Training

"We're still not high enough. Keep going! Keep going!"

It was afternoon. Konoha was at its most laid-back; everyone who had classes had already gone home, and the weather was growing more and more soporific.

The gentle breeze and sunshine could always make people drowsy. Everyone was probably taking an afternoon nap right about now.

But in this small grove near the outskirts of Konoha, there were no soft snores from people napping. Instead, the sound of kunai slicing through something rang out, along with the tired gasps of people catching their breath.

Of course, the loudest sound was Yueshu's voice.

After Yueshu, Kushina, and Mikoto had decided to train together so they could graduate early, the three of them had found a good place to practice.

There was a clearing in this grove, and a small lake nearby. It was a beautiful, scenic spot, and even the air was fresh.

At that moment, Yueshu stood there, facing two girls his age.

The girls wore training clothes rather than pretty dresses like the other girls, but their appearances were still refreshing to see.

"You're still only halfway to the target. Don't overthink it. Just walk up lightly, as if you were on flat ground. Same with your chakra—draw it up lightly, as if you were drinking water."

Yueshu gave them instructions bit by bit. In front of him stood Kushina and Mikoto, drenched in sweat.

Both girls wore training clothes. Their pretty little faces were covered in sweat, and they were breathing hard, looking as worn out as ordinary people after running several miles.

There were many trees around them, and the tree in front of the two girls was covered in knife marks, one after another, stretching from the bottom all the way up.

That was right. Yueshu was teaching them the tree-climbing exercise from the original story.

It wasn't climbing a tree in the literal sense. They used the chakra inside their bodies to stick to the tree, then walked up it as if they were on flat ground.

Of course, it wasn't easy to learn. Controlling chakra wasn't simple.

Chakra wasn't like a hand or a foot, with nerves running through it. It was a form of energy.

And energy like that naturally wasn't easy to manipulate.

What's more, Kushina and Mikoto were just children. Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke in the original story hadn't started practicing until they were twelve.

"Let's take a break."

Yueshu spoke up. He hadn't expected the two girls, Kushina and Mikoto, to train so hard.

After all, they were girls, he thought. But never mind—as long as they could graduate early, that was what mattered. The Ninja Academy's early graduation exam was naturally harder than the regular one, but it wasn't impossibly difficult. Especially in this peaceful era, there was a good chance they could graduate early.

Yueshu had only planned to spend a little more time on the training, but after seeing Kushina and Mikoto's determination, he couldn't help being swept up in their enthusiasm and increased the workload.

Kushina and Mikoto didn't complain. Was this simply what the ninja world was like? Or was it because they were both children from prominent clans? To have this much drive at only eight years old—and to be girls, no less—was extremely rare back on Earth.

"Phew."

When they heard Yueshu say they could rest, Kushina and Mikoto's bodies finally relaxed.

The two of them plopped down at once. They really looked exhausted.

"How's it going?"

Yueshu walked over and sat down beside them.

"Not bad. It's pretty tiring, but this works the body and trains chakra control at the same time. It really is a good method."

Since they were training partners now, Mikoto was able to talk to Yueshu naturally, instead of needing Kushina to act as a go-between as she had before.

"You practice like this all the time?"

Kushina looked at Yueshu as she asked.

"Not really."

Yueshu thought back on his training.

He was a pretty laid-back person to begin with, and didn't have much desire to train. Every so often, he would go over to Sakumo Hatake's place to practice swordsmanship and discuss combat experience.

Apart from that, Yueshu hadn't trained on his own.

But that didn't mean he couldn't do it or that he was bad at it.

When Yueshu had practiced this particular exercise, he had tried it himself. For some reason, even though he had never trained in this area, he had been able to do it well right away.

It wasn't just tree climbing. Yueshu could even perform the more advanced Water Walking perfectly.

Yueshu didn't think he was some kind of genius, but he felt a strange familiarity in his body. Whether it was tree climbing or Water Walking, the moment he tried it, it felt as though he had done it countless times before.

It had been the same when he had first transmigrated here. Yueshu had been nothing but a shut-in, and even though he had kept himself fit with regular exercise and had tried plenty of different sports, he shouldn't have had that kind of combat experience.

But he had managed to do it anyway. It hadn't happened only that once; it had happened when he went to rescue Kushina, too.

He had felt that same sensation then.

Yueshu didn't understand what it was. He could only guess it was a cheat he'd received as part of transmigrating. Maybe he really was some kind of genius, after all.

"What is it?"

Kushina looked at Yueshu curiously.

Yueshu didn't know what to say. He really was lazy.

He scratched his head and sighed.

"Nothing. I'm just a lazy bum, okay? You two should focus on the task at hand."

"Tch."

Kushina replied in annoyance. She had just seen Yueshu climb the tree and walk on water with ease. He looked very practiced.

A gentle breeze blew past the three of them, brushing across their faces and drying the sweat. Mikoto smiled quietly to one side while Kushina chatted with Yueshu.

Mikoto truly couldn't believe she was experiencing a moment like this.

As a member of the Uchiha Clan, Mikoto had been different from most people from the moment she was born. But she didn't share the strange sense of superiority her fellow clan members had.

It was true that the Uchiha Clan possessed a Kekkei Genkai by birth, but Mikoto didn't think that was a reason to be so proud—let alone arrogant.

Her parents were gentle people, too. They didn't seem like members of the lofty Uchiha Clan, but more like an ordinary family in Konoha.

That had made Mikoto different from the other members of the Uchiha Clan. She was quiet and a little introverted. Because of her status, she couldn't make friends among the common people, and because of her personality, even her own clan members weren't very interested in spending time with her.

Maybe that was why Mikoto's eyes so often held a trace of loneliness. It had probably helped Kushina, who was in a similar situation, relate to her. No wonder the two had become close friends.

"What are you smiling about, Mikoto?"

Kushina's voice sounded beside her, and Mikoto came back to herself.

A boy and a girl were looking at her, their gazes clear and bright.

Mikoto's smile grew even brighter.

"Nothing."

"It's just—"

"I'm a little happy, that's all."

Mikoto's words seemed to carry a smile, and she was still smiling as they left her mouth.

The surroundings were quiet. Mikoto seemed to radiate a unique quality.

Unlike Minato Namikaze's gentle, little-sun warmth, Mikoto's presence was more like water—calm and accepting.

"Yeah."

Kushina was infected by her mood and smiled without realizing it.

"I'm a little happy, too."

Kushina looked up at the sky. She was growing fonder and fonder of being together like this.

It wasn't like when she had first arrived in Konoha, all alone and isolated, like a streetlight shining by itself in the darkness of night.

As she thought about it, Kushina looked at Yueshu, who had been caught up in the mood as well. Seeing how silly he looked, Kushina's smile grew a little sweeter.

Time was merciless. It never cared about anything; it simply kept moving forward. But people had feelings, and that was why, amid the unfeeling passage of time, so many ordinary yet heartwarming memories could be made.

"Hey, do you think we can graduate early?"

"Of course we can."

"If so, that'd be wonderful."