Late Arrival

Hum...

Houka's hands radiated a pale blue light of Chakra as he gently touched an old hen lying on the ground.

Beside the hen, five or six fluffy chicks were chirping incessantly, appearing extremely restless.

This hen was on the verge of death due to old age, but under the stimulation of Houka's Chakra, the cellular activity within the hen's body was re-ignited. Miraculously, it stood up, flapping its wings with newfound vitality. The nearby chicks were also excited, circling around the hen.

Houka watched this scene with a faint smile, then stood up and returned home, pulling a scroll out in his bedroom.

This scroll had been given to him a month ago by a staff member at Konoha Hospital, supposedly entrusted by Yakushi Nonō, who had also passed on a message telling him to focus on his medical ninjutsu training and not to worry about her.

Of course, Yakushi Nonō had also left him a large sum of money.

Houka knew that Yakushi Nonō was a member of Konoha's Root, and her sudden departure without even a chance to say goodbye was likely an order issued personally by Danzo.

Although it's impossible for Yakushi Nonō to die at this point in time, I still can't help but worry.

Houka looked at the three medical ninjutsu in the scroll: Healing Technique, Hemostasis Technique, and Mystical Palm Technique. He had already mastered the first, the Healing Technique, and had successfully learned the Hemostasis Technique over the past month, but he still had no clue how to perform the Mystical Palm Technique.

The Mystical Palm Technique was an advanced version of the Healing Technique; it could fully activate the cells of a wound, allowing it to heal in just five minutes. Its difficulty was significantly higher than the other two, and since Houka also had to dedicate a large amount of time to refining Chakra, training his taijutsu, and practicing hand seals, he hadn't mastered it yet.

"Right, the Ninja Academy starts tomorrow!"

Thinking of what Uchiha Obito had said earlier, Houka felt a strange sense of excitement.

During this time, the only characters from the original story he had encountered were Uchiha Obito, Yakushi Nonō, and Uchiha Fugaku, but the Ninja Academy was home to a large number of characters from the original series.

For example, Kurenai Yuhi, Asuma Sarutobi, Ibiki, and others.

Thinking about it still made him a little excited.

But no matter how excited he was, his daily training remained the same.

In the evening, Uchiha Obito arrived at Houka's house on time with his grandmother.

"Houka, is dinner ready?"

"Almost, go wash your hands first." Houka's voice drifted from the kitchen.

"Houka, thank you so much for these past few days." Uchiha Obito's grandmother was very polite, or rather, she was incredibly well-bred; every word and action was perfectly proper.

Houka walked out of the kitchen with a smile, carrying a bowl of stir-fried meat slices. It was fragrant, and every slice had been cut so finely by Houka that it would melt in the mouth, making it perfect for an elderly person to eat.

For Houka, slicing the meat into thin strips was also a form of training; it helped exercise his wrist control and finger dexterity. He had completely integrated his training into his daily life.

Thanks to such crazy and diligent training, over this past month, Houka's Chakra levels had successfully reached the genin level, and his hand seal speed had increased significantly, reaching a speed of one seal every 0.8 seconds.

As for taijutsu, since he had no one to teach him, he trained based on his own experiences from his past life. While his physical strength had improved greatly, he couldn't yet apply it to combat.

However, Houka wasn't worried, because he already had a target for apprenticeship.

In Konoha, if one were to talk about the best at taijutsu, it had to be Might Guy, but at this time, Might Guy was a year younger than Houka, so it was clearly impossible for him to guide Houka's taijutsu training.

But his father could!

Might Duy, the taijutsu ninja of Konoha, known as the "Eternal Genin." He was mocked by countless ninjas, but his strength was absolutely terrifying!

In the Third Shinobi World War a few years later, to protect his son, Might Duy would open the final gate of the Eight Inner Gates, the 'Gate of Death', and face the Hidden Mist's elite 'Seven Ninja Swordsmen' head-on. After killing four of them, he would finally exhaust his Chakra and die in battle!

Houka guessed that at this point, Might Duy should have already mastered the Eight Inner Gates up to the final 'Gate of Death'!

With his guidance, Houka believed his taijutsu would definitely improve by leaps and bounds!

As for whether Might Duy would be willing to teach him, Houka wasn't worried at all.

As the "Eternal Genin," Might Duy naturally had a very good temper, and as a staunch inheritor of the 'Will of Fire', it was impossible for him to ignore Houka's request.

A night of training passed.

The next morning, Uchiha Obito got up early to call for Houka.

"Houka, hurry up! School starts today, we're going to be late!" Obito shouted excitedly from outside.

Houka opened his eyes, looked at the faint light of dawn, and was speechless.

Seriously, this is way too early!

But under Uchiha Obito's loud shouting, Houka still got up and made breakfast. Of course, at Uchiha Obito's reminder, he also packed lunch bento boxes.

After wolfing down their food, the two of them left with their bentos.

Uchiha Obito was high-energy the entire way, looking left and right as if a peerless... old lady needing to cross the street would appear at any moment.

Houka's eyelid twitched as he watched Uchiha Obito dash over to help an elderly woman in her seventies or eighties cross the road.

The old lady held Uchiha Obito's hand and showered him with praise, making Uchiha Obito blush and scratch his head in shyness.

Finally, a grinning Uchiha Obito ran back.

"Houka, the feeling of doing a good deed is just great!" Uchiha Obito said, looking invigorated.

"Sigh!" Houka let out a sigh; he finally understood why Obito wanted to get up so early.

As they continued on their way, sure enough, whenever they encountered an old lady, regardless of whether she needed to cross the street or not, Uchiha Obito would insist on helping her. He would escort them safely across the road, free of charge. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—don't miss out, grandpas and grandmas!

By the end, Houka looked at the sky, tears almost welling up in his eyes.

"At this rate, I think we should have... already been late, right?"

Uchiha Obito realized it a beat too late, then slapped Uchiha Houka on the shoulder: "Hurry up, or we're going to get scolded by the teacher!"

Houka was so angry he wanted to hit someone.

He wondered if he should stab Uchiha Obito a couple of times while he was still a combat-power-of-five weakling, so that when he soared to greatness in the future, he would have something to brag about.

They sprinted the whole way, but as expected, by the time the two of them arrived at the Ninja Academy, they were already late.

"Hey, hey, Uchiha Obito, Uchiha Houka, you two are going too far! Being late on the very first day of class!"

In the office, Shin Kiyono, the teacher for Houka and Obito's class, was in the middle of delivering a profound critique to them!

Shin Kiyono was a chunin with average combat ability, but he was truly excellent when it came to education. He grabbed Houka and Obito by the hands and launched into a lecture that lasted a full hour and a half. He didn't take a single sip of water or catch his breath once, lecturing them until Houka and Obito were both streaming with tears, wishing they could just confess their sins and be reincarnated to start life over again!

"Teacher, we know we were wrong."

Houka let out a powerless sigh. What else could he do? He was just as helpless as anyone! (To be continued)