"Sensei, we want gifts too!"
Haruto and Kaede had been watching the whole exchange. The moment they saw Kenji hand Aoi that medical ninjutsu scroll, both of them rushed over.
"Alright," Kenji said, holding up one hand to forestall further begging. "Once you two finish the tree climbing exercise, I'll teach each of you a jutsu as a reward."
He turned to Aoi. "You too. I'll teach you something separate from the medical techniques."
"Yes! Thank you, sensei!"
All three of them lit up instantly. Kenji couldn't help but smile at their enthusiasm. There was something satisfying about watching students grow and improve under his guidance.
Not that teaching them jutsu hadn't already been part of his plan. All three were civilian-born with no clan backing. Beyond the Academy basics of Clone, Substitution, and Transformation techniques, plus rudimentary kunai throwing, they had zero combat capability. They were blank slates, just like Sakura had been at the start of the series.
He had noticed early on that this entire batch of early graduates consisted entirely of civilian kids. Not a single clan heir among them. That made sense when you thought about it. No clan would willingly send their own children to serve as cannon fodder.
The medical ninjutsu scroll he'd given Aoi was something he'd transcribed a few days ago from one of his mother's old scrolls. He'd been planning to position her as the team's medical specialist from the start, similar to how Sakura functioned in Team 7.
Tsunade's proposed medical ninja reforms had been rejected by Hiruzen, but not because the idea was bad. The war just made implementation impossible right now. In a few years, though, that same reform would be brought up again and adopted widely, drastically reducing ninja casualty rates.
So he had prepared the scroll in advance. He just hadn't expected Aoi's natural talent for chakra control to be quite this exceptional. What a pleasant surprise.
---
Nearly half a year passed.
The routine at Supply Point 73 continued with minimal disruption. Daily patrols, occasional supply deliveries, and long stretches of waiting. The weather never improved. Rain fell constantly, turning the ground to mud and making every surface slick.
During those three months, Kenji kept his students busy.
Haruto and Kaede both mastered tree climbing within the first week, which only reinforced how much of a natural Aoi was at chakra control. She'd been walking up trees like it was nothing while the boys were still eating dirt.
Once they'd all completed the basic exercise, he moved on to jutsu instruction as promised.
First step was testing their elemental affinities. He pulled out chakra paper, and had each student channel their energy through it.
Haruto's paper crumbled to dust. Earth nature.
Kaede's paper split cleanly in half. Wind nature.
Aoi's also crumbled. Earth nature, same as Haruto.
"Alright, here's what we're doing," Kenji said once the results were clear. "I'm teaching each of you one jutsu that matches your elemental affinity. These are combat techniques you can use in a fight."
He started with Haruto. "You've got earth nature, so you're learning Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears. Watch carefully."
Kenji demonstrated the hand seals, then channeled chakra into the ground. A dozen stone spikes erupted from the soil in front of him, sharp enough to impale anyone standing in the wrong spot.
"The principle is simple. You force earth chakra underground and shape it into spears that shoot up from below your target. Timing and placement are everything. If you're too slow, they'll dodge. If you miss the location, you waste chakra."
Haruto spent the next several months practicing until he could reliably produce three or four spikes at once. Not as many as Kenji could manage, but enough to be useful.
Next was Kaede. "Wind nature. You're learning Wind Release: Great Breakthrough."
He demonstrated the technique, forming the hand seals and then exhaling a powerful gust that bent trees and scattered leaves in a wide arc.
"Offensive application is obvious, you blast enemies with concentrated wind pressure. But you can also use it defensively to disperse incoming projectiles or blow away poison gas. Versatility is the strength here."
Kaede took to it surprisingly well. His first few attempts produced weak puffs of air, but by the end of the fourth month he was generating gusts strong enough to knock over training posts.
Finally, Aoi. "You're earth nature too, but you're training as a medical specialist. That means your priority isn't offense, it's staying alive long enough to treat injuries. So you're learning Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall."
He showed her the seals, then slammed his palm to the ground. A solid wall of packed earth rose up in front of him.
"This is pure defense. You can raise one wall or multiple walls depending on how much chakra you pour in. Position them between yourself and the enemy, and you've bought yourself time to work."
Aoi practiced obsessively. By the end of the second month, she could raise a stable wall almost as tall as Kenji's, and she was working on forming two at once.
The Earth Flow Spears scroll Kenji had traded his battlefield merit points for back at the main camp. The Great Breakthrough technique he'd copied from his family's archives before deploying. And Earth-Style Wall was the very first earth jutsu he'd learned himself, so teaching it came naturally.
