One Month

Shiraishi Yoshijo was rubbed into the dirt by Takemoto Anna for another whole day.

He felt that Takemoto Anna was nothing like a woman, because she didn't understand the meaning of holding back or showing mercy.

He had already been heavily injured yesterday, and after being brutally beaten again today, he feared he would actually die if he didn't rest for a couple of days.

When he told Takemoto Shuichi that he wanted to take two days off, Takemoto Shuichi just looked at him with a blank expression.

"It's only been a few days, and you have the nerve to ask for a rest?"

"I feel like my entire skeleton is about to fall apart."

"The human body has no limits; that is merely an illusion of yours."

"Just this once, I promise I will never ask for a rest again."

"Give an inch and you'll take a mile. The month is tight; if you don't work hard, you can only go back to the Ninja Academy."

Shiraishi Yoshijo wanted to find more excuses, but Takemoto Shuichi had already lost his patience.

"If you dare not show up tomorrow, I will go to your house and drag you out myself. And by the way, there is no such word as 'rest' in my dictionary."

Shiraishi Yoshijo began to take deep breaths, telling himself not to be impulsive.

But he really couldn't help it; this grandfather and granddaughter simply didn't treat him like a human being.

One treated him like a machine, the other like a punching bag; sooner or later, he would be played to death by them.

"Old geezer."

With a loud bang, Shiraishi Yoshijo snapped two large trees in half before collapsing to the ground, vomiting blood.

After Takemoto Shuichi dragged him back, he tossed him to Takemoto Anna.

"Take him home."

Takemoto Anna didn't even dare to breathe loudly, running at full speed with Shiraishi Yoshijo on her back.

"If you want to seek death, don't drag me down with you. Anyone who makes Grandfather angry ends up like this."

Shiraishi Yoshijo was still conscious, but his lips moved a few times without being able to utter a word.

Old geezer, I've marked this debt down for you.

After carrying him home, Takemoto Anna didn't leave immediately; she only said goodbye once Shiraishi Eizawa returned.

Seeing his miserable state, Shiraishi Eizawa's mouth twitched as he sat down by the bedside.

"How did you end up in such a state?"

"That old geezer isn't human. I just wanted to rest for two days, and he beat me into a critical condition."

Shiraishi Eizawa: "..."

"It seems I've been too good to you. It's only the third day and you're already thinking of resting. If you go on like this..."

There was no need to finish the sentence; Shiraishi Yoshijo understood exactly what he meant.

Shiraishi Eizawa had never forced him to do anything, always letting him do as he pleased.

He hadn't thought that was a bad thing, and had instead enjoyed the leisure.

But with such a lazy attitude clashing with Takemoto Shuichi, it would be a miracle if that old man gave him an easy time.

"Rest well. Remember this lesson and show Uncle Shuichi some respect."

Left alone in the room, Shiraishi Yoshijo stared blankly at the ceiling.

Was he really lacking in willpower?

Recalling how he used to cry from the pain after hitting a wooden stake twice as a child, Shiraishi Yoshijo sighed.

It was true that he had lived too comfortably.

Takemoto Anna must have endured a great deal of hardship to reach that level of strength; there was no way he could ever defeat her without suffering some pain himself.

The night passed.

After eating, Shiraishi Yoshijo found a wooden stick to use as a crutch and limped his way to training.

He didn't think for a second that Takemoto Shuichi would let him stay home just because he was severely injured.

He ran into Takemoto Anna halfway there.

"Did your grandfather send you?"

Takemoto Anna didn't speak; she just crouched down.

"What are you doing?"

"Get on my back."

Shiraishi Yoshijo really wanted to throw the stick away and let her carry him, but his pride as a man wouldn't allow it.

"I can walk on my own."

Takemoto Anna didn't insist, simply walking alongside him.

"Do you hate my grandfather?"

"Yeah."

"Actually, Grandfather doesn't like you either; he says you'll never amount to much."

"Then why is he even training me? Wouldn't it be easier to just go through the motions?"

"Grandfather isn't that kind of person. He always keeps his promises. He either doesn't do something at all, or he does it perfectly—that's what he always says."

"So, am I supposed to thank him?"

"Do you think Grandfather does this for your gratitude?"

Shiraishi Yoshijo didn't speak, and his face remained expressionless.

"You don't understand my grandfather. He hates people with weak characters more than anything."

"I heard from my father that Grandfather's father committed suicide using your family's secret technique, and his older sister did the same. Can you understand his pain now?"

Shiraishi Yoshijo stopped in his tracks.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I don't want you to hold a grudge against him."

"I understand."

On the training ground, Takemoto Shuichi watched Shiraishi Yoshijo limping toward him, a smile appearing on his face.

"Finally, you look a bit like a man."

Shiraishi Yoshijo didn't respond; he dropped his staff and said to Takemoto Anna, "Let's go."

Another day of training came to an end.

Shiraishi Yoshijo forced himself to walk home.

Once he arrived, he didn't rest, instead beginning his chakra meditation.

Feeling slightly recovered, he went to practice his Lightning Body Flicker.

He hadn't told Takemoto Shuichi about the Lightning Body Flicker, even though he had originally intended to ask him for help in perfecting the technique.

He wanted to perfect it on his own—not to prove anything to anyone else, but for the sake of his own dignity.

As for having a weak character, Shiraishi Yoshijo knew very well that he was not.

