Training

Ninja Academy, home, Naruto, training—this was the four-point cycle of Ueno Kei's life after enrolling.

During his time at the academy, he gradually grew accustomed to this routine. He possessed no special talent, no extraordinary gifts, and certainly no bloodline limit. The only things worth mentioning were his flexible mind and powerful memory.

Unfortunately, a sharp mind provided little help in learning ninja knowledge. It only meant he retained theoretical information well and could score high on written exams; when it came to practical combat tests, Ueno Kei was never among the top performers.

While he wasn't at the very bottom, he remained strictly average. He refined his first wisp of chakra within the normal timeframe and learned the Three Body Technique at a standard pace—though he hadn't truly mastered it, merely knowing how to use it, and sometimes failing even then.

With no standout qualities and nothing that caused his teachers concern, Ueno Kei was simply that kind of student.

He didn't care at all about his mediocre aptitude. In truth, for Ueno Kei, simply becoming a ninja was satisfying enough. He wasn't a greedy person; how many people were there in this world, and how many of them could actually become ninjas?

Therefore, Ueno Kei was content. This didn't mean he was complacent, only that he was never the type to complain about his lot in life.

As for becoming strong, Ueno Kei never gave up. He didn't believe that mediocre aptitude precluded one from becoming powerful. In his past life, were there not many examples of ordinary people becoming great?

Sweat and hard work—Ueno Kei never skimped on these. Since he had come to this world and possessed the possibility of becoming a ninja, he decided not to abandon even the slightest chance of becoming strong, whether it was to avenge his parents or to find the meaning of his existence.

Ueno Kei didn't want to waste a single second of his time.

Six years! He only had six years in this school, and Ueno Kei didn't want to leave with regrets. This was the best time to train himself without worry and build up his strength!

Early in the morning, the sun had just peeked over the horizon and the morning mist was gradually dissipating. The villagers of Konoha Village were just waking up to prepare for their daily tasks when, in a mountain on the western outskirts of Konoha, the sound of rhythmic grunts began to echo.

At this moment, by a river in a mountain range of modest elevation, a youth with purple hair was drenched in sweat, desperately punching and striking a wooden stake.

Not far away, over a dozen target poles were set up, with hundreds of kunai and shuriken scattered nearby.

This youth was Ueno Kei.

Ever since he enrolled half a year ago, Ueno Kei had formulated a detailed training schedule for himself. Since his aptitude was mediocre and he lacked special talents, the only thing he could use to compensate was unremitting effort.

Ueno Kei understood this clearly. After enrolling, the time he spent with Naruto decreased significantly, aside from the fixed school and break hours.

Eighty to ninety percent of Ueno Kei's remaining time was spent by this river in the back mountains.

This made Naruto, who wanted to play with Ueno Kei, sulk for a while, but he eventually put it behind him. After all, while Naruto wasn't very clever, he wasn't stupid; he knew why Ueno Kei was working so hard.

Although Naruto had once wanted to train with Ueno Kei, he gave up after only a few days. After all, he was still just a child, and Konoha was currently in an era of peace.

Naruto's talk of becoming Hokage was, at least for now, merely a dream in his heart—a way to gain recognition from others. But to engage in day-and-night grueling training was simply too early for the current Uzumaki Naruto.

Not everyone was like Ueno Kei, who had the body of a child but a very mature mind.

Ueno Kei didn't force Naruto. After all, in terms of psychological age, the two were years apart. Ueno Kei treated Naruto entirely like a child; at least in his past life, that age was meant for playing and having fun.

With that perspective, Ueno Kei naturally wouldn't force anything upon Naruto.

Of course, that would be a different story once Naruto enrolled or eventually became a ninja.

Physical training, chakra refinement and application, throwing kunai and shuriken, the Three Body Technique—over the past half year, Ueno Kei had been learning these basics in a solid, grounded manner.

Many children his age were constantly clamoring in the classroom about learning A-rank or S-rank ninjutsu to become powerful ninjas. As for the basics, more than half the students just went through the motions, aiming only for a passing grade.

But in the eyes of Ueno Kei and a few other students, these ninja basics were the most important things for them right now, including top students in the class like Hyuga Neji of the Hyuga clan!

Of course, Ueno Kei saw things more clearly than they did. Who established the Konoha Ninja Academy? Lord Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama. It was rumored that the curriculum was personally arranged by him.

At the very least, that meant these materials carried official authority!

The students who understood this were mostly born into ninja families; their parents or relatives were ninjas, so they realized the importance of the basics at a young age.

Ueno Kei's understanding went deeper, not just because of his recognition and respect for the Second Hokage, but more from his own reasoning.

Chakra was the source of a ninja's power. Without it, no ninjutsu, genjutsu, or even powerful taijutsu could be unleashed.

The Three Body Technique looked like the simplest ninjutsu, but in Ueno Kei's view, it was the foundation of all ninjutsu. If a ninja couldn't even master these three, how could they talk about mastering other powerful techniques? (Excluding exceptions like Naruto, who couldn't do a basic clone but could do the Shadow Clone Technique).

Kunai and shuriken were the basic weapons of a ninja. If one wasn't familiar with them and couldn't use them skillfully, then that ninja was a complete joke.

After coming into contact with this ninja knowledge, Ueno Kei placed extra importance on these contents.

Whatever the school required or the teachers assigned, Ueno Kei always completed it by increasing the intensity or even doubling it, based on his body's capacity.

To quickly train his physical fitness, Ueno Kei gradually added weights to his body. Of course, considering he was still growing, he didn't overdo it, only binding one kilogram of weight to each of his hands and legs, planning to increase it slowly later. While others might have done this, certainly few of his peers were doing so at the moment.

Of course, what Ueno Kei didn't know was that there was already a very crazy guy in this world who, at age twelve, was already carrying hundreds of kilograms of weight.

Even if Ueno Kei knew, he wouldn't deliberately imitate him. Everyone's physical constitution was different; even when Ueno Kei reached twelve, he would probably only be carrying a hundred kilograms or so.

Compared to those with robust physiques, Ueno Kei's body was still relatively thin.

Therefore, it could be said that Ueno Kei's foundation at this stage was extremely solid, and this solid foundation was entirely earned through Ueno Kei's sweat and effort. If not for this, Ueno Kei would definitely have been one of the few at the bottom of the class!