Learning Ninjutsu

Naruto and the other two quietly returned to the schoolyard, arriving just in time for Iruka's roll call.

Only after finishing roll call did Iruka realize there was one student missing from the class. This was a serious matter. A student from his class had gone missing—how was he supposed to explain it to the child's parents after school?

When he asked the other students, no one had seen where Lin Chuan had gone. Naruto and the other two, who knew where Lin Chuan was, all pretended not to know under Shikamaru's stern insistence.

After all, selling Lin Chuan out now would offend him. Once Shikamaru explained that to Naruto and Choji, the two of them kept their mouths shut.

Unable to find Lin Chuan, Iruka could only wait until school was over. Even after the children were picked up one by one, Lin Chuan's parents never appeared. He could only head to Lin Chuan's home, hoping Lin Chuan had returned on his own.

Otherwise, his teaching career had only just begun and would have to end because of one missing child.

Lin Chuan's home was to the left of Konoha's Hokage Rock, near the edge of the village. There was a river and some rice fields nearby, along with many wooden houses. One of them was Lin Chuan's home.

Knock, knock, knock—

"Who are you?" Lin Chuan's mother opened the wooden door. Seeing Iruka in his green ninja vest, she asked in confusion.

"Are you Chiba Lin Chuan's parent? I'm Lin Chuan's homeroom teacher, Iruka." Iruka introduced himself first, then peeked inside the house. Still not seeing Lin Chuan, he could only explain, "Lin Chuan fought with a classmate this morning. I told him to bring his parents after school, but he skipped class this afternoon, so I came to see whether he had returned home..."

"What? He fought and skipped class?" Lin Chuan's mother stared in shock. She knew her son was mischievous, but she had not expected him to be this mischievous. She immediately said softly, "Please wait a moment, Teacher Iruka. Xiaochuan has already come home. He's in the backyard learning ninjutsu from his father. I'll call him over right away..."

Phew. Iruka secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing Lin Chuan's mother leave and learning that Lin Chuan was home, he finally relaxed. He really was a problem student.

Iruka seemed to have forgotten something. His attention was on Lin Chuan being home, rather than the fact that a six-year-old child was actually learning ninjutsu!

Lin Chuan's mother led him to the backyard and explained Iruka's purpose to Lin Chuan's father. Lin Chuan's dad neither minded nor got angry. Lin Chuan had long told him that the Ninja Academy's lessons were too boring and that he wanted to learn something else.

He had discovered that his son seemed to be a little genius. He had only demonstrated it once, yet Lin Chuan had mastered the Three Body Technique after two days of practice. Now he wanted to learn ninjutsu. Aside from playing with a group of children his own age, there really was not much to learn at the Ninja Academy. It was not as though Lin Chuan's dad had never attended the Ninja Academy himself.

"You can still laugh?" Lin Chuan's mother saw that the child's father was still smiling. Their son had fought and skipped class at school, so why was there nothing but laughter from his father?

"Don't worry. I'll handle it." Lin Chuan's dad looked at his son, extremely pleased with his little genius. If his son could learn ninjutsu now, it would not be long before he could no longer teach his clever son. That was what he should be worried about.

That was the privilege of a little genius. Lin Chuan found it too troublesome to go back to school just for roll call, so after skipping class, he did not return to school and went straight home after school instead.

Skipping class was nothing. Once he learned ninjutsu, he even wanted to earn himself the reputation of a little genius. Uchiha's family education was too oppressive, so he would suppress that bratty little brother Uchiha and enjoy himself properly. Since he had already transmigrated, of course he had to enjoy himself properly.

But the reputation of a little genius had its drawbacks too. He had not forgotten that there was an old schemer beneath Konoha who loved little geniuses like him. Before his reputation as a little genius spread, he needed to give himself another layer of protection.

"Xiaochuan, do you remember the hand seals for Water Clone and Water Shock Wave?" Lin Chuan's dad led Lin Chuan toward the door while asking about the ninjutsu lesson from earlier. "Ninjutsu requires hand seals to mobilize and condense the chakra in your body, temporarily storing it from the mouth to the chest before releasing it after an elemental transformation..."

