One Month Later

A month passed in the blink of an eye.

That day, Hideki got up early as usual, boiled water, washed up, and then ate instant noodles.

But before heading out, he noticed a special date marked on the calendar.

Hideki paused, raising an eyebrow.

"Has it really been that long already?"

Today was the original owner of this body's birthday, as well as the anniversary of his parents' deaths.

It also happened to mark exactly 180 days since he had transmigrated here.

Hideki turned and looked at himself in the mirror again.

He was still handsome, just a little darker and thinner. He looked leaner and more capable overall.

There was also a ninja tool pouch strapped to the outside of his thigh, making him look even more like a ninja.

A month was neither particularly long nor particularly short—long enough for someone to break bad habits or develop good ones.

For Hideki, who had been training desperately, that month had brought a qualitative leap in his ninja abilities.

Ninja abilities were not limited to taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu, and the like. They also included a whole range of essential "skills."

The old man seemed to have no sense of restraint or boundaries when it came to what he drilled into Hideki.

Concealing his presence and tracks, analyzing terrain and battle conditions, coded language and intelligence gathering, even things to keep in mind during assassinations...

Those were things he could not learn at the Ninja Academy. There, they only crammed various forms of the Will of Fire into students, along with basic ninja rules such as the Three Prohibitions.

With Hideki's current strength, he could probably graduate early with ease and even break Kakashi's record.

But he did not do so.

Konoha had clearly become quieter lately. Ordinary people were unaffected, but fewer and fewer ninja could be seen wandering the streets and alleys to relax.

The Third Shinobi World War had fully begun. Graduating now meant heading straight to the battlefield. Hideki was not afraid, but Obito was not ready yet.

Obito had already mastered the Great Fire Dragon Orochimaru had given him. With two Fire Release techniques in hand, he would no longer fear Uchiha Ruohuo if they met again.

But he was still far from a real battlefield, far from real killing.

Whoosh!

A shuriken shot out. Hideki's hands did not stop moving as he rapidly formed hand seals, instantly creating a Water Release: Water Chain Bullet.

Thud thud thud thud thud!

Though there was no water nearby, Hideki's chakra could still support the release of this Water Release technique.

The water bullets were incredibly fast. They were not densely packed, but there were quite a few of them.

The old man had just dodged the shuriken when he immediately realized he had lost every angle of escape.

"Good lad." Approval flashed through the old man's eyes. Without forming a single seal, he stomped his bare foot on the ground, and a plain earthen wall rose up at once.

Bang bang bang bang bang!

The water bullets smashed one after another into the earthen wall. The spectacle was impressive, but the actual damage was practically nonexistent.

Yet the old man behind the wall showed no hint of carelessness. He even began forming hand seals!

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"

An earthen wall as tall as the Ninja Academy's front gate surged from the ground!

Then, the next second.

Boom!!!!

An explosion rang out, and the entire forest seemed to tremble. Early birds caught worms, but they certainly did not expect explosions.

Dust and smoke rose everywhere. The old man emerged from another direction, glanced at the huge hole blown through the Earth-Style Wall, and the shock in his eyes vanished in an instant.

"Damn it! Again!" Hideki refused to accept it. His hands immediately formed a complicated sequence of more than twenty seals!

Of the techniques in the scroll Orochimaru had given him, the only ones Hideki could currently practice were Lightning Release: Lightning Explosion and Water Release: Water Chain Bullet.

Hideki had yet to touch the threshold of chakra nature transformation, but that did not prevent him from developing Hydrogen Release into its second stage.

Starting from the hand seals, he directly fused chakra during the formation stage of the ninjutsu!

For that, he had to thank Orochimaru. The ninjutsu Orochimaru had given him appeared random at first glance, like charity handed down from above.

But after putting them into practice, Hideki was deeply surprised.

Orochimaru, the Cold Lord, disciple of a ninjutsu professor and future great scientist, truly had discerning eyes.

The Lightning Release: Lightning Explosion he had given Hideki was originally a short-to-mid-range Lightning Release technique. It condensed chakra into lightning and struck within a limited area.

It perfectly complemented Water Release: Water Chain Bullet.

Even without the premise of Hydrogen Release, ordinary Water Chain Bullets could be combined with Lightning Explosion, imbuing the water bullets with Lightning Release and doubling their power.

But in Hideki's hands, that power would increase by N times!

One water bullet after another formed, but under the enhancement of lightning, they became air bullets. Hideki pulled out an Explosive Tag attached to a kunai from his ninja tool pouch and was about to fire it!

"Enough!"

At that moment, the old man suddenly shouted, catching Hideki right in the gap before he activated the Explosive Tag with chakra.

Hideki froze, then quickly calmed down from his excitement. He put away the Explosive Tag, and the hydrogen gas before him dissipated as well.

"You brat really knows when to save and when to spend, huh? The money for one Explosive Tag is enough to buy you instant noodles for a week, isn't it? Don't you know how to feel bad for wasting it?"

The old man spoke irritably.

But Hideki merely smiled. Ever since he had latched onto Kakashi, the little landlord, Explosive Tags were truly plentiful.

He and Obito had once been lucky enough to visit the ninja tool storeroom in Kakashi's home. Good lord, every kind of ninja tool was stocked by the crate. It was a sight poor people would never see in their entire lives.

At the time, Hideki had felt the urge to steal some, sell them for money, and improve his life.

But strangely enough, his monthly living expenses had not only failed to return to normal—they had doubled again, reaching a full two thousand ryo.

That was four times the five hundred ryo a month he had suffered through before. It was no exaggeration to say that he now dared to buy the most expensive instant noodles, and he even dared to buy milk and eggs in weekly quantities.

However, despite achieving so much at such a young age, Hideki did not become complacent. Instead, he felt a sense of crisis.

If nothing unexpected happened, this windfall was probably still thanks to Orochimaru's "favor."

"Enough. Your training ends here for now. You won't need to come anymore."

Just as Hideki was feeling pleased with himself, the old man suddenly spoke, leaving him rooted to the spot.

"What?"

"I said you don't need to come anymore." The old man shot Hideki an irritated look. "You're young, so losing a few hours of sleep is no problem. But how old am I? I've been putting up with your nonsense every day..."

"In short, the special training is over... Come find me again once you've mastered chakra nature transformation."

As he spoke, the old man pounded his aching lower back and walked out of the forest, leaving only his back to Hideki.

"Honestly... Who knows how many days I'll need to rest before I recover..."

The old man's grumbling could still be faintly heard, but Hideki's gaze grew increasingly respectful.

He bowed deeply in the direction the old man had left.

"Though I don't know your name... thank you, old man."

The old man seemed extremely sensitive about his identity. Hideki had tried carefully arranging situations where he could casually bring it up, but each time, the old man had brushed it aside with one excuse or another.

But Hideki had long since stopped dwelling on that question.

Even if he was a Senju who had already disappeared, it did not matter.

That once-glorious clan had vanished. All Hideki could do was offer it the highest respect.

And offer the old man his gratitude.

At the same time, Hideki secretly made up his mind to master chakra nature transformation as soon as possible.

The old man seemed to have no children, but his Earth Release skills could not be allowed to go to waste...