Konoha Year 26
The first day of July
At dawn, Konoha, nestled in the forest, was surrounded by thick fog, like a fairyland from a fairy tale!
Six o'clock!
After a simple warm-up, the boy in his training clothes walked over to the Iron Training Post.
"Haah-Hah!"
With a low shout, Uka Senju slammed a fist into the iron man.
Feeling the changes in his hand, his body began to move into the next actions.
"Bang, bang, bang-!"
The sounds of striking iron rang out in a continuous burst!
Fists, palms, upper and lower arms, chest and back, elbows, knees, and legs-all had corresponding techniques in the Senju Clan's Taijutsu.
With the clan's secret medicine and training from a young age, the Senju, skilled in close combat, could be called human weapons!
This was also what gave the Senju the confidence to contend with the Uchiha. They had no strange eyes or flashy Dōjutsu; relying on their strong bodies, as long as they did not slack off, every Senju had a high baseline of strength.
Half an hour later, a knee strike sent the Iron Training Post flying.
Uka Senju slowly lowered his hands and picked up his sword. After casting Wood Release: Battle Armor Technique on himself,
he walked over to an open space nearby and began his first coordination training.
Senju Style Swordsmanship consisted of twenty-four moves.
They fell into six categories: thrusting, slashing, thrusting upward, cutting, chopping, and sweeping. Each category had four variations for different situations.
Whenever Uka performed a move, Wooden Spikes emerged from the corresponding spots on his armor to assist him.
A downward slash, an upward thrust, a horizontal slash, to the left... Damn it!
Looking at the long Wooden Spike protruding from his lower left abdomen, Uka Senju cursed as he stopped, then channeled Chakra to retract it.
There was a huge difference between practicing for real and practicing at school. He had thought he could already use it, but just now, when he wasn't paying attention, the Wooden Spike that should have emerged from his right side had come out on the left!
"Your initial idea was good, but your method of practicing is wrong!" Senju Chiharu said to the boy in the clearing, who had nearly hurt himself.
She had watched for a while, and already had some initial ideas about the Senju + Shikotsumyaku that Uka had described earlier.
In her view, Uka was practicing in the wrong direction!
Looking at the girl in training clothes on the wooden veranda, Uka Senju immediately asked for advice. "Sister Chiharu, is there a way to fix this? I just can't control them properly right now!"
Chiharu nodded, lightly pushed off with her feet, and leaped into the clearing. Looking at the boy wearing Wood Armor, she said, "Your original intention was to make your Taijutsu stronger! So you should keep what the Senju already have, and just add something else, instead of rashly trying to combine them. That can easily leave you with something that's neither one thing nor the other!"
"The core of Battle Armor Technique is your control over Wood Release! So first practice control: controlling the Wooden Spikes as they come out and retract, and controlling their length. Once you can master that, practice coordinating them with Taijutsu! For example, add Wooden Spikes to knee strikes and elbow strikes. Only after that should you coordinate them with swordsmanship!"
"Remember, it's all about coordination, not fusion. You have to distinguish which is primary and which is secondary."
Listening to her explanation, Uka Senju's pupils widened slightly.
That was right. He had been a little obsessed with it before!
Distinguish which is primary and which is secondary!
His original intention was to make his Taijutsu stronger, and he had already managed to coordinate them!
Senju Taijutsu was already strong, and he wasn't a civilian either. Why force them together at this stage?
Seeing that Uka had taken her words to heart, Chiharu continued, "Actually, if you're practicing this, you might as well develop Ninjutsu."
"But practicing it will also help with control, so it's not a waste of time. Of course, once you can control it at will, that's when your Taijutsu will undergo a true transformation!"
Then, as if she had thought of something amusing, she changed her tone and teased him. "Control it at will, hmm~ Eight arms sprouting from your back! Wham~ wham~ wham, beating people up?"
Uka, who had been carefully considering Chiharu's advice, was startled by her sudden change in demeanor!
Listening to the bell-like laughter beside him, he looked at the girl who was happily laughing.
In his memories, he had never seen this girl act like this!
Unsure whether something was wrong with her, he instinctively took two steps back.
