Grinding first thing in the morning?

Another morning of summer vacation arrived.

Amamiya Maki had been making something of a name for himself lately.

There probably wasn't a second person in all of Konoha who could chase after the Third with such shameless flattery.

His impromptu speech outside the Barbecue Restaurant about how "Grandpa Hokage and Uncle Akimichi both contribute to Konoha" had already spread throughout Commercial Street.

Apparently, the barbecue chef told everyone he met about the time the Third had taken the initiative to shake his hand.

Each retelling came with a few more details.

In the latest version, the Third in the chef's account had personally praised the Akimichi Clan's barbecue as a treasure found nowhere else in Konoha.

Amamiya Maki himself consistently declined to comment on all the buzz.

The morning sunlight had yet to cover the courtyard walls completely, but the light fragrance of miso soup was already drifting out of the kitchen.

Yakushi Nonō wasn't standing over the stove today.

She had risen several hours earlier than usual, prepared breakfast for everyone, then shut herself in the study.

Through the half-open door, her slender figure could clearly be seen bent over the desk.

A medical text as thick as a brick lay open before her, its cover stamped with large gold lettering:

"An Overview of the Human Meridian Network and Chakra Circulatory System."

Senju En had lent her this book earlier.

She had already read it from cover to cover once and was now working through a second, more intensive reading.

Slips of paper in various colors filled its pages, each with a specific purpose.

Yellow slips marked material she had fully mastered.

Green slips marked material she needed to find time to review and reinforce.

Red slips marked material she found utterly incomprehensible, saved for future questions to Teacher En.

The number of red slips steadily decreased by two each week.

Minato Namikaze was practicing hand seals hard in the courtyard.

His fingers moved several times faster than they had when he first enrolled.

Each seal flowed seamlessly into the next, as smooth as a falling leaf brushing the surface of water.

He had been training for quite some time. Fine beads of sweat covered his forehead, and the collar of his training clothes was soaked through, yet his breathing remained steady and deep.

Dragged out of bed by a declaration that "morning is the best time of day," Amamiya Maki was now curled up on the couch, making one last stand for the right to laze around.

He buried his entire face in a soft cushion, his muffled voice emerging through the fabric.

"What are you yelling for this early in the morning? Why do you keep training like crazy every single day? Don't you care about your body?"

Minato's hands never stopped forming seals.

The first time he had heard of the Body Flicker Technique, it had been through an offhand remark from Amamiya Maki.

Back then, all he could do was watch enviously as Amamiya Maki used it at the Training Ground.

Now, he could leave distinct afterimages as he moved.

Amamiya Maki had given him plenty of crucial pointers on the Clone Technique.

Without Amamiya Maki's casual tips between classes about adjusting chakra flow paths and wrist angles during hand seals, he would have needed months to work those tricks out himself.

Yet those pointers only deepened Minato's sense of urgency.

If even an orphan with no one to rely on could surpass him so thoroughly, how terrifying must the prodigies from well-established shinobi clans be?

That left him no choice but to train twice as hard.

"Do you really need to practice this long every day? Look at me. I hardly ever train hard, but I still master jutsu without breaking a sweat."

[Detected: Host has inflicted psychological pressure on "Minato Namikaze"

Pressure +18

Obtained: Body Flicker Technique fragments ×2]

Amamiya Maki sighed softly.

He had only meant to complain that there was no need to obsess over such a low-level jutsu; a little practice would do.

But once the words left his mouth, they had turned into a shameless humblebrag.

Still, considering how persistently Minato Namikaze supplied him with pressure points and jutsu fragments, he smiled and obliged.

After struggling on the couch for a moment, he got up, walked into the courtyard, and formed the Seal of Confrontation toward Minato.

Minato raised his hand in turn and returned the seal.

Within the cramped courtyard, both figures suddenly sprang into motion.

For shinobi, combat training didn't require a spacious venue.

Minato's speed was as exceptional as ever. Whether moving, anticipating, or counterattacking, he always seized the ideal moment to respond.

The improvements from their taijutsu sparring were plain to see.

His punches came from increasingly tricky angles, his evasive movements were precisely controlled, and his counters landed with impeccable timing.

Whenever Amamiya Maki witnessed Minato's terrifying reactions in combat, he couldn't help marveling.

