One Month Later

A month passed in the blink of an eye.

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

But before heading out, he noticed the 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.

Today also marked exactly 180 days since he had crossed over.

Hideki turned and looked at himself in the mirror again.

He was still handsome, just a little darker and thinner, with a more capable look 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 especially long nor especially short—long enough for someone to break a few bad habits or develop a good one.

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

A ninja's abilities did not merely consist of taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu, and the like, but also a whole range of essential "skills."

The things that old man drilled into Hideki seemed to know no bounds or limits.

Things such as concealing one's presence and tracks, analyzing the battlefield and surroundings, coded language and intelligence gathering, even precautions for assassination...

Those were things the Ninja Academy could not teach. There, they only hammered the Will of Fire into students by every possible means, along with basic ninja rules such as the Three Prohibitions.

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

But he had not done so.

Konoha had clearly grown quieter lately. Ordinary civilians were unaffected, but the number of ninjas wandering the streets and alleys to relax had steadily decreased.

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.

Although Obito had already mastered the Great Fire Dragon Orochimaru had given him, and with two Fire Release techniques in hand, he was no longer afraid even when facing Uchiha Ruohuo.

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

Whoosh!

A shuriken flew out. Hideki's hands did not stop moving as he rapidly formed seals, instantly shaping 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.

The water bullets were extremely fast. They were not especially dense, but there were quite a few of them.

The old man had just dodged the shuriken when he immediately realized that every route of escape had been cut off.

"Not bad, kid." 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 immediately rose up.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

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

Yet the old man behind the wall showed no sign of underestimating his opponent. He even began forming hand seals!

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"

An earthen wall as large as the Ninja Academy gates surged out of the ground!

Then, the next second.

Boom!!!!

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

Dust and smoke billowed everywhere. Yet the old man emerged from another direction, glancing at the large hole blasted through the Earth-Style Wall as a flicker of shock passed through his eyes.

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

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 reach the threshold of chakra nature transformation, but that did not prevent him from developing Hydrogen Release toward its second stage.

Starting with the seals, he directly fused chakra during the stage when the ninjutsu took shape!

For that, he truly had to thank Orochimaru. The ninjutsu he had been given might have appeared random, like unwanted charity.

But after putting them into practice, Hideki had been stunned.

As one of the Legendary Sannin, a disciple of the Ninjutsu Professor, and a future great scientist, Orochimaru's judgment was truly exceptional.

The Lightning Release: Lightning Explosion given to him was originally a close-to-mid-range Lightning Release technique, condensing chakra into lightning to strike 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 several times over!

Water bullets formed one after another, but under the enhancement of lightning, they became air bullets. Hideki pulled an Explosive Tag attached to a kunai from his ninja tool pouch, ready to fire it on the spot!

"Enough!"

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

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

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

The old man spoke irritably.

But Hideki merely smiled faintly. Ever since he had latched onto Kakashi, that little rich kid, Explosive Tags were practically unlimited.

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

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

But strangely, his monthly living expenses had not returned to normal. Instead, they had doubled again, reaching a full two thousand ryo.

That was four times the miserable five hundred ryo per month he had received before. It was no exaggeration to say that he now dared to buy the most expensive instant noodles, and even bought milk and eggs in week-long quantities.

However, despite gaining such an achievement at such a young age, Hideki did not grow complacent. Instead, he felt a sense of crisis.

If nothing unexpected had happened, this windfall was probably due to Orochimaru's "favor" again.

"All right, that's enough training 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 glance. "You're young. Losing a few hours of sleep is no big deal. But how old am I? Having to fool around with you 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 rubbed his aching lower back and walked out of the forest, leaving Hideki only with his retreating figure.

"Honestly... who knows how many days I'll have to rest before I recover..."

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

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

"I don't know your name, but... thank you, Grandpa."

The old man seemed extremely sensitive about his identity. Hideki had tried carefully arranging for it to be mentioned casually, but every time, the old man brushed it off with one excuse or another.

However, Hideki had long since stopped dwelling on that question.

Even if he belonged to the vanished Senju, it did not matter.

That once-glorious clan had disappeared. All he could do was offer it his highest respect.

And his gratitude toward the old man.

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

The old man seemed to have no children, but such Earth Release skills could not be wasted...