By late afternoon, dinner was drawing near, and another day was almost over.
Mizuki checked Sakura Haruno's progress. It was about what he had expected. Setting aside how much she truly understood, at least Sakura now had a vague grasp of it. After tomorrow, she should be able to begin basic training.
"If you have time, practice chakra control more at home. For example, like this?"
As he spoke, Mizuki extended his right hand. A mass of chakra appeared in his palm, and under his control, it took on various shapes—abstract animal forms, like a galloping steed, a roaring tiger, and so on.
"Or this."
He spread his hand wide, forming a chakra blade from each of his five fingers. They swayed and slashed with the movement of his fingers.
"And finally, this."
Mizuki pressed his palms together, then separated them. A slender thread of chakra appeared between his hands, drifting continuously through the air.
Sakura Haruno stared, dumbfounded, at that almost miraculous level of control. "Chakra can be used to this extent?" The girl who had always been proud of her excellent chakra control suddenly felt that her pride was nothing more than a joke.
"This actually isn't that difficult. As long as you practice enough, it won't be hard to achieve. Once conditions allow, I'll teach you some other things as well. For now, these are just exercises for you to practice at home when you have spare time. This is only the foundation. In the future, you'll understand just what ninja are capable of."
Without witnessing the era three years later, when combat power exploded, it was impossible to imagine how those ninjutsu that seemed fit only for myths would come into being, or how they could possess such world-destroying might. Even a month later, these newly