Tsunade Was Flat-Chested Too

"Still, I should keep up the act in public, but I can't let my training slack off in secret."

Uchiha Nagi frowned. If he held back just to keep a low profile and ended up stunting his growth, he'd be putting the cart before the horse.

No matter what, strength was the one thing he could always rely on.

Even with Namikaze Minato as a powerful ally who could take the lead, there was no guarantee he'd always be able to help.

Some things, in the end, he would have to handle himself.

So he could start on some essential training, such as chakra control.

Tree climbing, Water Walking, walking on oil, walking on oil while carrying weights, and so on...

If that still wasn't enough, Uchiha Nagi could sneak over to the hospital and learn some basic Medical Ninjutsu.

As everyone knew, Medical Ninjutsu demanded an extremely high level of chakra control, making it perfect for practicing that skill.

Besides that, he needed to copy some useful jutsu.

And he needed to practice Taijutsu, too, to increase his chakra reserves.

After all, if he couldn't get his hands on a treasure like Hashirama Cells, then improving his physical constitution was the only way to gain more chakra.

Just look at Might Guy: as an ordinary person, he had a chakra level of ten, while Hatake Kakashi had only seven.

"Come to think of it, I really do have a lot to do..."

Uchiha Nagi sighed. But if he wanted a better life in the future, he could put up with being tired now. That was still better than dying out in the wilderness because he wasn't strong enough.

In the days that followed,

Uchiha Nagi began training according to plan.

Just as he'd expected, he had a decent talent for chakra control. He'd mastered tree climbing and Water Walking, and had even gotten the hang of walking on oil.

As for ninjutsu, Uchiha Nagi hadn't made much progress.

He'd also tested his chakra affinities.

His Fire Release went without saying. Without a Fire affinity, he wouldn't even feel right calling himself a member of the Uchiha Clan.

What surprised him was that, besides Fire, he also had Lightning and Wind affinities. It was as if he'd gotten both protagonists' affinities in one package.

That meant he could learn and master every jutsu Naruto and Sasuke used before the Six Paths power in the original story. That was pretty good news.

Unfortunately, he hadn't managed to copy many useful jutsu over the past few days.

Given his current condition, being able to use D-rank jutsu was already pretty good. A single C-rank jutsu would drain his chakra completely, never mind a B-rank one.

The only jutsu he'd copied were the D-rank Body Flicker Technique and... the Uchiha Clan's signature Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu.

He still hadn't found a way to copy the Shadow Clone Jutsu, which he'd been thinking about constantly.

But Uchiha Nagi wasn't in a hurry. With his current chakra reserves, even if he copied the Shadow Clone Jutsu, he wouldn't have enough to send a clone to school in his place.

It wasn't that he couldn't use it. The Shadow Clone Jutsu didn't consume that much chakra, given how it worked. The hard part was maintaining the clone afterward.

To use it safely, he'd have to wait a while longer—until his body had developed further and his chakra reserves had increased substantially.

"All in all, things are moving in the right direction."

Uchiha Nagi stretched, then looked around the empty courtyard once more. He locked the gate and headed for school.

Uchiha Eri had come home a few times over the past few days, but each time she'd rested at home for less than a day before leaving again.

Being a ninja paid well, but the expenses were high, too.

You couldn't exactly go on missions without the right equipment, could you?

Take shuriken, for example. Even if you could retrieve some of them, they were still consumables. You also had to keep bandages, soldier pills, wire, and other supplies on hand.

And the materials used for ninja tools that could withstand a ninja's use couldn't be subpar.

So, while ninjas earned a lot, their necessary expenses were just as high. If they were seriously injured, the money they'd earned might not even cover the cost of treatment...

Being a ninja was always a blood-on-the-blade kind of profession.

And they had it pretty good in a major village like Konoha. Ninjas who'd come up through less reputable channels had it even worse.

"After school, I'll go to the back hills and bring back a rock."

Uchiha Nagi sighed. Professional weighted training gear was available, but given his current circumstances, he figured he might as well save where he could.

Even if it wasn't quite as effective, it shouldn't make much difference.

"Good morning, Nagi." Namikaze Minato greeted him as soon as he saw him.

"Morning, Minato. You're always here so early." Uchiha Nagi lay sprawled across his desk, sounding a little lazy.

Namikaze Minato chuckled but didn't answer. He and Uchiha Nagi were practically polar opposites.

He arrived early for class every day, while Uchiha Nagi usually didn't walk into the classroom until the last minute.

And even then, he still looked half-asleep.

Yeah, yeah, enjoy life. If I didn't have to go to class and train, I'd sleep until I woke up naturally every single day.

Uchiha Nagi grumbled inwardly. He hadn't achieved his dream of taking it easy in his previous life, and now it seemed he still couldn't do it in this one.

But he believed he'd make it happen someday!

"Nagi, I heard we might be getting a new classmate today." Since class was about to start, Namikaze Minato decided to share the bit of gossip he'd heard.

"Hm? A new classmate?"

Uchiha Nagi was startled. So it was happening already?

If he wasn't mistaken, the new classmate was going to be the future Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Uzumaki Kushina.

But what did that have to do with him?

Uzumaki Kushina might be one of the great beauties of the Naruto series, but... right now, she was just a little girl.

He couldn't possibly be attracted to a six-year-old girl. He liked older women like Tsunade and Mei Terumi...

Besides, Namikaze Minato was her destined partner. He couldn't take someone else's destined partner while also leeching off him, could he?

Namikaze Minato himself didn't know any of that, and even if Uchiha Nagi did steal her away, Minato wouldn't start targeting him over it.

But he wasn't some perverted blond guy from an adult manga. Doing that would just be too awful.

Unless he had no intention of relying on Minato. In that case, he could compete fairly at this point in time.

But after weighing everything up, it was probably best to forget it.

He didn't even like little kids. And considering Uzumaki Kushina's status as a future Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, she wasn't someone a Uchiha like him should get close to.

The Uchiha's Sharingan was certainly useful, but being an Uchiha still came with plenty of restrictions in Konoha.

Uchiha Nagi shook his head, then suddenly thought of something and paused.

"But I remember that at this point in time, Tsunade was flat-chested too?"