Three Years

Doubling his weights, practicing three thousand sword strikes, honing his swordsmanship, and diligently studying all kinds of subjects—Ueno Kei repeated these dull, simple, and very basic exercises every day and night.

Three years had passed since he had obtained the Lingyu Blade. For more than three years, Ueno Kei had absorbed knowledge like a sponge, eagerly taking in and memorizing everything, whether he could understand it now or would only understand it in the future.

In those three years, Ueno Kei had grown to an impressive 1.4 meters tall. Now nearly ten, he wore a black, short-sleeved ninja jacket over a tight-fitting training shirt—the same style Lee wore in the original, though thankfully not as garish—and a pair of fitted black pants.

The Lingyu Blade rested across his back, and his long purple hair was loosely tied, flowing behind him. He made quite the handsome young ninja.

So even though his grades weren't outstanding, Ueno Kei was unexpectedly—and, in hindsight, unsurprisingly—popular with the girls in his class. But except when he was around Naruto, he was always quiet and gave off an unapproachable air.

The girls didn't dare approach him easily. Besides, Ueno Kei wasn't the sort to spend time on such things. He considered himself only average in talent, and he wouldn't waste a moment of training.

Train! Train! Absorb every bit of knowledge he could! At times like these, Ueno Kei was always utterly relentless.

He had practically worn down the threshold of the Ninja Academy library. Ueno Kei had committed countless basic theories to memory, and no matter what the teachers asked or tested him on, he could always answer without hesitation.

Although he had diligently studied all kinds of basic ninja knowledge during the more than three and a half years he had spent in Konoha, it had all remained theoretical.

When it came to practical study and application, Ueno Kei was always near the bottom of the class in terms of how quickly he learned. That was true even when he studied the Wind Wing Sword Technique, which he had inherited along with the Wind Wing Clan Head's chakra and experience.

Ueno Kei's progress had not gone as he'd hoped.

As a result, his training in the Wind Wing Sword Technique had remained at the basic level. It wasn't that he didn't want to learn the later moves, or that he couldn't. With his current strength, he could just barely learn the first of the nine techniques.

He could even perform it, and with the power of the Lingyu Blade, its might was not to be underestimated.

But Ueno Kei hadn't done so. Instead, he had followed the prescribed training regimen, first memorizing every move in the Wind Wing Sword Technique and how to circulate chakra while performing them.

Then he devoted himself wholeheartedly to practicing the Wind Wing Basic Mental Method. "Master the mental method before using the sword technique!" Those eight words were the guiding principle of the Wind Wing Sword Technique. Ueno Kei didn't know what the basic mental method was for.

Nor did he understand why those nine techniques required the mental method to guide the flow of chakra. But it didn't matter if he didn't understand. Ueno Kei followed the instructions to the letter. He had no talent in this area, and he hadn't yet come up with a training method suited to himself. Still, he placed great importance on the methods and insights of those who had come before him.

He firmly believed that their methods wouldn't be wrong, at least when it came to the fundamentals. He could work out his own style once he had the ability; for now, his foundations had to be solid. If he didn't understand something, he would memorize it first. Fortunately, although he lacked talent for training, he had unexpectedly been blessed with a very useful brain. As for all that theoretical knowledge—

Ueno Kei could memorize it in the shortest time, then imitate it without making any major mistakes. He might not capture the essence, but he could at least reproduce the form.

It was a pleasant, breezy day, as good as any other in Konoha.

At his training ground in the western outskirts, Ueno Kei sat sprawled on the ground, panting heavily.

His face looked utterly exhausted, yet he was grinning with excitement. After three years, he had finally taken his first step toward mastering the Wind Wing Mental Method.

That meant he could finally try the Wind Wing Sword Technique he had been coveting for so long.

"Haha! Hard work really does pay off! If I keep at it, I'll succeed!" Ueno Kei's eyes shone with determination.

He slowly got to his feet and brushed the dust from his clothes. Today's breakthrough had seemed sudden, but it had also been inevitable. The Wind Wing Sword Technique's training manual said that those gifted in swordsmanship could benefit from learning the mental method first, but it never claimed that the mental method couldn't be mastered gradually through practice.

For example, some people could look at something once and see right through its surface, effortlessly grasping its nature and understanding its secrets.

Likewise, when a ninjutsu was taught to someone exceptionally gifted, they could quickly analyze how it worked and how its chakra flowed. After all, if someone knew what something was made of and how it was made, how could they fail to understand it?

But someone like Ueno Kei, who had little talent for techniques, could only rely on trial and error, memorization, and repeated practice. Even if he didn't understand the true nature of a technique, wouldn't he remember it after using it often enough?

That was how Ueno Kei learned ninjutsu and sword techniques: the clumsy way. In his previous life, there had been many elderly people in society without much formal education. They didn't understand high-tech products or how they were made.

But that didn't stop them from using them. After a while, even without much education, they could handle and operate those high-tech products with ease.

So when learning a technique, Ueno Kei would never give in to discouragement. If he failed ten times, he would try a hundred. If he failed a hundred times, he would try a thousand. He didn't mind the trouble, and he never complained of being tired.

Achievements were proportional to effort. That was the most obvious and universal truth in any world.

Hard work never lied! Ueno Kei held firmly to that belief.

Ueno Kei quietly sensed the changes within himself. According to the mental method, once he had mastered its basics, following its paths would guide his chakra and subtly change its flow without affecting the use of other techniques.

But when he used the Wind Wing Sword Technique, channeling chakra would feel much more natural, and his moves would be more powerful.

Eager to test it, Ueno Kei immediately used the mental method to guide his chakra through one complete cycle, passing through every chakra point in his body.

A feeling of fullness! That was all Ueno Kei could feel at that moment.

As he circulated the mental method faster and faster, his chakra flow changed along with it. A peculiar aura spread around him, giving off a sense of intimidation.

Of course, to any ninja above the rank of Chunin, that pitiful aura was a joke. It had no killing intent, no substance, and exerted no pressure at all.

But for a kid who was still a student at the Ninja Academy, it marked the firmest step he had taken toward becoming a true ninja. Once he had drawn blood in the future and infused his will into it, he would be even more capable in battle.

Ueno Kei gently exhaled a breath of stale air and looked around with satisfaction. He glanced up and saw that it was getting late. After gathering his things, he slung the Lingyu Blade, which had been leaning against a tree, across his back.

Then—

He sprang lightly onto a branch and bounded through the trees. As the setting sun shone down, his figure gradually disappeared into the woods as he headed straight home.