Many of them breathed a sigh of relief when they heard that weapons were forbidden. Although the kunai they usually trained with were unsharpened and not lethal, getting hit with one still hurt.
Yechen happened to need practical combat experience to hone his skills, and sparring was a good option.
"Ready. Form the Seal of Confrontation," Sugiki Keitai called out again, signaling the official start of their match.
Yechen and Saito Mu raised their right hands at the same time and formed the Seal of Confrontation.
Suddenly, Saito Mu snapped his head up, pushed off the ground, and lunged forward, raising his right fist to strike straight at Yechen's face.
Yechen was ready for the blow. With his constitution now at 6 points, his reflexes far surpassed those of his peers. Even among Genin, he would rank somewhere in the middle.
That was because many ninja devoted most of their energy to training ninjutsu-and thus their mental power-once they became Genin. Only after becoming Chunin or Jonin did they gradually begin focusing on physical training.
Although their constitutions were far from weak, Yechen had already pulled ahead.
Even so, Yechen chose to keep a low profile, dodging Saito Mu's attack with a show of flustered panic.
Seeing Yechen dodge, Saito Mu instinctively threw another punch, this time aimed at the side of his face.
Thud!
Yechen raised both arms to block. He had no intention of taking a punch to the face.
Keeping a low profile was one thing, but appearances mattered too. How could someone as handsome as me let his face get beaten into a swollen mess?
The instant they passed each other, Saito Mu planted his right hand on the ground. Bracing through his lower body, he sharply twisted at the waist and whipped a sideways flipping kick toward Yechen.
Fuck, how could a little brat fight this dirty?
Feeling a gust of wind rush toward his groin, Yechen inwardly cursed up a storm. The kid already knew to aim below the belt at this age-what would he be like when he grew up?
Of course, he also understood that this was how ninja fought. On the battlefield, it was kill or be killed. Every attack had to target an enemy's vital points; otherwise, he would be the one meeting a nasty end.
Right now, they were enemies, not classmates. Once the fight began, one of them was bound to go down.
And this was only the adjustment stage. Once Sugiki Keitai allowed them to use weapons, the danger would grow even greater. There might even be casualties.
This was what it meant to be a ninja. This was combat!
If Yechen wanted to survive in this chaotic era, he first had to adapt. Otherwise, no matter how powerful he became, he would end up a fish on someone else's chopping block.
With that thought, Yechen pushed everything else aside and threw himself wholeheartedly into the fight.
Although he had yet to awaken his Sharingan, his mental power had reached 10 points. Whether it was his opponent's attacks or the key points he needed to defend, he could see through them all and respond calmly.
To an onlooker, Yechen might have seemed to be taking a one-sided beating, but only he knew that he was gradually getting used to his current abilities.
Time ticked by, and the sparring continued across the training ground. Every so often, someone cried out in pain after getting injured.
Yet no matter how badly they were hurt or how brutally they were beaten, Sugiki Keitai showed no intention of telling them to stop.
During this time, Yechen was hit several times too. Some blows he deliberately accepted while keeping them away from his vital points; others he genuinely could not dodge. After all, he had too little combat experience and could not use his true strength for fear of attracting unwanted attention. He resigned himself to taking a few hits.
And so, what followed was sheer misery!
He had no idea whether his predecessor had some grudge with Saito Mu, but every attack went straight for a vital point. If Yechen's physical condition had not been superior to his opponent's, he would have had to crawl home that day.
Even so, by the time school ended, Yechen had bruises all over his body.
Saito Mu gave him a disdainful look, as though saying that the Uchiha were nothing special-he had beaten one all the same.
Yechen ignored him and slowly left the school with a hand supporting his waist. The beating had not been for nothing. At the very least, his practical combat skills had improved considerably that day.
Night fell.
Yechen once again exhausted his energy, then forced himself to stay alert and cultivate the Primordial Chaos Devouring Heaven Technique. By repeating this process, he raised his Clone Technique to level 4.
At level 4, the Clone Technique could create four clones at once. Moreover, as its level increased, Yechen needed only a single hand seal and a thought to cast it.
He was delighted, but also exhausted in both body and mind. The day's combat class had truly worn him out. He barely managed to drag himself off for a cold shower before collapsing into bed and falling asleep.
The next morning.
Yechen went to school just as he had the day before, only half listening to the morning lessons.
Afternoon came, and they returned to the same training ground.
He had thought they would be sparring again, but instead, Sugiki Keitai had them practice throwing shuriken and kunai.
Like combat training, both skills were essential for Genin. Add the Three Basic Techniques, and another piece of battlefield cannon fodder was ready.
As for other ninjutsu, forget it!
There was no point dreaming about them. Even if they were taught, the students would not be able to learn them.
Take Uchiha Yechen, for example. His aptitude was indeed poor, placing him at the very bottom within a major clan, but among civilian ninja, he was roughly on par with the rest.
If the current Yechen had not transmigrated into this body, he would have had only that tiny amount of chakra. Using the Three Basic Techniques a few times would probably have drained it all.
If even he was like that, those civilian ninja could hardly fare much better.
Given that, the school did not waste time teaching them other ninjutsu.
Promising students from major clans had their own family legacies to draw on. Those with potential but no background would be assigned to capable Jonin upon graduation and receive instruction from them.
Over time, this had become standard practice. The school did not need to teach them many skills; it only needed to get them to graduation.
Someone like Yechen, who had the backing of a major clan but no potential, could hardly expect to be assigned a good teacher after graduating. He would probably end up as cannon fodder, which was also why he was so desperate to improve his strength.
Thunk!
A kunai struck the bull's-eye six meters away, and Yechen let out a long breath.
Members of the Uchiha Clan generally had greater mental power than others, and kunai had always been one of their strengths.
His predecessor had not been especially outstanding at this skill, but he had not been bad either. In the hands of the transmigrated Yechen, however, the results could only be described as disastrous.
Nine throws out of ten missed the target entirely. Even the worst students did not perform like him. He looked like a complete beginner.
Fortunately, Yechen's mental power had increased considerably. After continuous practice, he finally stopped missing the target, and this time, he even hit the bull's-eye.
If he still could not keep up, Yechen had no idea what he would do. Sugiki Keitai had been watching him closely from the start. If this continued, he would struggle to explain himself-his performance was far too different from usual.
Through repeated practice, Yechen finally got a feel for it and began hitting the bull's-eye every time. Based on his results, Sugiki Keitai moved the target back to eight meters and had him continue practicing.
Stationary targets were only routine practice. After all, no one on the battlefield would stand still and let him throw weapons at them.
So, besides stationary targets, they also had to practice with moving targets and targets at different angles.