"I remember, Dad." Lin Chuan recalled the hand seals for Water Clone and Water Shock Wave. There were only a few simple seals, and both were very basic C-rank ninjutsu among the five elemental releases.

How basic were they?

Itachi could learn them after watching once, while Sasuke could learn them after practicing for a while. Lin Chuan felt that his own rather average talent was no worse than theirs. After all, he had a grind panel!

[Ninjutsu]

[Water Release Ninjutsu]

[C-rank Ninjutsu: Water Release: Water Clone (Not Initiated: 0.1%)]

[C-rank Ninjutsu: Water Release: Water Shock Wave (Not Initiated: 0.1%)]

After merely trying the hand seals for Water Clone and Water Shock Wave a few times, they appeared on his grind panel. Next, he only needed to grind both ninjutsu until initiation before he could more or less use them. If he wanted to use them in battle, he would need to grind them to at least a usable level of proficiency.

He also thought of a training accelerator. Since he had transmigrated, how could he possibly not learn the Shadow Clone Jutsu? He immediately asked, "Dad, do you know the Shadow Clone Jutsu? I want to learn it..."

"The Shadow Clone Jutsu is B-rank ninjutsu. Your current chakra reserves aren't enough to use it. Wait until you're older," Lin Chuan's dad said, failing to understand Lin Chuan's true intention. He had already spotted Iruka outside the door.

"Dad, I still haven't tested my chakra nature." Seeing that his cheap dad would not teach him, Lin Chuan had no choice but to ask about something else. He still had not tested his chakra nature.

"There's extra chakra paper at home. We'll test it after dinner." Lin Chuan's dad welcomed Iruka inside, and Lin Chuan could only shut up and wait until Iruka left.

"Teacher Iruka." Lin Chuan looked at Iruka as he entered, obediently greeting him. After all, Iruka had come all the way to his home. He was a responsible, good teacher.

"Lin Chuan's parents." Iruka sat down on the tatami in the living room and began explaining the situation with this problem student, Lin Chuan.

"Understood, Teacher Iruka. I know what you mean. I'll strictly discipline Xiaochuan." Lin Chuan's dad bowed slightly in apology to Iruka, then continued.

"My Xiaochuan has caused Teacher Iruka trouble at school. Please don't worry, Teacher Iruka. Xiaochuan will return home on his own, so there was no need for you to come all this way. I'll make sure to discipline him strictly..."

"Hurry up and apologize to your teacher." Lin Chuan's dad gave Lin Chuan a push, telling him to say a few good words to Iruka.

"I'm sorry, Teacher Iruka. I won't do it again." Lin Chuan suppressed a laugh as he lowered his head and apologized to Iruka. He said he would not do it again, but he would still skip class next time. At worst, he could just say he would not do it again next time too.

Seeing that both father and son were so sincere, Iruka said nothing further. He did not yet know that Lin Chuan would skip class every day in the future, until Iruka became numb to it and never visited his home again. As long as he saw Lin Chuan in class the next day, he would be too lazy to care about anything else.

Another reason Lin Chuan wanted to learn the Shadow Clone Jutsu was so he could send a shadow clone to school. Otherwise, he would have to run to school every day. If not for the friendship of the Konoha Twelve, he would not even bother going to school. It would only interfere with his ninjutsu practice.

"Teacher Iruka, I'll pay more attention to disciplining my child next time. Please stay for dinner." Seeing that the matter had been resolved and that Lin Chuan's mother had prepared the food, Lin Chuan's dad invited Iruka to dinner.

"No, I still have matters to handle at the school." It was Iruka's first time visiting Lin Chuan's home, so he was too embarrassed to stay for dinner. He hurriedly bid Lin Chuan's father farewell and left Lin Chuan's home.

After Iruka left, Lin Chuan returned to the kitchen and prepared to test his chakra nature...

[Iruka]