While his students trained, he continued his own development.
His spiritual energy kept growing. But not as dramatically as the initial surge after transmigration. The increase in mental power translated directly to larger chakra reserves. He was approaching jonin-level capacity now, though his physical energy was starting to become a limiting factor.
More interestingly, his enhanced spiritual power made learning jutsu easier, and not just that. Over time, he realized it wasn't only jutsu he was mastering faster: his body and mind were adapting to new techniques, tools, movements, and situations faster than the original Kenji ever could. He could watch a technique a few times, grasp the chakra flow, and replicate it with some practice. Of course, it wasn't like cheating with a Sharingan; merely understanding the flow wasn't enough. He still had to comprehend the underlying principles of the technique, adjust it to his own chakra, and internalize its nuances before he could truly perform it.
When teaching his students, he could identify exactly where their execution was failing and correct it immediately. As a result, all three of them had progressed way faster than normal genin. They weren't masters of their respective jutsu yet, but they could use them reliably in combat situations.
He had planned to move on to water walking training after they'd mastered their elemental techniques. Then news from the front lines changed everything.
Konoha forces had clashed with Iwa again, with heavy casualties on both sides. The border territories were starting to overlap as each village pushed for strategic positioning. Intelligence reports indicated a sharp increase in enemy raids targeting supply lines.
Supply Point 73 was directly in the potential strike zone.
He immediately suspended training and put the team on high alert. No more chakra-intensive exercises. Everyone needed to conserve energy in case combat broke out.
Four days after the alert went out, it happened.
"Wait," Kenji said suddenly, holding up one hand to stop the patrol. "Something's wrong."
His sensory technique had picked up three unfamiliar chakra signatures moving through the rain. They were heading directly toward the supply point. They knew exactly where they were going.
"Follow me quietly."
He led his students off the patrol route and into the dense forest surrounding the supply point. They moved quickly but carefully, avoiding branches that might snap and puddles that would splash.
When they reached a good position with clear sightlines to the supply point entrance, he stopped.
"Set up the trap kit. We've got maybe two minutes before they arrive."
His students moved without questioning. They'd practiced this scenario during training. Haruto and Kaede strung wire between trees at ankle height, attaching explosive tags and kunai launchers to the triggers. Aoi positioned herself behind a thick tree trunk with a clear throwing angle.
Kenji created a shadow clone and sent it to hide in a different position. Then he concealed himself behind a moss-covered boulder.
"Three enemies incoming," he said quietly. "All chunin-level based on their chakra signatures."
He could hear his students' breathing change.
"Listen carefully. The three of you will work together to pin down one enemy. Don't try to kill him, just keep him busy. Just throw projectiles, use your jutsu to disrupt his movement, and stay mobile. I'll eliminate the other two as quickly as possible, then help you finish the third. Understand?"
"Yes, sensei," they whispered back.
"If things go wrong and you get a chance to run, take it. Don't be heroes. Survival is more important than pride."
They nodded, though he doubted they'd actually flee if it came to that. Kids never thought they were going to die.
The enemy ninjas appeared through the rain less than a minute later.
Three men, all wearing Iwa headbands and standard combat gear. They moved in a loose formation. Probably assumed the supply point was lightly defended or unaware of their approach.
The lead Iwa ninja stepped directly into the trap zone. Wire pulled taut around his ankle. The explosive tag detonated with a sharp crack, and a dozen kunai launched from concealed positions in the trees.
"Trap! Scatter!"
All three Iwa ninjas reacted instantly, leaping in different directions to avoid the projectiles. The rearmost ninja separated from his teammates, landing on a branch about twenty feet from where Kenji's shadow clone was hiding.
"Mind Body Switch Technique!"
The shadow clone formed the hand seals and released the jutsu. Kenji's consciousness slammed into the Iwa ninja's mind, seizing control of his body for a critical half-second.
The clone dispelled immediately after casting, revealing its position in a puff of white smoke.
But that half-second was all that mattered.
The Iwa ninja's body locked up mid-motion. He couldn't dodge, or defend. He could only watch as three kunai pierced his chest with meaty thunks.
Blood sprayed across the tree bark. The ninja's eyes went wide with shock and pain. He clawed weakly at the kunai embedded in his torso, then his strength failed and he slumped forward, held upright only by the blades pinning him to the trunk.
Dead before his brain fully processed what had happened.
"Shit! Shadow clone! Where's the real one?!"
The other two Iwa ninjas spun around, scanning the forest for threats.