Chapter 10: Physical Training
That day, Kaito was again among the last to arrive in the classroom.
He walked in just a few minutes before eight in the morning.
He smiled as he looked at everyone already seated, thinking to himself, Look at you kids, arriving so early just to grab front-row seats.
He walked over and sat alone on a bench in the back row, then took a small stone from his pocket and placed it on the desk.
Genki arrived promptly at eight o'clock and began the day's lesson.
The first hour was clearly a lecture-style class.
He spoke about the history of the village, the Will of Fire, the pride a Konoha shinobi should embody, and similar topics.
Kaito mentally classified such lessons as "indoctrination classes."
He observed his classmates around the room.
The two Nara clan children looked half-asleep already.
The Akimichi clan members were probably thinking about their next meal.
The three Inuzuka clan students kept glancing at their ninja dogs.
One of the two Uchiha students wore an inexplicably smug expression.
And the two Kurama clan girls were quietly chatting about something together.
Everyone else appeared to be listening attentively.
The smug-looking student was Uchiha Rai.
It seemed he wanted to follow in Itachi's footsteps, as he'd been boasting that last year's top student was from the Uchiha Clan and had graduated at only seven years old.
Apparently, both Uchiha students in this class could already perform the Fire Ball Jutsu.
Kaito finally stopped observing the room.
While Genki was writing on the blackboard with his back turned, Kaito held the stone in his left hand beneath the desk and began channeling Earth Release chakra into it.
As he guided his chakra, his eyes remained fixed on Genki.
He watched carefully to see if the instructor would notice and react.
However, Genki's expression showed no obvious change whatsoever.
Kaito thought, Good. Either he's not a natural Sensor-type, or he's choosing to ignore me for some reason—though that's highly unlikely. Either way, both scenarios work in my favor.
The lecture lasted a full hour.
Although Kaito paid some attention to the content, most of his focus remained on practicing Earth Release chakra manipulation.
After the "indoctrination class" ended, Genki began explaining chakra theory to everyone in detail.
Then he started teaching how to mold chakra using hand seals.
Kaito immediately stopped his Earth Release training and began listening attentively.
However, the children from the various ninja clans looked distracted and bored.
They'd already learned hand seals before even entering the Academy.
During that class, Genki taught everyone three basic hand seals and had them practice the formations repeatedly.
He monitored everyone's technique closely, offering corrections.
After the lesson, he announced that over the next three days, he would teach them the remaining nine hand seals.
Afterward, they broke for lunch, followed by another history lesson in the afternoon.
Senju Teru and Hyuga Hana answered many questions posed by Genki during this class, clearly well-educated in village history.
Kaito, meanwhile, pretended to listen intently while secretly continuing his chakra training beneath his desk.
The first week passed in a similar pattern.
Genki taught all 12 fundamental hand seals, as well as the specific seals required for the Clone Jutsu.
He emphasized the critical importance of learning hand seals correctly—advice that matched what Kaito had read in the Library scrolls—and urged everyone to practice diligently at home.
Additionally, Genki introduced the Leaf Concentration Exercise to help develop chakra control.
During regular lectures, Kaito continuously practiced molding Earth Release chakra.
But when he felt particularly bored, he would switch to using Wind Release chakra to split the stones instead of using Earth Release to crush them.
In the second week, Genki began shuriken throwing lessons.
He first assessed everyone's skill level through a class-wide competition.
He also called upon several other Academy instructors to assist with supervising the activity.
Most of the clan children performed quite well.
The highest scores came from Uchiha Rai and Senju Teru, who tied for first place.
The other Uchiha student, the Aburame, and Shimura Shin also ranked in the top five.
Kaito was genuinely surprised by Shimura Shin's serious attitude and precise technique.
He thought, Danzo must have already provided intensive training programs for members of his clan, even the children.
Although Kaito had previously practiced with his homemade wooden shuriken, he only reached a barely acceptable level.
For beginners, the difference in weight and balance between his crude practice tools and real shuriken significantly reduced the value of that early training.
Out of six throws, he only hit the target board once.
And that single hit landed near the edge, nowhere close to the center.
He ranked 21st out of 30 in the competition.
Afterward, Genki met with each student individually to offer personalized advice.
When Kaito's turn came, Genki said, "You still need to put significant effort into this area. First, let's work on your throwing form—once your mechanics are correct, you'll improve rapidly."
Kaito nodded and allowed Genki to physically adjust his posture.
Then he carefully imitated the way Genki demonstrated throwing a shuriken. Genki made several more corrections to his stance and release.
Only after he was satisfied with Kaito's throwing motion did Genki move on to help the next student.
Kaito took this training extremely seriously and practiced extensively.
After that day, a significant portion of his after-school time became dedicated to shuriken throwing practice.