He truly deserved his place as one of the original story's chosen heroes.

Any peer would look a little lacking beside Minato Namikaze.

Maki could only rely on the Spatial Perception he kept harvesting from Minato to predict his movements and barely hold his own.

It was a case of fighting fire with fire.

They exchanged dozens of blows, the gusts from their fists making the courtyard's clothesline sway gently.

Minato suddenly stepped back, trying to establish a safe distance.

As his left foot landed, it happened to hit a small patch of slippery moss left by Nonō's watering yesterday, shifting his balance ever so slightly.

Now!

"Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu!"

The earth churned, dragging Minato underground until only his blond head remained above the surface.

He blinked and looked up at Amamiya Maki standing over him.

"I lost again. Your timing when you exploit an opening is way too precise. I thought stepping back would fool your prediction."

"Before you retreated, your left foot instinctively shifted half an inch to the left. That preparatory movement gave away where you were going."

Amamiya Maki crouched down and pulled Minato out of the dirt.

"Next time you retreat, don't shift your foot first. Propel yourself directly with a burst of chakra. That'll cut out half the unnecessary preparation."

Minato nodded earnestly, committing the advice to memory.

Amamiya Maki brushed the dirt from his palms.

Even with his system cheat and a commanding lead in all kinds of jutsu, he still had to fight for ages before he could catch one tiny opening.

It wasn't hard to imagine that once Minato mastered Flying Thunder God, he probably wouldn't even be able to touch the hem of his clothes.

Never mind that desperate fight during the Nine-Tails' attack.

His beloved had the Nine-Tails extracted from her, his infant son was wrapped in explosive tags, and he had to face both Obito and the rampaging Nine-Tails at once.

Being able to turn the tables even in those circumstances proved that even the most crushing pressure had to steer clear of Minato Namikaze.

Breakfast was simple and light: rice balls with miso soup.

When Nonō emerged from the study, she was still clutching a sheet of draft paper covered in meridian diagrams.

She laid it beside her rice bowl and, between small sips of soup, dipped her chopsticks into the broth to sketch in the course of an auxiliary meridian she had just figured out.

Amamiya Maki glanced at the paper. Its densely interwoven lines already resembled a fine spiderweb.

"We're almost out of rabbits for experiments. We need to replenish our stock."

Nonō's chopsticks abruptly stopped, and she pressed her lips together.

She had always followed the principle of sustainable use when raising experimental rabbits.

After each rabbit's dissection lesson, every part of its hide and flesh was put to use, without wasting a single bit of protein.

Nonō wore gloves throughout her dissections and worked cleanly and efficiently.

Every precise cut followed the gaps between the fascia, keeping blood loss to a minimum.

After each experiment, she washed and disinfected the instruments before sorting them away, then portioned the rabbit meat by cut and refrigerated it.

Dinner that evening was usually braised rabbit or rabbit soup, with roasted rabbit legs on occasion.

Last month, Minato had eaten rabbit for an entire month straight and gained three jin. His abs had disappeared beneath a layer of flab, prompting him to complain that he needed to lose weight.

He never stopped complaining, but whenever Nonō served roasted rabbit legs, he was always the first to reach for one.

[Detected: Host has inflicted psychological pressure on "Yakushi Nonō"

Pressure +3

Obtained: Chakra Control fragment ×1]

Amamiya Maki calmly took a bite of his rice ball.

He had merely pointed out the objective fact that their experimental supplies were running low. If even that generated pressure points, was his everyday breathing constantly burdening Nonō too?

A knock suddenly came at the door.

"Maki! I came to hang out with you guys!"

Senju Nawaki stood outside holding three skewers of three-color dango, his bright, innocent smile like a little sun without a care in the world.

Today, he wore a dark blue short-sleeved shirt with the Senju Clan's distinctive crest pinned to its collar-two overlapping leaves, their simple, clean lines gleaming faintly in the morning light.

Amamiya Maki accepted the sweets and thanked him, while Nonō turned to pour him a cup of tea.

Nawaki gulped down half the cup, wiped his mouth, and got straight to the point.

Tsunade happened to have some free time lately. She had just finished developing a jutsu and was in a fairly good mood.

She could spare some time to meet them, but had warned him beforehand that she was only willing to guide talented youngsters. Those with mediocre aptitude needn't waste her time.

