Training the seven

In the Senju Clan's training grounds, Tobirama's personal disciples met for the first time since that incident. From now on, they were fellow disciples, which naturally brought them closer than they had been at the Konoha Academy. As soon as Kagami Uchiha and Kazemori Masaki arrived, Hiruzen Sarutobi first greeted Kagami Uchiha, who had succeeded as clan head, then sidled up to Kazemori Masaki and asked quietly—

"Masaki, how are things with your new wife? You finally got married, so you must be having a wonderful time." Hiruzen Sarutobi chuckled under his breath. He knew Kazemori Masaki had once postponed his wedding, and naturally had to tease him about it now.

"Hiruzen, are you really that curious about other people's family affairs?" Kazemori Masaki smiled and shook his head. He had been too busy studying at the Konoha Academy to get to know Hiruzen Sarutobi well. Now it seemed Hiruzen had a rather irreverent streak. No wonder the disciples he later trained covered the whole range of sex, gambling, and drugs.

"Haha, understood." Hiruzen Sarutobi could tell that Masaki had no interest in indulging in some guy talk, so he did not press him. Instead, he changed the subject. "Masaki, since we're fellow disciples now, there's no need to be so formal. Let's just call each other by name."

Kazemori Masaki had no objection. He already called Kagami Uchiha by name, so he might as well do the same with everyone else. He nodded and said, "Then I'll call you Hiruzen from now on."

"Sure, Masaki." Hiruzen Sarutobi also dropped the formality and smiled as he nudged Masaki's shoulder.

All seven personal disciples had now arrived. As they got to know one another better, they discussed what skills Tobirama would teach them. Although Tobirama also taught at the Konoha Academy, his lessons there addressed issues everyone faced, rather than his own personal techniques. Only his personal disciples could learn those skills.

While they were talking, Tobirama's voice rang out. "It seems you're all getting along well."

They turned and saw Tobirama approaching. As he came before them, everyone hurried to bow, showing respect for their teacher. Tobirama looked over the seven and nodded slightly. He and his elder brother had high hopes for them. From now on, he would train these seven with the utmost strictness.

"Although you are all my personal disciples, my elder brother is also your teacher. He will come to instruct you whenever he has time," Tobirama said.

When Tobirama announced the list, the shinobi clans had been surprised that Hashirama himself had not taken a single personal disciple. Hashirama then explained that he would not formally take anyone as his own personal disciple, but Tobirama's disciples were his disciples as well, so he would also teach them.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief at those words. They, too, hoped to receive Hashirama's guidance, and would certainly have been disappointed if he were not going to teach them.

Unlike the others, Kazemori Masaki had already received Hashirama's guidance many times. His mastery of Sage Art owed everything to Hashirama's personal experience.

Without further talk, Tobirama prepared to begin the day's training. When Hiruzen Sarutobi asked whom he would instruct first, Tobirama said, "There's no need for that. I will instruct all of you at the same time."

Everyone froze for a moment. One person's energy was limited. Even Tobirama could not possibly instruct seven people at once—there was only one of him, after all. Thinking of this, Kazemori Masaki could not help recalling the Ninjutsu Tobirama had invented. Could it be...

Tobirama formed hand seals, and with a poof, six more "Tobiramas" appeared beside him. At first, the others thought it was the Clone Technique, but then they remembered certain rumors circulating in Konoha Ninja Village. Hiruzen Sarutobi asked in surprise, "Teacher, is this the Shadow Clone Technique you created?"

"Indeed." Tobirama nodded. "Every one of them has a physical body and is effectively another me. Each of you will receive one-on-one instruction from 'me,' so there's no need to decide who goes first. That's all there is to it."

"Amazing..." Although Hiruzen Sarutobi had heard rumors that Tobirama had created this Ninjutsu, this was his first time actually seeing it. He stared at the six "Tobiramas" in wonder.

"There's nothing to envy. All of you can learn this Ninjutsu," Tobirama said calmly. He intended to pass it on to others anyway, so how could he possibly withhold it from his own personal disciples?