He was simply selfish.

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

On the training ground, Shiraishi Yoshijo and Takemoto Anna were locked in combat.

Takemoto Shuichi watched from the side with a smile.

Over the past half-month, Shiraishi Yoshijo had made significant progress.

From having no ability to resist at the beginning to standing his ground, they were now locked in a struggle that was difficult to call.

If it were just for the graduation exam, his taijutsu alone should be sufficient.

Furthermore, he could sense that Shiraishi Yoshijo's chakra reserves had nearly doubled over the last two weeks.

Now, he only needed to teach him one or two ninjutsu, and he would be ready to graduate.

After training, Shiraishi Yoshijo bowed to Takemoto Shuichi and took his leave.

Ever since that day, he had been exceptionally respectful toward the old man.

There was no special reason; it was pure respect.

The strong deserve respect.

He didn't go straight home, but instead walked to an empty lot not far away to continue practicing his Lightning Body Flicker.

He could now control the direction and landing point after the flicker, and he could even execute attack motions.

However, the next stage of training was the true difficulty of this technique.

Previous training had focused on static shuriken targets, but if he wanted to use this Body Flicker in actual combat, he had to make the shuriken move.

He needed to create a state similar to the Flying Thunder God Technique.

The Flying Thunder God Technique involved throwing a kunai and sensing the formula to teleport; his Body Flicker also required throwing a shuriken, only his shuriken would be attached to two steel wires.

Over the past half-month, Shiraishi Yoshijo had discovered the limitations of his Lightning Body Flicker.

The range was small, the consumption was high, and it was not suitable for prolonged battles.

With his current chakra, five uses of the Lightning Body Flicker was his limit.

And that was only after his chakra reserves had doubled; in the past, it would have been just two.

It was strange, too—ever since his injuries healed, his chakra had been growing almost every day.

At this rate of growth, he feared it wouldn't even take a year before he possessed the chakra levels of a chunin.

This was the fruit of his hard work.

Shiraishi Yoshijo held a shuriken in his hand, ignited it with Lightning Release chakra, and threw it.

"Ninja Art, Body Flicker Technique!"

A flash of electricity erupted like a bolt from the blue, vanishing in an instant!

Shiraishi Yoshijo reappeared, the shuriken landing a short distance ahead.

He frowned in thought.

The Lightning Body Flicker was successful, but there was a deviation in his landing point.

This situation occurred naturally because the speed was too fast; even if his consciousness could keep up with the lightning, his body could not.

To solve this phenomenon...

Shiraishi Yoshijo smiled bitterly: "Do I have to rely on prediction?"

He stuck wooden stakes into the open ground and began to practice.

When his chakra was exhausted, he turned to look at the crooked, scattered stakes and began to sigh.

It was either too early or too late; trying to perfectly predict the speed of lightning was simply unrealistic.

Come to think of it, should this Lightning Body Flicker be considered a ninjutsu or Nintaijutsu?

Shiraishi Yoshijo himself did not understand.

He had clearly intended to use conductivity for the flicker, but it had ended up becoming a form of lightning-based traction.

To this day, he still did not know what to make of this traction force.

Takemoto Shuichi began teaching him ninjutsu.

Takemoto Anna did not have the Lightning-Water affinity, so she no longer needed to accompany them.

In half a month, thanks to his incredibly fast talent for learning ninjutsu, he had learned a total of eight ninjutsu from Takemoto Shuichi.

Five were C-rank: two Water Release and three Lightning Release.

Three were B-rank: one Water Release and two Lightning Release.

In truth, having learned so much ninjutsu, Shiraishi Yoshijo realized that knowing many techniques did not actually offer much of an advantage.

At most, it just provided a few more ways to deal with an enemy.

The most fundamental factor remained the amount of chakra one possessed.

He would run out of chakra after using one B-rank and one C-rank ninjutsu; no matter how many techniques he knew, they were useless if he couldn't cast them.

After finishing today's ninjutsu training, Shiraishi Yoshijo bowed to Takemoto Shuichi but did not leave immediately.

Regardless of his personal opinion of the old man, he still felt he should thank Takemoto Shuichi for his guidance over the past month.

"Grandpa Shuichi, tomorrow is the graduation exam. Thank you very much for your careful instruction this past month."

Takemoto Shuichi sighed softly, helped him up, and said: "I understand. Seeing your results this month, I truly feel that I am old."

"The future belongs to your generation. Yoshijo, are you really not going to reconsider joining the hospital?"

So he still hadn't given up on using him as a tool?

"There are actually many reasons for joining the hospital, but I also have my own convictions."

After saying this, Shiraishi Yoshijo turned and left.

Takemoto Shuichi stood where he was, and only when Shiraishi Yoshijo's figure was completely out of sight did he speak: "Come out."

A middle-aged man walked out with Takemoto Anna.

"Masamasa, what do you think?"

Takemoto Masamasa, Takemoto Shuichi's son and the current head of the Takemoto clan.

"Very good."

"Then arrange for Anna to enter the hospital. If he still refuses to come out after he comes of age, force him out."

"I understand."

The two decided these matters in just a few words, without even asking for Takemoto Anna's opinion.

There was no expression on Takemoto Anna's face, as this was a result she had known about for a long time.

She had never thought of resisting; born into a ninja clan, this was her fate.