Scholars and Slackers (3)

Chapter Twenty-Three: Scholars and Slackers ()

Hopefully Uchiha Hana was the kind of person who had plenty of knowledge tucked away inside her, like dumplings in a teapot, but just couldn't get them out.

Uchiha Shin, Madara, and Izuna looked up at Uchiha Hana as she climbed the tree, silently hoping for the best.

As it turned out, Uchiha Shin had been getting ahead of himself.

Uchiha Hana hadn't even climbed ten meters before her feet gave out, and she fell backward.

Luckily, she was fairly agile. Just before she hit the ground, she performed a textbook backflip in midair, then landed steadily with her knees slightly bent.

What a hopeless case. Just what level was Hana's chakra control...

Uchiha Shin's face darkened. He knew exactly where she stood now.

"Hehe, I might not be in top form today. Last time, I clearly made it fifteen meters."

Uchiha Hana had no idea what shame meant. She just grinned foolishly at the three of them and tried to defend herself.

Madara and Izuna looked at her with even greater contempt. Even their gazes toward Uchiha Shin suddenly turned strange.

"Hurry up and get back in line. If you weren't any good at it, why didn't you say so when I asked?"

Uchiha Shin scowled and told Uchiha Hana to rejoin the group, then scolded her.

"I thought I could do it."

Looking aggrieved, Uchiha Hana lined up beside Madara and Izuna again, muttering under her breath.

Uchiha Shin pretended not to hear her muttering.

Well, she was a woman, even if she was only six.

In his previous life, some women could turn a fender-bender into a pileup and still come up with a whole list of excuses. And you were supposed to reason with them?

Keep no woman in your heart, and your blade will find its way.

Women, huh. They'd only slow Uchiha Shin's draw, whether in his previous life or this one. Heh.

Since Uchiha Hana hadn't explained anything earlier and her demonstration had failed, Uchiha Shin now had a rough idea of where to begin.

"Simply put, tree climbing means concentrating chakra in the soles of your feet, then walking along the tree trunk as if you were walking on the ground."

"It sounds simple, but it's hard to do. Hana's attempt just now was a textbook example of failure."

Uchiha Shin showed no mercy as he dragged Uchiha Hana out for a thorough roasting.

"Broadly speaking, there are three tricky parts to tree climbing."

"First, how do you quickly concentrate chakra in the soles of your feet?"

"Second, how much chakra should you gather there?"

"Third, how do you control the direction in which that chakra exerts force?"

"If you, Madara, Izuna, and Hana, can figure out the answers to those three questions..."

"Then you'll have learned ninety percent of tree climbing. The last ten percent is just practice."

Uchiha Shin planned to explain tree climbing using the physics he'd learned in his previous life, so Madara, Izuna, and Hana could understand it more easily.

So Uchiha Shin first gave the three of them a simple explanation of mechanics, covering gravity, elastic force, buoyancy, and friction.

Then he used whatever he could find nearby to perform a few mechanics experiments.

That way, Madara, Izuna, and Hana could get a clearer understanding of how those four forces worked.

After all, if the three of them didn't understand even these basic principles of mechanics, Uchiha Shin wouldn't be able to explain the next part.

Still, Uchiha Tajima's children really were exceptional. Their genes were incredibly strong.

Uchiha Shin only had to explain things briefly and perform a few experiments in front of them. Madara and Izuna immediately understood gravity, elastic force, friction, and buoyancy.

As for Uchiha Hana, maybe she was some kind of genetic mutation. She understood gravity, elastic force, friction, and buoyancy too.

That really made Uchiha Shin see her in a new light.

Maybe Uchiha Hana hadn't been unable to learn before. Perhaps no one had taught her, or they'd taught her the wrong way?

Uchiha Shin felt a little comforted by the thought.

"All right. Now that you, Madara, Izuna, and Hana, understand gravity, elastic force, friction, and buoyancy..."

"The rest of this tree-climbing technique is even simpler."

"You just need to dynamically control the direction in which the chakra in your feet exerts force, and balance your body's gravity against the friction between your feet and the tree."

"Once you've got that down, learning to climb trees will follow naturally."

"Now, go ahead and give it a try."

After breaking down the tree-climbing technique and explaining it with the mechanics he'd learned in his previous life...

Madara, Izuna, and Hana eagerly began experimenting on the large tree in front of them. It was so thick that it would take three people joining hands to circle its trunk.

Thanks to Uchiha Shin's novel explanation, none of the three had ever imagined learning to climb a tree could be so simple.

Their admiration and respect for Uchiha Shin grew even greater.

As Madara, Izuna, and Hana began their tree-climbing experiments, Uchiha Shin realized there was nothing for him to do but stand around and wait.

Wait.

"Multi-Shadow Clone Technique!"

"Poof!"

"Poof!"

"Poof!"

Uchiha Shin instantly created three Multi-Shadow Clones.

"I'll leave Madara, Izuna, and Hana's safety to you for now. I'm going to wander around nearby."

Uchiha Shin felt like stretching his legs, so he addressed his three Multi-Shadow Clones.

"Understood, original. Leave it to us three!" ×

The three Multi-Shadow Clones of Uchiha Shin smiled and answered him.

"Mm."

Uchiha Shin nodded, waved, then turned and headed toward the Naka River, on the other side of the forest.

As he walked, Uchiha Shin admired the forest's untouched scenery, feeling a little wistful...

He thought of the skyscrapers, traffic, and rows of factories from his previous life.

The conveniences brought by rapidly advancing technology had certainly made people's lives easier.

But that rapid technological development had also left behind enormous side effects.

Just look at this beautiful forest where Uchiha Shin was taking a stroll, the clear blue sky overhead, and the pure air.

You could only find anything like that in the remote wilderness of his previous life. Forget about seeing it in a modern city.

Unlike this era, where stepping outside your home was like going on vacation to Summer Resort. Everything was still so untouched. Haha.

The only downside was that there was a war going on outside, with people beating one another's brains out.