Amamiya Maki thanked Nawaki and casually mentioned yesterday's barbecue gathering.

"You guys really get along well." Nawaki chuckled, scratching the back of his head, a barely detectable trace of envy in his voice.

Amamiya Maki gently set his chopsticks on the rim of his bowl.

"When it comes down to it, I'm just a common-born orphan. I'm not even qualified to enter the Senju Clan's residential grounds."

"Nothing I can do about it. A bottom-rung Konoha villager like me and a proper Senju descendant like you were never part of the same crowd."

The brilliant smile on Nawaki's face froze instantly.

Amamiya Maki had indeed forgotten to invite Nawaki himself, but the situation wasn't his fault.

The Senju Clan's members had merely dispersed; the clan hadn't vanished altogether.

Mito Uzumaki was still alive and shared a residence with Tsunade.

If he had rashly shown up to visit Nawaki, the guards would probably have stopped him before he even crossed the gate.

The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, the First Hokage's grandson, and the Land of Fire's renowned Princess Tsunade lived there. Each held a special status, and security was as tight as it could be.

He hadn't meant his words as a sarcastic jab. He was merely stating the facts.

If he forced his way into the Senju residence without good reason, he would only end up with several kunai buried in him.

In the end, he would be classified as a suspicious intruder, and his death ruled a suicide.

The moment he spoke, he realized he had been too harsh and felt a little guilty.

But Nawaki wasn't going to seek someone out specifically to verify such an awkward reality.

[Detected: Host has inflicted psychological pressure on "Senju Nawaki"

Pressure +15

Obtained: Vitality fragments ×3]

Nawaki coughed lightly and hastily changed the subject, turning toward Nonō.

Aunt En had been deeply impressed by Nonō and had mentioned her to Tsunade before, but Tsunade had been too busy to meet her then.

Today, Nawaki had brought her up again, successfully jogging Tsunade's memory.

Aunt En would take the two of them to Konoha Hospital to visit Tsunade.

They only needed to wait for En to tell them the exact time.

Nonō's hand froze in midair with the teapot, and her eyes gradually lit up.

She turned toward Amamiya Maki, unable to suppress her smile.

"Maki, did you hear? Lady Tsunade is willing to see me-"

"I heard." Amamiya Maki leaned against the couch's armrest and spoke calmly.

"En has personally acknowledged your medical talent. It's only natural that Tsunade would agree to meet you."

Nonō nodded vigorously, set down the teapot, and hurried back to the study.

Presumably, she was eager to resume studying "An Overview of the Human Meridian Network and Chakra Circulatory System."

Her steps were much lighter than usual, the tips of her blond hair bouncing gently against her shoulders.

Nawaki sat a little longer, finished his remaining half-skewer of dango, then rose to say goodbye.

He still had to return to Orochimaru and help organize a mountain of experimental notes.

Orochimaru had recently been developing a new chakra-conducting material, and his experimental notes filled half the laboratory. If he didn't get them organized soon, the Third Hokage would summon him for a warning.

Leaning against the couch's armrest, Amamiya Maki quietly took stock.

At last, his connection to Tsunade had been properly established.

Nonō finally had a chance to receive a complete, orthodox education in medical ninjutsu.

He had paved most of the road ahead for this girl.

The Orphanage prodigy who had nearly been recruited into Root had gradually become a disciple Senju En valued highly. Now, she was a promising newcomer Tsunade had specifically agreed to meet.

On this path, Nonō had built her own foundation through talent and hard work.

He had merely stood beside her at every crucial fork in the road, clearing away hidden obstacles with a few brief words.

As for himself...

If he possessed exceptional medical talent, he would certainly have approached Tsunade before Nonō did.

All he wanted was to grow stronger and keep improving.

But at this stage, investing all his points in medical ninjutsu was far from the best choice.

The Second Shinobi World War could break out at any moment. Medical shinobi were certainly valuable, but only if they could protect themselves and survive.

Besides, his Chakra Control was only D-rank right now. Even if Tsunade taught him personally, he couldn't keep up with the intensive training. She would only scold him for wasting her time, then send him flying into a wall with a Monster Strength punch.

As for how many fragments, pieces of intelligence, and secret techniques he could obtain from Tsunade, he would just have to improvise when the time came.