Training Ninjutsu

Kakashi graduated early and began his life as a ninja, while the other students in his class welcomed their holidays.

Holiday life was much freer than school life. The Ninja Academy had no holiday homework, so all the time during the break belonged to the students themselves.

However, Toru's holiday was no different from his school life.

Because Toru did not intend to relax or go out to play during the break; instead, he continued to train diligently.

This world was not much different from the world of his previous life. Toru believed that strength was the fundamental basis for standing firm, which was true in any world.

Furthermore, the holiday actually gave Toru more free time for training, as he no longer had to attend those meaningless cultural classes at school.

Toru's training resources were quite abundant. Apart from the inheritance left by his father, Fugaku and Yuhi Shinku also provided Toru with a great deal of help.

Additionally, Toru possessed a pair of Chakra Six Eyes capable of seeing through the principles of ninjutsu, which he could use to replicate other people's techniques.

In this way, there were many areas to train in, so Toru filled his holiday schedule to the brim.

Ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, and ninja tools—he spread his attention equally among them all.

Except for going out every day to share dinner with Kurenai, he basically spent all his time training in the open space next to his house.

One day during dinner, Kurenai took the initiative to suggest training together, "Toru, let's train together tomorrow. I want to start practicing the genjutsu my father taught me."

In truth, Toru wanted to refuse, because the gap between Kurenai's current strength and his own was too large; if he brought Kurenai along, their training progress would not be synchronized.

However, Yuhi Shinku was present that day. He patted Toru happily and said, "That's great, that's great! You two should train together."

"Kurenai, you should follow Toru and train with him during the holiday. His talent for genjutsu is even better than yours; you should learn well from him."

Hearing this, Toru had no reason to refuse. He could only obediently say to Yuhi Shinku and Kurenai, "No problem, Kurenai and I will train together from now on."

Just like that, the two agreed to train together every afternoon at the Konoha training ground.

The next day, Toru first arrived at Kurenai's house to meet her, and then the two walked toward Konoha Training Ground 3.

On the way, they ran into their classmates, Hatake Kakashi and Might Guy.

Might Guy was pulling a dead-eyed Kakashi along the road, saying, "I'm going to help you and Obito make up! The best way for men to make up is to exercise together—this is youth, Kakashi!"

Kakashi said reluctantly, "I'm very busy."

Might Guy looked at him, unconvinced, and said, "You aren't even wearing your forehead protector today, so you definitely don't have a mission. You were just hiding in the bookstore reading those strange books; how could you possibly be as busy as you say?"

Having his cover blown, Kakashi couldn't hold his ground and had no choice but to agree to Might Guy's request.

Might Guy was very happy and said, "I've already arranged for Obito to meet us. He definitely wants to make up with you too."

Might Guy continued chatting with Kakashi on the road. Just then, Toru and Kurenai passed by. Since the four of them were heading in the same direction, they exchanged greetings and walked together.

Passing through the center of the village, Toru's Six Eyes observed something unusual.

It was a massive, circular barrier, seemingly suppressing some kind of powerful force.

At this moment, a beautiful red-haired woman stood at the inner edge of the barrier, and behind her stood two mysterious figures in cloaks and masks, looking like people of significant status.

In front of the woman was a handsome young man with yellow hair, surrounded by a group of people who seemed to be waiting for him.

The two were conversing, which caught Toru's attention.

Through the information gathered by the Six Eyes, the yellow-haired man's strength was very high, even surpassing that of Yuhi Shinku and Uchiha Fugaku.

But what shocked Toru even more was that the power contained within the woman's body was even more terrifying—a power Toru had never seen before, filled with violent and tyrannical energy.

The entire barrier was likely in place just to suppress this power.

Kurenai noticed Toru watching the two in conversation and thoughtfully introduced them, "That red-haired lady is our village's Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Uzumaki Kushina. The person across from her is the genius jonin Namikaze Minato; he is a student of Lord Jiraiya."

As the only daughter of Konoha jonin Yuhi Shinku, Kurenai had a broader perspective of the village than Toru.

Tailed beasts, jinchuriki, and Jiraiya of the Legendary Sannin—even Toru, who had been in Konoha for less than a year, had heard of these names.

Hearing Kurenai's introduction, Toru roughly understood the status of these two; both could be considered high-level figures in Konoha.

As they walked closer, Kakashi and Might Guy spotted Uchiha Obito waiting inside the barrier.

Might Guy happily raised his hand to wave, and Kakashi and Obito also waved back. The relationship between the two seemed less tense than before.

The three of them went off to practice taijutsu together, with Might Guy taking the lead, sprinting away through the village.

However, it was clear that only Might Guy was enjoying it; Kakashi and Obito were both speechless at this method of training.

Meanwhile, Toru was eavesdropping on the conversation between Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina.

Namikaze Minato said apologetically, "Sorry, Kushina... I came to tell you... I have to go somewhere else to train ninjutsu today..."

Uzumaki Kushina stood with her hands on her hips, looking displeased as she questioned, "Somewhere else?!"

"...Training Ground 3." Namikaze Minato keenly sensed Kushina's mood and opened his hands to explain, "No... it's because that ninjutsu isn't finished yet and it's very dangerous. I don't want you to get hurt."

Uzumaki Kushina got angry, her red hair fluttering as she pointed at Namikaze Minato with indignation, "If you hate being with me, just say so!"

Namikaze Minato explained anxiously, "I've never thought that way!!"

At this moment, Namikaze Minato's companions urged him to report to the Hokage about their mission.

Namikaze Minato had no choice but to turn around and leave, saying, "Sorry... I have to go, see you later!"

Uzumaki Kushina subconsciously wanted to follow him, but was stopped by the two masked men behind her.

All of this fell into the eyes of Toru and Kurenai.

Kurenai seemed to empathize deeply with Kushina's plight, saying from the side, "Those two are Anbu responsible for protecting the jinchuriki. But the jinchuriki can't even go out with the person she loves; it's truly pitiful."

Kurenai felt pity for the jinchuriki's situation. When she said the words "the person she loves," she even glanced at Toru with a sense of projection, as if she had placed herself in Kushina's perspective.

But Toru's focus was entirely different.

The power of a tailed beast is not something I can reach right now, but that new technique Namikaze Minato mentioned he is developing is something I could try.

If even a powerhouse like him considers the ninjutsu dangerous, the power must be unimaginable. Toru felt curious in his heart about the new technique Minato had mentioned.

So, Toru said to Kurenai, "Let's go to Training Ground 3."