Chapter 91: Beginning of the Fourth Year
It has now been Souta's fourth year at the Ninja Academy.
The desert sky of Sunagakure stretches wide, cloudless—empty, cruel, and scorching like a sheet of paper forgotten by the sun. A dry wind sweeps grains of sand into the air, dancing over the village in a soft rustle that stings the skin.
Souta stands on the roof of the Academy—a dull stone building that remains steadfast, as if defying the slow but steady passage of time. Here, behind the cracked and dust-covered training walls, Souta stands—taller, straighter, and more resolute than he was three years ago.
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In the first month of Souta's time at the Academy, Souta begins studying Chakra Reinforcement Ninjutsu in basic Jutsu. Each morning begins with a long meditation to unite the body and chakra, followed by exercises in controlling the flow of chakra within the body.
Cold sweat beaded on Souta's forehead as he channels chakra into hand seals, attempting to stabilize it within himself. It felt like trying to tame a whirlwind inside your chest.
Just like strengthening a Ninjutsu with Futon (Wind Release), with the proper application of Chakra, the Ninjutsu released becomes more powerful. You can't channel too much Chakra, or the Jutsu will explode or be destroyed prematurely.
Some students have gone too far. Small chakra explosions occurred, sending sand flying wildly. One of them even lost an eyebrow on his right eye. The instructor simply sighed, "Chakra isn't raw power, it's art." Souta noted those words in his mind.
The Futon no Jutsu he learned was Kamaitachi no Jutsu, arguably the most common Jutsu used by the ninja of Sunagakure.
The faces of the other students lit up with curiosity when the Jutsu was first introduced. It's a cutting wind technique, relying on precision and imagination. However, only a few are able to control it from the start. Souta, though slow, demonstrated consistency.
Users can choose to use a fan or rely solely on hand seals. With hand seals, wind can be shaped into sharp blades that attack enemies. Meanwhile, using a fan creates massive currents of wind that collide with each other, forming dangerous vacuum pockets around the area.
The instructor demonstrated this with a giant fan. The first gust struck the ground, creating a shallow crater. The second gust sent dust spiraling, and finally a vacuum vortex appeared, dragging the sand as if creating a vacuum. The students fell silent—their eyes wide with a mixture of awe and fear.
On its own, the gust of wind was powerful enough to deflect incoming attacks and knock the target down. If the target was swallowed by the wind, their body would be sliced by countless blades of wind.
Souta once saw a lizard get caught in a training gust, and within seconds, its skin was ripped apart by the sharp wind. It made Souta swallow hard—this attack was no joke.
Even in Naruto, Temari can control the shape of the wind, such as creating a tornado that lifts the target into the air. Temari can also vary the intensity of the wind's cutting power, such as making it cut through a samurai's armor without harming the samurai inside.
During break time, the students were busy discussing how to master such delicate wind control. While the others exchanged opinions, Souta remained silent, taking notes in his notebook—mentally, Souta imagined how to control the wind blades with such precision.
They were learning this technique away from the Academy grounds, in a special location reserved for Ninja Academy students who hadn't even graduated yet.
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Chapter 92: The Difficult Genjutsu Lesson
This was done for everyone's safety—because accidents could happen at any time. Unstable jutsu could spiral out of control, injure bystanders, or even damage Academy facilities and public areas.
The training ground was located on the western outskirts of the village, where the sand formed small mounds that constantly changed shape in the wind. There, the students could practice to their heart's content, under the watchful eye of the instructors, of course.
That's why they studied somewhere far from the Academy, on the outskirts of Sunagakure Village.
The silence of the training ground was broken only by the sound of small explosions and the excited shouts of the young students. The dust that rose up bore witness to their perseverance and failures.
Where Souta, Pakura, and Makima, along with the fourth-year Ninja Academy students, had been studying for over a month.
Makima trained with a burning passion, her every move swift and sharp. Pakura was calmer, but her every move was calculated. Souta stood among them—not as fast as Pakura, not as calm as Makima, but with an unwavering determination.
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Then, in the middle of the second month, Souta and the Ninja Academy students learned how to channel chakra into weapons.
This training felt more physical. Their hands were sore from constantly gripping kunai. They sliced wood, embedded weapons in rocks, and threw them at targets at high speed.
Yes, previously Souta had been taught how to channel chakra to enhance ninjutsu, but now Souta was learning how to channel chakra into weapons, such as kunai, shuriken, and string.
String looked harmless, but when charged with chakra, it could cut through stone like a knife. Souta once wrapped it around an old piece of metal and watched it slowly crack, leaving him gasping in amazement.
By channeling chakra, kunai became harder and sharper, as did shuriken and string.
As the chakra flowed, the weapon's color became slightly bluer, it vibrated subtly, and when it struck, it felt like the weapon was twice as heavy and sharp.
For over a month, Souta continued to study this.
At night, Souta would sit in his room, replaying the theory in his head. His hand still gripped the kunai, practicing channeling chakra with silence as his only companion.
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Then, in the fourth month, Souta began learning how to use basic Genjutsu and how to break free from it.
Every day, they were transported into a world of illusion. Sometimes they felt surrounded by snakes, sometimes trapped in a sea of fire, sometimes hearing endless laughter—all in their minds.
Previously, in their second year at the Ninja Academy, Souta and the other students had learned an introduction to Genjutsu and how to recognize it.
Now, that lesson was repeated, expanded, and tested in a more challenging way. They were taught to recognize small "cracks" in the illusionary world, such as sounds that were out of sync or shadows that lacked a light source.
Now Souta and his students are learning how to use basic and simple Genjutsu, and how to break free from them.
However, this is incredibly difficult. Learning how to use Genjutsu is far more difficult than learning how to break free from it. Therefore, even after more than a month, Souta and his students still can't grasp how to use basic Genjutsu.
Frustration builds. Many want to give up. But Souta persists, sometimes sitting in a corner, repeating hand movements that still produce no results.
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Now, in the middle of the fifth month, Souta has begun learning advanced Taijutsu techniques.
They gather in a hard sand arena with a circle of stones as a boundary. The training atmosphere is filled with dust and heavy breathing. Some students are already sitting exhausted, their knees trembling after the intense training of hand-to-hand combat.
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