Taijutsu Had No Future

Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi had served longer than any other Hokage.

As Hokage, he was beloved by the villagers, because Shimura Danzō took the blame for everything.

As Danzo put it, Hiruzen Sarutobi had spent his entire life basking in the sunlight.

Yet this very Hokage had betrayed Hashirama Senju's original purpose in founding the Shinobi Village, sending children onto the battlefield as cannon fodder.

During Hiruzen Sarutobi's tenure, whenever war came, the Ninja Academy skipped its graduation exams. Children were forced to graduate at nine.

Kazan looked at the other children in the classroom.

There were the current generation of Ino-Shika-Cho, Kurenai Yuhi, Asuma Sarutobi, and several other children of prominent families.

They had their clans behind them and belonged to the Hokage's faction, which gave them some assurance of survival. A common-born Ninja like Kazan had no such protection.

The capable team leaders were assigned to those Shinobi Clan heirs. Everyone else got the mediocre ones.

"Why worry about relying on others? I'd better rely on myself."

Kazan turned to look out the window.

With Garp Template and Garp's training memories, he knew he could go far. If he survived the Third Shinobi World War, he would be set.

But despite training since he was four, Kazan had yet to make any substantial progress.

His body was not strong enough to train in the Six Powers, and he had not awakened any of the Three Types of Haki either.

Without Haki to back them up, his Fist Bone techniques were all show.

He was nowhere near the point of blasting Hachinosu apart with one punch!

"Still, my physique really is much better than Guy's."

The power ceiling in the Pirate world might not reach the absurd heights of the Hokage world's Six Paths level, but people in the Pirate world were tough as nails.

Kuzan and Akainu had fought for ten days and ten nights before their duel was decided.

That was why even Might Guy, who devoted himself to Taijutsu, could not match Kazan's physical condition.

At noon.

It was time for lunch.

The excited students gathered together, and the conversation inevitably turned to their classmate Kakashi Hatake.

"My dad said Kakashi just completed an A-Rank mission with his team leader."

"Seriously?"

"It's true. I hate to admit it, but Kakashi really is amazing."

The children from Ninja families could only marvel.

Kakashi had broken Ninja Academy records by graduating early at five. He was famous throughout Konoha.

If they heard one day that Kakashi had become a Jonin, they probably would not be surprised.

"Kazan, try this."

Kazan fit in well enough. He had little in common with these little kids, but unlike Jing Uchiha, he did not disappear into some corner of the school to eat alone!

After all, someone was willing to feed him.

Along with Garp Template, Kazan had inherited Garp's enormous appetite.

Everyone else had a small lunch box and was full after a few bites. Not Kazan. He needed dozens of rice balls just to take the edge off his hunger.

"Ahh."

Kazan eyed the meat Kurenai Yuhi held out with her chopsticks, opened his mouth, and swallowed it in one bite.

"Thanks, Kurenai."

"You're welcome. I can't eat this much by myself."

Kurenai Yuhi looked at the chopsticks Kazan had bitten, blushed a little, then touched their tips with her tongue.

Not far away, Asuma Sarutobi saw it and promptly blew up.

"Hey, Kazan! Quit sitting with the girls every time we eat. Have lunch with us once in a while. Anyone who didn't know better would think you were a girl."

The other kids burst out laughing.

"No, Kazan didn't... I was the one who asked him to sit with me..."

Before Kazan could speak, Kurenai Yuhi had already come to his defense.

Kazan did not have the delicate good looks of the Uchiha or Kakashi, but his boyish face made him look full of energy.

And with a maturity that did not match his young body... well, Kurenai Yuhi thought he was different from the other boys.

Kazan gave Asuma a look that said everything. Then his hands went to work, left and right in a steady rhythm, and he polished off dozens of rice balls in no time.

"Here."

"Thanks."

Kazan took the water Kurenai Yuhi offered and gulped it down, then got up and left the classroom.

"Off to train again?"

"Yeah. My fists still aren't hard enough or fast enough."

He works so hard.

Kurenai Yuhi watched Kazan leave before turning her attention to her own lunch.

She had given most of it to Kazan, but she had a small appetite and still had enough to fill her up.

"Tch. All that guy does is throw punches, day after day. Can someone who only knows how to punch really become a good Ninja?"

Asuma grumbled to his friends.

Ninja fought primarily with Ninjutsu. How far could Taijutsu alone take anyone?

Just look at Might Guy. He had once struggled even to get into the Ninja Academy.

"I can't let that pass." Asuka Hyuga stood up.

The Hyuga Clan's Secret Technique was the Gentle Fist, used in combination with their Kekkei Genkai, the Byakugan. They were a renowned Ninja family throughout the Shinobi World.

And the Gentle Fist was, in a sense, a form of Taijutsu.

"Let's settle this with a duel, Hokage's son!"

Asuka Hyuga was forceful. Asuma might be the Third Hokage's son, but the Byakugan clan did not fear him.

That was how the Uchiha and Hyuga were: neither thought anyone else measured up.

"Fine! Meet me on the training field!" Asuma was already angry, and now someone had stepped up to challenge him. He accepted at once.

Those damn Uchiha and Hyuga. If no one knocks them down a peg, they'll think Konoha belongs to them.

Kazan knew nothing about any of this. He had found an empty spot and begun his daily training.

He followed the Navy Elite Camp's training regimen every day.

Two thousand push-ups, a hundred trips up and down a rope, two hundred laps of long-distance running, and combat practice.

He felt his body could handle more. With Garp Template, he tried to push past his limits after completing his set routine each day.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

His fists hammered the wooden post. He put everything he had into every punch.

Even the sturdy post warped under his relentless blows, then began to splinter.

After countless punches, the entire post burst apart beneath his fist.

Kazan drew a breath, brought over a new post he had prepared, and kept punching.

Compared with Garp training against mountains, Kazan punching wooden posts was child's play.

Only when the bell rang did Kazan stop. He washed up quickly, changed clothes, and headed back to class.

When will my body finally be strong enough to train in the Six Powers?

And I need to find a way to get the Shadow Clone Technique.

The Hokage world had a training loophole: the Shadow Clone Technique and Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.

The Second Hokage had created the technique by imitating the First Hokage's Wood Clone.

It could create physical clones capable of fighting.

But its greatest use was that when a clone was dispelled or destroyed, its memories returned to the original, along with its pain and fatigue.

As long as his mind and will were strong enough, Kazan could even train in all six powers at once!