'd been about to say.
Yamato had already planned out a nutritious breakfast. If Mo Chen told him he'd eaten, wouldn't that be spurning his kindness?
Oh well. He could eat what Yamato bought. He hadn't eaten much earlier, so he still had room.
He just didn't know why Yamato had suddenly become so enthusiastic. Was it because Mo Chen had called him "Yamato-sensei"?
Oh, right. Mo Chen remembered!
In the original story, Yamato was rather lonely deep down. He wanted others to acknowledge his existence.
When he first took charge of Team 7, he tried to bond with them by laying out a whole table laden with fine food. What Mo Chen remembered most vividly was the giant lobster, over a meter long!
In the Infinite Tsukuyomi dream, Yamato had not only taken Kakashi's place as Team 7's Jonin leader, but had also won Kakashi's recognition and praise.
Clearly, he was someone who lacked social connections and desperately wanted to feel needed.
Once he understood, Mo Chen couldn't help grinning.
If he couldn't use this opportunity to drain Yamato's entire stockpile, he'd write his own name backward!
"While we're waiting for breakfast, let me explain today's training plan!"
Yamato wasted no time. He conjured a table and chairs out of Wood Release, then even made a wooden parasol. After motioning Mo Chen to sit, he began:
"You should have figured it out by now, right? The power you suddenly unleashed yesterday was Wood Release, the same kind I'm using now. You must know something about it, right?"
Mo Chen had just opened his mouth to answer when Yamato slapped the table and loudly jumped in. "That's right! It's the power once wielded by the First Hokage!"
"He mastered Wood Release, and its power was astonishing! With it, he brought an end to the era of chaos and established the system of one nation and one village. The First Hokage was a great ninja, and Wood Release was his symbol!"
Mo Chen stared, dumbfounded, at Yamato, who was now giving his speech with great fervor. Just two words, "sensei," had that much impact?
Yamato was still going on and on—
"Of course, my Wood Release is like a firefly compared to the sun when set against the First Hokage's."
"But after testing yours yesterday, I can tell it won't be any weaker than the First Hokage's. If you can master it, you may well become the next God of Shinobi!"
"I've already made a promise to the Third Lord that I'll do everything I can to teach you all I know."
"But don't put too much pressure on yourself. You're still young, with plenty of time to work hard. Just go at your own pace!"
At that, Yamato paused, as if giving Mo Chen a moment to take it all in.
Once he was sure Mo Chen understood, he continued. "As I said yesterday, the reason your Wood Release manifested abnormally is that you haven't yet mastered the nature transformations of Water and Earth."
"So for a while, I'll first teach you how to master those two nature transformations. Remember, don't try to use Wood Release before then, or you could easily damage your foundations."
Just then, Yamato's clone appeared in a flash of the Body Flicker Technique, carrying several lunch boxes.
At last, Mo Chen had a chance to speak. He nodded gratefully. "All right. Thank you for explaining, Yamato-sensei!"
Yamato's breathing suddenly hitched. With a poof, the clone turned into a wooden figure, then softened into black mud that slumped to the ground.
The Wood Release Clone had vanished without warning. The lunch boxes it was carrying hadn't even made it onto the table, and they almost fell to the ground.
Fortunately, Yamato's real body reacted in time and reached out to catch them.
"Cough, I ran too fast and got a stitch in my side!" Yamato took several deep breaths before recovering, then offered that strained excuse and opened the lunch boxes one by one.
Mo Chen glanced inside and was dumbfounded.
Milk, rice balls, grilled fish, natto, greens, miso soup, and a platter of fresh fruit.
Wait, was this really breakfast?
Well, technically, they were all breakfast foods. There was just enough to fill an entire table.
"All right, breakfast's a little plain. There wasn't much food available."
Yamato clapped his hands. "I'll make you something more lavish at lunchtime. For now, just make do with this. While you eat, I'll explain how to train in the nature transformations of Earth Release and Water Release..."
Mo Chen figured that at this rate, he'd be gaining weight within days.
But Yamato was being so kind that Mo Chen couldn't bring himself to refuse.
He'd meant to ask Yamato to eat with him, but Yamato said he'd already eaten and that this was a single serving just for Mo Chen.
There was nothing for it. Mo Chen ate without a shred of guilt, and nearly made himself sick with how full he got.
Luckily, after awakening Wood Release, his digestive system had turned out to be much better than expected.
He circulated his Chakra a little, and soon he was moving normally again.
After breakfast, they officially began training.
"Start by choosing either Earth Release or Water Release to train. It's up to you; either one is fine."
As Yamato spoke, he formed a small orb of Chakra in each hand.
The one in his left hand was earth-yellow, with dirt and bits of gravel swirling around it.
The one in his right hand was water-blue, with a small waterspout spinning above it.
Mo Chen discreetly activated his Sharingan. With his invisible tinted glasses in the way, Yamato couldn't tell.
The next moment, Mo Chen formed a small orb of Chakra in each hand, too.
Earth Release in his left hand, just like Yamato. Water Release in his right.
"Nani?"
Yamato's eyes nearly popped out of his head. He lost control of the Chakra orbs in his hands, and they exploded.
Fortunately, they contained only a tiny amount of Chakra, so even when they blew up, they couldn't hurt anyone.
But Yamato didn't care about that. In utter disbelief, he asked, "How... how did you do that?"
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