Climbing Trees and Points of Complaint (Seeking Monthly Votes and Continued Reads~)

Using Chidori on Kakashi Hatake would probably feel pretty exhilarating, right?

Yuki Yuichi cast his gaze toward Kakashi Hatake, who was currently dragging Might Guy along in front of him.

Suddenly, Kakashi Hatake felt a chill run down his spine. He whipped his head around to observe his surroundings, but only met Yuki Yuichi's look of feigned confusion.

Kakashi Hatake scanned the area for a moment longer, thinking to himself, It must have been my imagination.

It was impossible for anyone to want to harm him, after all.

He didn't have any enemies in Konoha.

Kakashi Hatake eased his mind and continued walking forward.

The group soon arrived at the training ground.

When Might Guy saw the well-equipped training facility, his eyes lit up.

"Sugoi!"

"You guys actually built this place like this!"

Hearing Might Guy's words, Uchiha Obito stepped forward, hands on his hips, and pushed his goggles up onto his forehead.

"Stay calm, get used to it!"

"Look at me!" Uchiha Obito said, patting his own chest.

"You have to be like me, become a man who stands tall and proud, Guy!"

"Yeah!" Might Guy nodded vigorously. "As expected, this is the true vessel of youth!"

"Alright! First, two hundred push-ups!"

"Then five hundred punches!"

"Finally, fifty sets of frog jumps!"

Might Guy shouted, dropping straight to the ground to begin his push-ups.

Hearing his training goals, Uchiha Obito and Sarutobi Asuma gasped in shock.

"Is this guy always this insane?!"

"He is," Yuki Yuichi nodded. "Guy's talent for ninjutsu isn't great, so he pours all his effort into taijutsu."

He had known Might Guy the longest and was the person who understood him best.

Not even Might Guy understood himself as well as Yuki Yuichi did.

"Truly... truly hardworking," Sarutobi Asuma sighed, then perked up. "Since Guy has already started training, I can't fall behind either!"

Sarutobi Asuma said this and ran off to the spot where he had practiced ninjutsu yesterday to work on his Fire Style.

Kakashi Hatake's expression grew serious as he watched Might Guy.

This training volume was far beyond his own!

It seems I can't afford to be lazy either!

Uchiha Obito and Kakashi Hatake also began their training. Seeing this, Yuhi Kurenai prepared to continue practicing the Dragon Fire Technique, but was pulled back by Yuki Yuichi.

"Eh?" Yuhi Kurenai looked at him, puzzled, not understanding why he had stopped her.

Yuki Yuichi flashed her a smile and pointed toward a large tree nearby.

"Let's go practice chakra control."

Yuhi Kurenai was stunned for a moment. "Right now?"

"Yeah," Yuki Yuichi nodded. "We can coat our feet in chakra and walk vertically up the tree trunk to train our control."

Yuki Yuichi walked toward the tree as he spoke. Tree climbing and water walking were the most fundamental applications of chakra, and they had to master them.

Yuki Yuichi took a deep breath, stepped forward, and placed a foot on the trunk; his chakra held him firmly against the bark.

Feeling the sensation, Yuki Yuichi felt a surge of joy and lifted his other foot, placing it on the trunk as well.

However, as he began to manipulate the chakra in both feet, he instantly lost his grip and fell, hitting the ground with a dull thud.

Yuki Yuichi climbed up, brushing the dust off his clothes. He hadn't realized he'd climbed so high; while he wasn't seriously hurt, the pain was still there.

Fortunately, he had activated Nintaijutsu: Guard the moment he felt his chakra slipping out of control.

Although it only lasted for a brief second, it had significantly dulled the pain.

"Yuichi, are you okay?" Yuhi Kurenai walked over, looking at Yuki Yuichi with concern.

"I'm fine. It looks like I need to find something to cushion the ground," Yuki Yuichi said as he began walking down the mountain.

He added to Yuhi Kurenai, "Kurenai, you go ahead and train here. I'm going to buy something before we start the tree-climbing practice."

Hearing Yuki Yuichi's words, Yuhi Kurenai nodded. "Mm-hmm."

The training ground was located behind the Hokage Rock, and there were several shops at the base of the cliff.

Yuki Yuichi randomly found a shop selling ninja tools and stepped inside.

"Little one, what can I get for you?" The man speaking was a kind-looking middle-aged man who didn't look down on Yuki Yuichi because of his age.

The middle-aged man looked very kind, but Yuki Yuichi would not mistake that for him being a good person.

Ninja tools were essentially the equivalent of arms in the ninja world, and this seemingly kind man was, in fact, an arms dealer.

And how could someone who sold arms possibly look so kind?

There were many ninjas in the ninja world, but not just anyone could open a ninja tool shop.

Looking at the smiling shopkeeper, Yuki Yuichi scratched his head. "Boss, do you have any pads?"

"The kind used for tree climbing."

Yuki Yuichi did not know exactly what a ninja tool shop sold, but since tree climbing and water walking were widely practiced in the ninja world, he assumed they would have them.

Sure enough, upon hearing his request, the shopkeeper smiled and said, "We do."

"We have them for three thousand ryo, five thousand ryo, seven thousand ryo, and ten thousand ryo."

"Which one would you like, little customer?"

Yuki Yuichi heard this and pondered for a moment before asking, "What is the difference between them?"

"The higher the price, the better the cushioning."

The shopkeeper's words made Yuki Yuichi stroke his chin in thought. The money Uncle Shinku had left behind totaled fourteen thousand ryo. A bowl of ramen at Ichiraku Ramen cost sixty ryo; three meals a day for two people came to three hundred and sixty ryo.

If he set aside four thousand ryo for food, he could afford two five-thousand-ryo pads.

Yuki Yuichi thought that perhaps he could even make a profit off these two pads later.

Neither Kakashi Hatake nor Sarutobi Asuma were short on money.

Uchiha Obito was a bit worse off, but with the relief funds from the Uchiha Clan, a prestigious family with a thousand-year history, he wasn't exactly poor either.

After all, the Uchiha Clan controlled the ninja tool business, and with so many years of accumulation, their relief funds were quite substantial.

With that in mind, Yuki Yuichi said, "I'll take two of the five-thousand-ryo pads."

As he spoke, he pulled a ten-thousand-ryo note from his pocket.

The shopkeeper took the money, walked over to the shelf, and retrieved two pads that had been vacuum-sealed in plastic bags.

"Here you go, little customer."

The shopkeeper handed the pads to Yuki Yuichi. "When you want to use them, just tear open the bag, and the pads will return to their original shape."

Stepping out of the shop, Yuki Yuichi walked down the street, glancing at the items in his hands from time to time.

He didn't quite know how to view this world anymore.

They had vacuum-sealing technology, yet people still farmed with hoes.

They had computers, yet information was still transmitted by human runners or summoning animals.

The absurdities of the ninja world left him with mixed feelings.

Clearly, there were many things that could change this world, yet they were never put to any real use.