Training Misconceptions

"No, I'm practicing tree climbing. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a tall enough tree, so I used this cliff instead. It should be fine as long as it's tall enough, right?" Yashui pursed his lips. "Also, my name isn't 'Kid.' It's Yashui—Uchiha... Sarutobi Yashui!"

"From the Sarutobi Clan? That explains it." Might Guy sized up the cliff. "You managed to climb all the way to the top. You must have an exceptional amount of chakra or an exceptional chakra-conversion rate. Most students couldn't do that!"

"You flatter me," Yashui said mildly. "What are you doing here? Don't you jonin all have missions?"

"Jonin are the elite of the whole village. Even though we go on missions often, the village gives us extra time off so we can stay in top shape," Might Guy explained. "And during my time off, I happened to be pursuing the power of youth!"

"Pursuing... youth?" Yashui recalled Might Guy's famous catchphrase.

"That's right!" Might Guy's teeth sparkled like stars as he gave Yashui a thumbs-up. "Today's goal is ten thousand one-handed push-ups. If I can't manage that, I'll climb this cliff one-handed two hundred times!"

"..." Yashui had no words. He silently labeled Might Guy a training fanatic.

"Yashui, what you just did was impressive for a student, but you won't learn to climb trees that way!" Might Guy suddenly said.

"Won't learn to climb trees... What do you mean?" Yashui asked, baffled. He had indeed felt there was something wrong with his training. He had never found a training exercise so easy.

"Let me show you." Might Guy walked onto the cliff face, his body still perpendicular to the rock and parallel to the ground.

"This is how you were doing it, right?" Might Guy asked.

"Yes." Yashui nodded.

"Just as I thought." Standing on the cliff face, Might Guy explained, "As you climbed, you used chakra to hold your body tightly against the rock. That works for climbing, but if I do it this way..."

Might Guy made a hand sign to gather chakra, and the cliff beneath his feet immediately crumbled into chunks of stone. He took the opportunity to jump back down to the ground.

"Did you see that? You can climb this way because you're a student and your chakra isn't as powerful as ours. If you had chakra as powerful as mine, using that method would make the rock crumble." Might Guy spoke with a serious expression. "You probably felt it, too: your method wasted a lot of chakra. If you didn't have an exceptional reserve, you'd have nearly fallen halfway up."

Might Guy's words gave Yashui pause. He was right. The hard part of this exercise wasn't sticking too much chakra to the soles of your feet; it was sticking just the right amount there.

For example, it might take only ten units of chakra for a ninja to walk up a vertical rock face. With eight units, the force wouldn't be enough to keep them attached to the rock. With one hundred, they'd crush the rock beneath their feet.

Using fifty units wouldn't be enough to make the rock collapse. The result would be about the same as using only ten, giving the impression that you had mastered walking up a vertical rock face. The effect might be similar, but you'd be using five times as much chakra.

Fifty units of chakra might not crush the rock, but it was more than enough to damage wood. If you got used to walking on rock faces, then one day tried to climb a tree, you'd break it under your feet.

Yashui gathered some chakra and tried walking on a short shrub. As soon as he put his foot down, he left a deep footprint in its trunk.

After testing it, Yashui returned to the ground. His training method had been wrong. If Might Guy hadn't shown up, he would have fallen into a misconception.

"Thank you, Uncle. You've really helped me out," Yashui said, bowing respectfully to Might Guy.

"You're a student about to take the Ninja Academy graduation exam, right? You're still working so hard at this stage. I really like your spirit." Might Guy gave Yashui a thumbs-up. "Want to train with me?"

"..." Yashui shook his head and replied firmly, "No!"

"Hahaha..." Might Guy laughed. "All right, all right. Keep up the good work, and never forget the power of youth!"

"By the way, Uncle," Yashui asked, "you're so devoted to training. Do you know anywhere with really tall trees? I'd like to practice there."

"Oh, well..." Might Guy thought it over. "There are quite a few tall trees at the Uchiha training grounds, but that area is off-limits to the village. I wouldn't dare go in without permission."

Uchiha...

Those three characters were like a forbidden word. The moment Yashui heard them, his eyes began to ache again. Unable to bear the pain, he pressed both hands against his eyeballs. He was terrified that his Sharingan might activate on its own again.

"What's wrong?" Might Guy asked when he noticed Yashui seemed unwell.

"No, it's nothing." Yashui smiled, straightened his sunglasses, and thanked him before heading for the Uchiha training grounds.

After Yashui left, the Third Hokage jumped down from a tree.

"Lord Hokage, if you wanted to correct his training, why didn't you teach him yourself?" Might Guy asked the Hokage.

"Heh... That's not an easy question to answer." The Third Hokage gave a wry smile. He didn't want Danzo thinking he was treating Yashui differently.

"I'm pretty interested in hardworking kids like Yashui. He reminds me a lot of Rock Lee in my class!" Might Guy gave the Third Hokage a thumbs-up.

"...I'll record this mission as a D-rank mission. When you collect your payment for your next one, remember to take the payment for this one, too." Wisps of smoke drifted from the Third Hokage's pipe, as though hiding the awkwardness on his face.

"No need. Youth doesn't care about rewards!" Might Guy said, then leaped onto the cliff face and disappeared in a few quick steps.

"Youth, huh..." The Third Hokage looked up at the birds in the sky...

After leaving, Yashui didn't head straight to the Uchiha training grounds. First, there was something more important he needed to do—check his eyes.

Back at home, Yashui rushed to his room and inspected his eyes from every angle in the mirror. Thankfully, they hadn't turned into Sharingan this time. Only then did he feel a little relieved.