Seeing Uka's reaction, the smile on Chiharu's face stiffened noticeably.
She shot the boy an annoyed look, gave a soft snort, and turned to leave. "Hmph!"
On the second floor of the wooden house, by the window, she had been watching Uka train, but hadn't expected to see that scene.
Senju Toka shook her head helplessly, feeling relieved that she was there, and that the silly boy had awakened Wood Release!
Otherwise... spreading the family line? Getting married?
Dream on!
She opened the window and leaned out. Looking at the fool still standing there in a daze, Senju Toka shouted in annoyance, "Why aren't you training? What are you doing?"
"Ah... Aunt, I'll keep going right now!" Uka quickly replied, coming back to his senses.
He wasn't really nine years old, so of course he knew he had caused trouble again.
He had stepped back just now on instinct. It hadn't been intentional.
Still, he was curious about Sister Chiharu's behavior... Was she not going to be his big sister anymore?
He scratched his head. There was no way he could ask that. Training, training!
He walked over to the wooden target and controlled the Wooden Spikes on his armor to attack.
Eight o'clock!
"Lady Toka, breakfast is ready!" a girl's voice called from the dining room on the first floor.
In the study, because of what had happened yesterday, she had taken over the post in haste!
She had started going through all kinds of clan affairs first thing in the morning.
Hearing the call, Senju Toka stopped writing, rubbed her brow, and replied, "All right, I'll be right there!"
Though she would only serve as acting leader for ten years, judging by the current situation, these ten years were crucial for the Senju.
So she needed to quickly understand the clan's situation in every area, then put her own people in the appropriate positions.
Otherwise, if there were command problems at a critical moment, it would be awkward!
From these records, the Senju's financial situation was actually very good!
They even had a large surplus every year, unlike in previous years, when they could only barely stay afloat.
But this had come at the cost of many Senju Ninja dying, not because the Senju had managed their affairs well.
Setting aside the First Shinobi World War, the Senju had lost nearly two hundred Ninja from Year 20 to the present.
Two hundred Ninja in six years. The Intelligence Division really deserved to die!
Thinking of this, she could understand why the Second Elder had imposed such a severe sentence yesterday.
If she were passing judgment now, even five years would be the lightest sentence!
Entering the dining room, she saw Chiharu kneeling beside the table.
Toka couldn't help thinking of what had happened earlier and asked with a hint of teasing, "Why don't you go call Uka in to eat?"
"No need, Aunt. I'm here!" Uka Senju said quickly as he pushed the door open.
When he heard Chiharu call her Aunt, he had slowly stopped what he was doing.
After offending the cook this morning, could he really expect her to call him?
Better to be proactive!
Walking to the table and looking at the breakfast, Uka Senju couldn't help shaking his head inwardly.
As expected, the consequence of offending the cook was that, apart from the meat porridge she had gotten up early to prepare,
everything else was classic Japanese food.
Fried fish, pickles, eggs, and various boiled vegetables.
Bland!
So bland it was frightening!
Those were the only words he had for the food.
With the intensity of a Ninja's training, he really didn't know how everyone else could stand eating this every day.
Looking at her frowning nephew and the breakfast on the table, Senju Toka thought to herself, "That fool's the reason I got dragged into this too."
Years of Chinese-style breakfasts had spoiled her palate. Now she had to eat this?
She picked up her bowl of porridge and, aside from the fried fish and eggs, didn't touch a single one of the boiled vegetables!
After quickly finishing her meal, Senju Toka thought of what had happened the previous night and reminded her nephew, who had only drunk porridge, "Come to the study after you finish eating. There are some things I need to discuss with you!"
"Okay!" Uka answered, then drank his porridge faster.
He finished it in a few gulps and smiled apologetically at the cook across from him.
Uka stood up and headed toward the study.
He couldn't afford to be unhappy about it, or it would be the same at lunch, and that would be miserable!
After Uka left, Senju Chiharu quickly spat out the boiled vegetables in her mouth.
She pursed her lips, a little unhappy. It seemed that she and Lady Toka could barely stomach this breakfast either!
From now on, she would have to add something extra for him!
Otherwise, they would have to suffer too.