Teaching

Beneath the great waterfall.

Rumble!

"Water Release, Water Dragon Bullet."

"Wind Release, Verdant Mountain Gale."

"Earth Release, Earth Sink Quicksand."

A water dragon burst from the surface, attacking Tobitake Tonbo under Iruka's control.

Teksen Shiso infused the Fuma Shuriken with Wind Release, forming a pincer attack with Iruka.

Beneath Tobitake Tonbo's feet was a quicksand trap several meters wide, meant to bind him and support his teammates.

Facing these attacks, Tobitake Tonbo smiled faintly.

His hands flashed through a series of seals.

He was incredibly fast, finishing in an instant.

The attacks landed on him.

Bang!

A log appeared where he had been.

"Ah, the Substitution Technique." Iruka groaned in frustration.

The Water Dragon Bullet and Fuma Shuriken struck nothing but a log.

Huff, huff!

All three of them were panting heavily.

Using such ninjutsu consumed quite a bit of chakra for them.

"Is that all?"

At some point, Tobitake Tonbo had clung vertically beside the waterfall, his hands forming seals.

He pressed his hands downward.

"Little Dipper Rock Staff."

Puff puff puff~~

Countless earthen rods shot up beneath the three of them like a celestial maiden scattering flowers.

However, Tobitake Tonbo had held back. Once the rods struck their backsides and sent them flying, they stopped moving.

Ah~

The three of them jumped around at once.

Clutching their backsides.

This was already the third day of their special training.

Under Tobitake Tonbo's guidance, they had used chakra test paper to determine their respective affinities.

Iruka: Water and Fire affinities.

Teksen Shiso: Wind affinity.

Mibu Shinobu: Earth affinity.

He had taught each of them one B-Rank ninjutsu, letting them experience the difficulty of practicing ninjutsu.

However, he had underestimated his own teaching ability. All three were already able to perform them completely.

Just three days.

"Damn it, Captain, didn't you say you only knew a little bit of ninjutsu besides Genjutsu?" Mibu Shinobu shouted in frustration.

They had been tricked by their captain.

They had thought he truly only knew a little, so today they had challenged him three against one with the ninjutsu they had just learned.

Brimming with confidence, they had made their captain promise not to use Genjutsu or Taijutsu.

Who would have thought that the little bit their captain had mentioned was anything but little.

Ninjutsu was like Tobitake Tonbo's own limbs, striking wherever he pointed with perfect ease.

It was as though he could see through every one of their ninjutsu attacks.

The other two nodded in agreement as well. That was what they had believed.

Until they had fought today.

Hearing this, Tobitake Tonbo smiled. "It really is only a little. Your proficiency is too low, not that I'm too strong. Understand?"

"Alright, that's enough sparring for today. Next, we'll review your current shortcomings.

"Iruka, your mastery of chakra shape transformation is far too poor,

so both your attack power and attack speed fall far short. Next, you need to learn to properly master the shape transformation of ninjutsu."

He pointed at Iruka as he spoke.

"Mibu Shinobu, you're the same. Your shape transformation is too poor, causing Earth Sink Quicksand to form too slowly.

"I'll teach you Genjutsu once you've built a solid foundation."

"Shiso, your talent is stronger than theirs. Your attack speed and ninjutsu formation are both relatively fast,

so next, you need to deeply master the Nature Transformation of wind and make your attacks sharper."

He never held back when guiding any of his students.

He instilled in them the basic concepts of Nature Transformation and shape transformation that Naruto had failed to learn during two and a half years under Jiraiya.

It was difficult, but they had to learn it.

This was because it was a necessary ability for advancing to Jōnin. Only after mastering one's own Nature Transformation, then learning the Nature Transformations of other attributes and mastering ninjutsu of multiple attributes, could one be promoted to Jōnin once they were capable of dealing with enemies of different attributes.

This was Konoha's standard path.

Someone like Guy was an exception.

As it happened, he knew a tiny little bit about all of this.

He hoped that all his students would become Jōnin before the story began.

Otherwise, it would be too embarrassing.

According to the original work, Kakashi had only Sakura become a Jōnin under him, while the other twelve rookies had basically all become Jōnin after the Fourth War.

He could not lose to them.

Although Tobitake Tonbo remained true to himself and wanted to be a worker who went wherever he was needed.

Workers needed dignity too.

Especially since he would be getting married in two years and might have a whole bunch of sons and daughters afterward. He needed some accomplishments worth bragging about.

"Anyway, that's it for today. Let's go soak in some hot springs.

"I heard there's a very comfortable hot spring inn in the nearby town."

Ninjas could not train all day and night.

He understood the importance of balancing work and rest.

"Yeah!"

The three shouted excitedly.

Following their captain was too comfortable. He was always treating them to lavish meals and taking them to have fun.

The training was just a little harsh.

Seeing their excited expressions, Tobitake Tonbo pulled out a dragonfly-shaped wallet and counted its contents.

There was enough until they returned to Konoha.

Part of the money had been specially given to him by Ayame when she learned he was leaving on a mission.

Having a rich girlfriend was wonderful!

Tobitake Tonbo's team.

Thus, they lived the same routine every day.

After eating a filling breakfast in a bustling town each morning, they began training their ninja skills.

They returned at noon to eat again and gather further intelligence on Asuma.

At night, at Tobitake Tonbo's request, they traveled under cover of darkness to the next town, training the three in night movement.

Without anyone interfering, the three youngsters improved quickly.

Of course, not at some absurd pace.

After all, even with talent like Neji's or Sasuke's, a month of training would not actually bring any enormous improvement.

All of this required steady accumulation over time.

Tobitake Tonbo also did not continue teaching them difficult ninjutsu, since that would not benefit them.

One type of ninjutsu was temporarily enough.

What they needed more was fundamentals: chakra control, chakra shape transformation, chakra Nature Transformation, ninja tool throwing, Taijutsu development, practical combat drills...

As well as examples from all kinds of battlefield situations, teaching them how ninjas should respond when faced with different circumstances.

Those were the true priorities of Tobitake Tonbo's teaching.

These foundational ninja qualities were teaching methods he had organized after absorbing the memories of numerous ninjas.

As long as they built a solid foundation, even if he was no longer by their side in the future,

their learning speed would still be very fast.

In truth, the one who had improved the most was Tobitake Tonbo.

"Leaving Genjutsu aside, my ninjutsu is becoming more and more proficient, and all my ninja qualities are steadily improving. Sure enough, learning and then teaching it to others is the fastest way to learn!"

Tobitake Tonbo had never expected that teaching his students could accelerate his already formidable talent once more.

When it came to ninja fundamentals, he could now say without hesitation that even Jiraiya was no match for him.

Whether it was chakra-related abilities.

Or all the various knowledge a ninja needed to learn.

Perhaps only in intelligence work was he still far behind.

Primarily because he was not a spy-type ninja. He was merely a worker in the Analysis Division; having this level of ability was already quite good.