Guidance

After cleaning up the battlefield, Shiro's heart ached! The kind of ache that left him unable to breathe!

They had only found fifty thousand ryo in such a huge stronghold.

After searching for ages, Shiro and the others had not found much money, though they had found quite a few used-up cultivation supplies.

What a bunch of wastrels. You were about to die anyway, so why waste all that money? Shiro looked at the scraps before him, clutching his chest as he thought miserably.

"Shiro, let's go. It's getting late. Go back and get some rest; we still need to set out for the village tomorrow."

"Sigh... Got it. Coming." With a sigh, Shiro set aside his frustration. What I gain is my fortune; what I lose is my fate.

The less he obsessed over things, the happier he could live.

With that thought, Shiro followed Nakamura and the others back.

At the camp, Shiro and the others still had one thing to do before bed. Doing it now would be more effective.

That was right. It was discussion time again.

However, unlike in Yamada's team, the Nakamura Squad was guided entirely by Nakamura. There was no discussion; after all, an experienced Jonin was more than qualified to instruct Shiro and the others.

Although Shiro and the others could now practically kill Chunin in seconds, that was based on the advantages of their unique secret techniques and bloodline limits.

Without those, they were only about as capable as Genin. Of course, secret techniques and bloodline limits were also part of one's strength, so it could not be calculated that way.

Still, even after setting those factors aside, they needed considerable strength of their own.

There was no need to mention Shiro and Shikaki. Take Taichi, for example. There was no question that the Sharingan was an extremely powerful bloodline limit. It was said that once an Uchiha Jonin awakened the Three-Tomoe, his strength could rival that of an Elite Jonin! That alone showed the importance of one's fundamentals.

Therefore, Nakamura had always attached great importance to basic training.

On the way back, Nakamura had already thought over what he needed to say to the three youngsters. So he got straight to the point now, too lazy to bother with an introduction. There was no point.

"Overall, you performed well, but there are still some shortcomings."

"First, you, Shiro."

At that, Taichi and Shikaki looked toward Shiro. Shiro also looked at Nakamura with slight confusion. Clearly, he had not expected Nakamura to start with him. Wasn't it usually better to start with someone familiar?

Nakamura did not answer Shiro's confusion and continued, "You seem to have a ninjutsu that can deflect thrown weapons such as Shuriken, correct?"

"Yes, Captain."

"Mm. It's a very practical ninjutsu. But Shiro, do you understand it?"

"I do."

"No! You don't! You don't even know where its limits are! When that ninjutsu failed during tonight's battle, you panicked for a moment. Clearly, you knew it could fail, but you didn't know when it would fail!"

"Second, when you rushed forward and discovered someone blocking you, it was right for you to summon Blue Snake immediately. But afterward, instead of working with Blue Snake, you went to refine Chakra!"

"At that time, all you had to do was let Blue Snake deal with that Chunin, then have your ninjutsu constructs hold back the bandits. With your combat experience, dealing with those two Genin would have been easy."

"But you didn't do that. Shiro, you rely too much on your secret technique. That's why your first thought was to restore your Chakra. But Shiro, think about it seriously. Could you really not defeat them without using ninjutsu?"

"One last point. When we return, I'll teach you a Wind Release ninjutsu to coordinate with that technique of yours that amplifies Wind Release's power."

Shiro had already lowered his head under the blow of Nakamura's earlier words, but upon hearing that last sentence, he immediately raised his head and looked at Nakamura. "Captain Nakamura, really?"

What Nakamura was doing was no small matter. Ninjutsu generally was not passed on to outsiders. If Nakamura had been Shiro's squad leader, it would have made sense, but Nakamura was merely his captain.

It could be said that Nakamura thought very highly of Shiro. Thus, although Shiro knew this was the old carrot-and-stick routine, he fell for it anyway.

Besides, it gave Shiro the perfect reason to learn advanced ninjutsu.

"Of course it's true. We'll discuss that after we return. Now, let's talk about Shikaki."

At that, some of the laziness faded from Shikaki's face, and he sat up a little straighter.

"I don't understand the training of your secret technique, nor is it appropriate for me to interfere. Besides, you're very smart, so there isn't much to say. Just one thing."

"You have too few offensive methods. It's fine one-on-one, but once there are more opponents, the weakness becomes obvious. You lack sufficiently effective offensive options. I don't know the specifics of your Nara clan's Shadow Imitation Technique."

"In short, you'll have to think about this yourself. I can't help you much."

"Mm, I understand, Teacher Nakamura." After saying that, Shikaki lowered his head and began thinking.

"Finally, you, Taichi. Your situation is a little more serious."

"You're similar to Shiro. In fact, Shiro is even a little stronger than you. You rely too heavily on the Sharingan! Shiro's secret technique works in conjunction with taijutsu. In other words, if you and Shiro both set aside your secret technique and Sharingan, you would be no match for Shiro!"

Upon hearing that, Taichi looked at Shiro in surprise. Clearly, he had never considered it. Compared to Taichi's surprise, Shiro was much calmer, because it was the truth. Just because Taichi could fight two Chunin at once in close combat did not mean he was already incredible.

Don't forget, he could only do that with the Sharingan's powerful dynamic vision supporting him. Shiro was different. He did not possess such powerful dynamic vision; he relied entirely on combat experience that had brushed against the threshold of Eye of the Mind.

With the Sharingan turned off, Taichi truly would not be Shiro's match.

"There's no need to be surprised or unwilling to accept it. Once we return, I'll have you two spar. Listen to me first."

"Taichi, you awakened your Sharingan a little too early. That isn't entirely a good thing. First, how long have you neglected your other genjutsu? What would you do if you encountered a situation like this again?"

"Second, as I just said, your combat experience and taijutsu are too poor. You need focused training. But this is not entirely your fault; you were only like this because of the mission, so I don't blame you. Still, you need to work on it from now on."

"Third, you lack control over the battle situation. Shikaki is even better at this than I am. Ask him more when you have the chance."

"Lastly, and most importantly, you are too impatient. That is a major taboo. When you rush, you become flustered; when you become flustered, you are easily defeated! This is what you need to train the most."

"Of course, don't be like a certain someone and insist on waiting until his Chakra has fully recovered before acting. That would be going too far." After saying that, he glanced at Shiro.

"..."

Who that certain someone was went without saying.

"Still, don't be too discouraged. Even if you currently have a few more flaws, with the Sharingan, you are still the strongest among the three of you. But if you can become even stronger, that would naturally be best, right?"

"Ah... Teacher Nakamura, I'll keep it up!"

Heh, look at you. You want to keep staying ahead? Do you think you're also the son of some old man selling cheat codes? Naive! Shiro, who already had a cheat, rejected Taichi's answer outright.

After all, Madara was not dead yet, and Indra's Chakra had not reincarnated. So Shiro was not worried at all!

"Alright, that's all. Think it over carefully, then get some sleep. We still have a long journey tomorrow."

"Yes, Teacher! Captain!"

A slight revision to the settings in Chapter Four: it is not impossible to train, merely very difficult. Thanks to Infinite Otaku, Crimson Feather Fall, Rainy Day Maple, Guangfu, Young Master Jie, Wolf Howl Under the Sculpted Moon, and reader 131224200715569 for their recommendation votes. Thank you for your support!