He trained daily at the Academy's practice grounds until they closed.
Back home in his apartment, he practiced hand seals, shaped clay with Earth chakra, and meditated.
Last week, he'd attempted to sense his surroundings through chakra but failed completely. So that training was postponed for now.
A new exercise Kaito started during this period was practicing wall-walking instead of the Leaf Concentration Exercise.
This served as substitute training for tree-climbing.
Kaito had reasoned that since walls were uniformly flat surfaces, walking on a wall should actually be easier than walking on a cylindrical tree trunk with uneven bark.
For now, this should provide sufficient chakra control training.
He'd arranged all his bedding and mats on the floor perfectly positioned so he wouldn't get hurt even after falling hundreds of times.
It took him several days to learn the basic technique of wall-walking.
By the end of the second week, he could complete wall-walking exercises without falling at all.
He could both walk vertically up walls and even stand upside-down on the ceiling.
The main problem Kaito faced was insufficient chakra reserves.
However, with daily depletion and recovery, he found that his physical stamina was also continuously improving.
But he couldn't determine how much of this improvement came from better chakra control versus an actual increase in his chakra capacity.
After trying to analyze it mathematically, he gave up.
He consoled himself that it didn't really matter since he was improving either way.
During all those training falls, he also inadvertently learned how to twist his body mid-air and land in proper breakfall positions—a useful skill in itself.
After the first month of classes, Genki began teaching everyone the Academy's standard taijutsu style.
The curriculum included an extensive array of forms and techniques, making it a comprehensive taijutsu system covering various combat scenarios.
However, this also meant it didn't specialize in any particular aspect or philosophy.
Still, for now, Kaito didn't concern himself with these limitations.
This taijutsu style was clearly far superior to anything he could have improvised on his own.
He thought with pleasant surprise, I didn't expect the basic Academy style to be this complex and well-rounded.
This made Kaito curious about how advanced the Senju Clan's taijutsu and Uchiha Clan's Interceptor Fist styles really were.
Though the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist was obviously in a league of its own, being specifically designed to work with the Byakugan.
Kaito decided it was best to thoroughly master the Academy taijutsu first before considering other more advanced styles.
This would require significant time investment, but fortunately, he had plenty of time available.
After that day, taijutsu kata practice was also incorporated into his morning exercise routine.
Formal taijutsu training at the Academy lasted over a month, designed to familiarize students with all the fundamental forms and combinations.
Kaito noticed that the Senju, Uchiha, Hyuga, and Inuzuka clan members did not participate in learning the Academy's standard taijutsu style—they practiced their own clan techniques instead.
After the initial taijutsu instruction period, students were required to spar against each other weekly.
Based on their performance and technical execution, Genki would offer specific advice or assign particular forms to practice.
These taijutsu matches were organized as tournament-style brackets.
Kaito performed quite well in this area, ranking eighth in the first official competition.
Although his technique wasn't yet refined, his superior physical conditioning gave him a significant advantage.
He wasn't particularly surprised by this result.
While these students were all exceptionally talented—some even more naturally gifted than him—no typical six-year-old would dedicate as much time to rigorous training as he did.
Those who did were extremely rare exceptions, like Might Guy had been at that age.
Even Rock Lee only started training that intensively after becoming a genin under Guy's guidance.
Hyuga Hodaka claimed first place in the inaugural taijutsu tournament.
He was followed by Senju Teru in second, Hyuga Hana in third, Uchiha Rai in fourth, and another Hyuga in fifth.
Shimura Shin ranked sixth, followed by one of the other Senju clan members in seventh.
Kaito thought optimistically, This is actually very promising. Unlike them, I haven't received any formal training from childhood, and I'm already competing at this level.
He felt genuinely confident at this point.
As long as he continued training properly with expert instruction, he should improve faster than most of these clan heirs who'd already plateaued at their current skill level.
He was now moving in the right direction, self-motivated to keep pushing forward.
Genki began holding weekly taijutsu tournaments and shuriken throwing competitions for their class.
Kaito discovered that the other four Academy classes didn't have such intensive competitive training.
In fact, during a chance encounter with Takeshi, Kaito learned they hadn't even started taijutsu classes yet—they were still learning basic shuriken throwing and how to correctly form hand seals.
Konoha's leadership is genuinely serious about developing this elite class, he thought.
As far as he knew, they'd implemented the same accelerated program last year.
Though they'd been incredibly fortunate to have Itachi Uchiha in last year's class.
If the Academy had similar expectations for this year's elite class, they'd likely be disappointed.
Then again, they shouldn't reasonably expect a once-in-a-generation genius like Itachi to appear every single year.
Ending those thoughts, Kaito looked toward the future, genuinely excited about his continuous improvement and the shinobi he was becoming.
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