A day later. "Hagane Burger" diner.
In a small room filled with the smell of fried meat and fresh bread, three of us were sitting at the table — me, Genma, and Gai. Outside, the evening bustle of Konoha was starting to quiet down, but inside it was still lively: quiet conversations of the customers, the clatter of dishes, the muffled sizzle of frying patties from the kitchen.
— So why haven't you shown up all this time? — Genma asked, frowning at me.
— We were looking for you, but you were nowhere.
I took a sip of lemonade, set the glass on the table, and calmly replied:
— I just needed a little rest… and I had things piling up.
— I understand, — Gai nodded. He looked around the interior and squinted. — I haven't been here before. Is this place new?
— Yes, — I nodded. — It opened just a couple of days ago. I decided to drag you two here, the food is unusual. "Gotta advertise it somehow."
I stood up, went to the counter, picked up the tray with the order — three burgers, fries, glasses of lemonade — and came back to the guys.
Gai carefully picked up the burger:
— Looks strange… but smells good.
— Just eat, — I smirked and took a bite of mine.
For a couple of seconds, there was silence. Then Gai's eyes widened.
— This… this is incredible! — he said with his mouth full.
Genma silently nodded, already finishing almost half his burger in one go.
— If they keep selling this, I'm coming here every day, — he muttered.
I smirked inwardly but didn't show it.
The conversation smoothly shifted to something else. Genma pushed his empty plate aside and said:
— Alright, to business. The Chunin Exams. They're in three weeks. What do you say?
— I'm in, — Gai said confidently, without hesitation.
Genma nodded:
— Me too. We need to keep growing, not stay in one place.
I thought for a moment, spinning the glass in my hands.
— I don't know… We just got back, and jumping into something serious right away…
Genma snorted:
— But this is a chance. And we might not get another like it anytime soon.
Gai looked at me hopefully:
— The three of us can do it. We're a team.
I sighed, feeling my inner doubts melt away a little.
— Alright. I'll apply. But we'll have to train seriously.
— No questions asked! — Gai smiled and patted me on the shoulder.
We kept eating, discussing plans. Gai and Genma praised the food a couple more times, wondering, "who came up with such strange but tasty buns with meat."
And I just silently looked out the window, hiding my smile. They don't need to know yet that this place is mine. It's still too early.
From that day, the training intensified — every morning I came to the training ground and didn't leave until sunset. Two weeks — that was exactly the amount of time I had to cram new skills into myself and not lose what I already had. I stood, looking at the tanto in my hand, and thought to myself: "I've built up a decent reserve; there's a chance to try it."
All that sounded noble, but in practice it meant dozens of tiny repetitions, wrist pain, and constant work on breathing.
I started with the basics: stance, grip, wrist control. The Wind technique demanded precision — the chakra had to lie on the blade like a thin film, not a roll on the hilt. When I first managed to synchronize the chakra delivery with the cut — hop — the blade sank into the trunk, and the tree standing a meter away split in two. A moment of exhilaration. Then the realization came that this was only the beginning.
The Wind element and the tanto really seemed made for each other: the gust helps the blade enter deeper, creating sharp kinetic energy. But this power has a price. A spectacularly severed target uses about a quarter of the chakra I spend on the "Great Gust." And in a fight against a living opponent who isn't standing still, that's clearly not enough.
So training stopped being only about power. I worked on speed — short bursts of chakra, a "pulsed" delivery instead of a long coating. I developed my legs: goose-step strides, explosive power to close distance to 3–5 meters and enter the zone of effective strike. I did hundreds of shadow-flash repetitions — not to "teleport," but to increase reaction speed…
Special attention went to aiming at moving targets. Targets on strings, suspended sacks, a partner riding a cart — all of it forced me to learn to catch the moment. If you missed — you had to get out instantly, not waste chakra "finishing" the strike...