With seven "Tobiramas" present, everyone could receive attentive, individual instruction. Each disciple followed a "Tobirama" to a different part of the training grounds to begin training. Kazemori Masaki did the same, looking up at Tobirama's back. Even though he knew about shadow clones, seeing them still amazed him. This Ninjutsu had far-reaching consequences; the future protagonist had made his debut using it.

"Kazemori." Tobirama turned and gazed at Kazemori Masaki. "You have an aptitude for Sage Art, but I cannot use it myself, so only my elder brother can teach you. I will focus on developing your other skills—the Wind Release Ninjutsu and swordsmanship of your Kazemori Family."

The Kazemori family's legacy was swordsmanship paired with Wind Release Ninjutsu. Tobirama's intention was clear: he wanted Kazemori Masaki to specialize in that path. His family's inheritance was his foundation and ought to take priority. Masaki understood that principle himself. He nodded to Tobirama and said, "Understood. Please teach me."

"Good. First, I will pass on all the experience I have gained in practicing swordsmanship. During that time, you can consider which other chakra nature you want to train. At the Konoha Academy, focusing your efforts on wind nature was undoubtedly the right choice. However, having only one chakra nature imposes limitations. You need at least two, so that the other can complement Wind Release and give you more options in battle," Tobirama said.

Kazemori Masaki lowered his head in thought. My second Chakra nature... Kakashi Hatake had said that most jonin mastered two Chakra nature transformations. That was still difficult to imagine during the Warring States Period, but in the Konoha of sixty years later, perhaps it was the best approach.

Seeing this, Tobirama told Kazemori Masaki not to rush. He could take his time thinking it over after returning home; today's swordsmanship training was about to begin. He handed Masaki a specially made sword. Tobirama himself was an expert swordsman who could even face samurai in combat. The Kazemori Family also used swords, but their style was different.

The blade passed down through the Kazemori family was short. Rather than direct combat, it was better suited to assassinations that killed in a single strike—a style of fighting befitting shinobi. Tobirama understood this. He did not ask Kazemori Masaki to change weapons, but instead taught him how to use a weapon of that shape in a head-on fight. Of course, assassination with a single lethal strike remained a major focus of his training.

Once training began, Kazemori Masaki realized that Tobirama truly had treated everyone equally at the Konoha Academy. The training back then had already been strict. Yet after becoming his personal disciple, the training grew even harsher. Masaki felt that calling it hell would be perfectly reasonable.

Still, Kazemori Masaki felt no resentment. Tobirama's training was grueling and exhausting, but its results were obvious. Masaki could clearly feel his strength increasing—the swordsmanship Tobirama taught him gradually blended into the Kazemori Family's style, bringing substantial improvement in every aspect. Although Tobirama was not particularly skilled in Wind Release himself, he offered unique insights beyond those recorded in the family's inherited Wind Release scrolls. These sometimes sparked inspiration in Masaki, allowing him to combine them with knowledge from another world and further improve his command of Wind Release.

Relying on the abundant energy Sage Art gave him, Kazemori Masaki poured in even more sweat and effort than the others. Though his talent was not as outstanding as theirs, he did not fall behind in strength at all. However, he could feel that, despite his growing mastery of Sage Art, he seemed to have reached some kind of bottleneck. Its enhancement of his body was no longer so noticeable.

Hashirama often came to guide Kazemori Masaki in his mastery of sage art. After hearing Masaki's explanation, he thought for a moment and said, "Your sage art should be able to improve further. This is only my guess, but it likely has something to do with how much of your body the sage markings cover. Before, your sage markings could reach your cheeks. Once you gradually learned to control natural energy, however, the markings appeared only on the left half of your body, because that was your limit. If they spread any farther, you would lose control of the natural energy and be consumed by it."

"Lord Hashirama, what do you think I should do to control more Natural Energy?"

"If you're asking for a method, you can only make the water source larger." Hashirama smiled faintly. "No matter how well you control natural energy, if your water source is only that small, you cannot carry it any farther."

First update. I'm off to rush the second one, though I don't know whether I can finish it within an hour.

(End of chapter)