After getting up the next morning, Itō Yuying quickly washed up, ate a little breakfast, and went out to familiarize himself with his surroundings. After yesterday's light rain, the air throughout Konoha was even fresher. The raindrops on the leaves were crystal clear, sparkling like translucent gems.
"Ah... the weather's so nice today." Itō Yuying strolled along.
Before he knew it, he had reached Konoha's Ninja Academy. It looked somewhat different from the original anime, perhaps because the academy had only just been established.
"Hehe, this place produced so many outstanding people, like Hatake Sakumo, the Sannin, Minato Namikaze, Kakashi, Shisui, Itachi, and the Konoha 12."
It really was a cradle of elite talent.
He wandered back and forth in front of the gate, seeing whether he could get inside for a look.
As he was looking around curiously, a voice rang out beside him. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"
Itō Yuying turned around and saw a square-faced ninja wearing a forehead protector, looking at him with a strange expression.
Putting on an adorably clueless look, Itō Yuying said, "I want to become a ninja to protect the village and the people most important to me, so I wanted to go inside and have a look."
Hehe, no matter who asks, that's the model answer, Itō Yuying thought to himself.
The square-faced ninja paused after hearing that, then burst out laughing. "How old are you now? Are you even four? Becoming an outstanding ninja takes a tremendous amount of effort and sweat, or even your life. Run home to your mother, little boy. You can't go in here yet. Come back when you're six." With that, he left.
Tch, what's so great about it? I don't even want to go, Itō Yuying said inwardly.
He turned and was just about to leave when he saw a figure in front of him. He looked up, his eyes widening. Th-this... isn't this the Second Hokage? What a coincidence! I ran into Konoha's top man just by stepping outside. My luck really is pretty good.
What era is it now? How did I forget about that? He looked back at Hokage Rock. There were only two statues. Could the Second have only just taken office? That means the First Shinobi World War hasn't started yet. Looks like I need to speed up my training. I don't want to become cannon fodder.
Then he heard Tobirama Senju ask, "What are you doing here?"
Itō Yuying stammered, "I... I... I want to be a ninja, and I wanted to go inside the school for a look."
He repeated what he had just told the square-faced ninja.
After listening, Tobirama Senju smiled. "All right, come along. I'll take you inside."
"Thank you, Lord Hokage," Itō Yuying said.
Tobirama Senju paused. "You know who I am?"
Speechless, Itō Yuying pointed toward Hokage Rock.
Tobirama Senju smiled awkwardly and headed inside, then had an extra of a ninja take him around the Ninja Academy.
"Wow!" Itō Yuying put on an exaggerated expression.
He saw students sparring on the training ground, with all sorts of kunai and shuriken flying wildly everywhere. Some were even mocking one another, filling the grounds with insults like "You weakling!" and "You piece of trash!" while laughing uproariously.
Even more outrageous, two of them were pinching each other's inner thighs and tickling each other's soles. The scene was on the verge of spiraling out of control.
Itō Yuying was stunned into speechlessness. The extra ninja smiled at him and said, "Look at these energetic children. They're all Konoha's future. Even the way they curse is so distinctive."
"Uh..." Itō Yuying gave an awkward smile.
Do I really want to come here for school? he wondered inwardly.
He entered a classroom and ran his hand over a smooth desktop, countless feelings welling up inside him. The extra ninja beside him was baffled, feeling that this child was rather strange, as though he had a lot on his mind.
He also went to look at the swing Naruto had sat on and swung a few times. Itō Yuying looked up at the azure sky, his mind wandering. After a while, he sighed, stood up, and headed toward the school gate.
The extra ninja watched in bewilderment.
As he walked out, Itō Yuying said to the extra ninja, "Thanks, mister. I'm really happy. I'll head home now. Bye-bye."
Seeing Itō Yuying wave goodbye to him, the extra ninja raised his hand and waved back.
On the way home, Itō Yuying thought about how he would come here to attend school in the future. Before he enrolled, he would take the opportunity to train hard in advance and strive to become a genius ninja.
That way, the higher-ups will see I'm someone worth cultivating, take me seriously, and assign me a better instructor. Besides, Tobirama Senju is still in charge now. It isn't like the later Konoha, with Danzo, the king of the shinobi world, watching hungrily from the shadows. I can boldly show off the full extent of my genius.
Thinking as he walked, Itō Yuying slowly raised his head, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. Even his steps grew considerably lighter.
Standing upstairs, Tobirama Senju watched Itō Yuying's small figure slowly leave the school gate. He gave a meaningful smile without saying anything, then turned to the extra ninja who had accompanied Itō Yuying. "Let's head back."
"Yes," the extra ninja replied.
As Itō Yuying walked home, he thought that he had to work hard. The First Shinobi World War was almost upon them.
"Go, go, go! Work hard, work hard, work hard!" Itō Yuying made strange movements as the people around him stared at him as though he were an idiot. Coming to his senses, he covered his face and fled.
"Hmph, hmph, go ahead and laugh! Before long, you'll be calling me Lord Yuying. Hmph... hmph."
Itō Yuying returned home, prepared some food, and hurried toward the forest. As he walked, he kept muttering, "An inch of time is worth an inch of gold, but an inch of gold can't buy an inch of time. Time is like the water in a river: it can only flow away, never back."
Then he quickly found an open space and began exercising. Running, push-ups, frog jumps-step by step, he began his long training. Sweat dripped down, drop by drop, soaking his clothes.
"208... 560... 1,000."
His exhausted body truly could not hold out any longer. After all, he was still little. If the system had not improved his body, he probably would not even have managed a hundred. He lay on the ground, gasping for breath. Sweat stung his eyes, and tears flowed down involuntarily.
"Keep going," Itō Yuying encouraged himself.
He slowly got up and began running forward, dragging a rock. Time passed little by little. As the sun sank in the west, he dragged his exhausted body home. The setting sun shone on him, casting a long shadow. At a casual glance, he looked like someone with a story to tell.
After returning home, Itō Yuying thought about the system's ki training method. To learn ki, he needed a strong body. Once his physical training reached a certain level, he could follow the training method to sense the energy from every cell in his body and stimulate that energy through training.
Then he could slowly draw out the ki latent within his body. Once he accumulated a certain amount of ki, he could release ki blasts. Releasing ki blasts also required understanding and applying ki.
Having ki did not necessarily mean he could release ki blasts; that depended on his aptitude and diligence. All of that would come later. Once his training reached a certain level, there would be a more detailed explanation of ki.
Reading this, Itō Yuying gave a faint, wry smile. "A heavy task and a long road ahead!"
He slapped his cheeks hard twice to encourage himself, then fell asleep on the tatami. He slept soundly indeed.
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