Morning in the Land of Rain. The air was so humid it felt like you could wring water out of it.
After last night's not-so-secret "secret training," the tension in Team Five had eased slightly.
Though Uchiha Fugaku still wore a stone-faced expression, the way he looked at Nishikawa Tetsu now had a little less disdain—less like he was eyeing dead weight.
"Today's lesson is divided into two parts."
Fugaku stood in the middle of a muddy clearing, arms crossed, gaze sharp as a blade. "Taijutsu combat—and more importantly, chakra enhancement training. Especially for a certain someone."
Nishikawa Tetsu raised his hand with self-awareness. "Senpai, you could just not invite Minato at this point."
Fugaku ignored the sarcasm and moved straight into a combat stance.
"We'll start with taijutsu. On the battlefield, you won't always get the chance to create distance and cast ninjutsu."
"Once the enemy closes in, hand-to-hand combat becomes your final line of survival."
He turned to Namikaze Minato. "Minato, you first. Come at me with your full speed."
"Yes, sir!"
Minato's expression sharpened, and in a flash, he blurred into a golden afterimage.
Whoosh!
In the blink of an eye, his sweeping kick was already arcing toward Fugaku's neck.
It was fast—fast, precise, and vicious—cutting through the air with a sharp whistle. It was hard to believe this was the strength of a freshly graduated Genin.
And yet, Fugaku didn't even activate his Sharingan.
With the barest motion, he tilted his head slightly back. The kick brushed past the tip of his nose.
Then, with a swift flick of his wrist, he caught Minato's ankle midair.
"Too direct."
Fugaku gave his cold critique and used the momentum to hurl Minato through the air.
Minato twisted expertly midair, flipped, and landed smoothly.
"Your speed is excellent—that's clearly your gift," Fugaku said, serious as ever.
"But your movements are too obvious. You give away your intent too early. Against someone with a Sharingan, your every step is already anticipated."
"You need to master feints and variable pacing, not just raw speed."
Minato nodded thoughtfully, blue eyes shimmering with concentration. "Varying pace… disrupting rhythm?"
Teaching a genius felt satisfying—he caught on instantly.
"Exactly."
"Next—Nishikawa Tetsu."
Fugaku turned, his eyes now gleaming like a wolf spotting a lamb.
Tetsu sighed and adopted the basic academy taijutsu stance.
He already knew how this would go: the next few minutes were going to be pure one-sided abuse.
And sure enough…
Five minutes later.
Thud!
Tetsu was slammed into the mud by an over-the-shoulder throw yet again.
"Too weak."
Fugaku stood over him, calm and condescending. "Not enough strength, even slower speed. If I were the enemy, you'd be dead already."
Tetsu struggled back to his feet and wiped the mud from his face.
His body protested with every movement, but his brain kept spinning.
"Strength and speed are hardware gaps. I can't close that in the short term," Tetsu panted.
"But I noticed something—senpai, you always protect your left ribs when striking. Old injury? Muscle memory?"
Fugaku blinked, then subconsciously touched his left side.
That had been a puppet wound from a Sand shinobi six months ago. It had healed—but the instinct to guard that spot lingered.
"Not bad."
There was a flash of surprise in Fugaku's eyes. This kid didn't have the Sharingan, but his eye for detail was razor-sharp.
He drew two wooden kunai from his belt and tossed them to both boys. "Taijutsu isn't just fists and feet—it includes weapons."
For the next hour, Fugaku began teaching them far more vicious and refined assassination techniques—not just beatdowns this time.
…
Break time.
The three sat beneath a tree. Tetsu gulped water like he was dying.
He couldn't shake the feeling Fugaku had it out for him. Minato's face was spotless, and he looked like a model Genin. Tetsu, on the other hand, was bruised and battered like a ragdoll.
"Now comes the real training."
Fugaku's expression turned solemn as he looked at Tetsu.
"Nishikawa Tetsu, your tactical thinking is solid. But your chakra reserves… that's your fatal shortcoming."
"Your Fireball theory was clever, but it still requires a baseline amount of chakra to function."
"What do I need to do?" Tetsu set down his canteen, all attention.
In this world, chakra reserves practically determined a shinobi's potential ceiling.
"Chakra is a combination of physical and spiritual energy."
Fugaku held up two fingers. "The slowest—but most reliable—way to increase it is to force a limit breakthrough."
"Squeeze your body. Squeeze your mind."
He pointed at a massive boulder nearby. "Drain your physical energy completely. Then, in a state of absolute exhaustion, when your mind can barely function, force your body to refine chakra anyway—make it adapt."
"It's painful. Bt you can grow your reserves this way, but everyone's limits are different."
"If you lose control, you'll injure yourself. That's why I'll be watching you with the Sharingan."
"I see."
Tetsu's mind quickly began converting the method into a scientific framework.
Physical energy = mitochondrial ATP efficiency.Mental energy = neural focus and willpower.Limit breakthrough = anaerobic exertion + emergency compensation + neural overclock.
Basically, treat the body like a battery—repeat deep charge/discharge cycles to eliminate memory effects and force an increase in capacity.
"Understood."
Tetsu stood, gaze firm.
He didn't have the Uzumaki physique. No Tailed Beast battery.If he wanted to survive in this cheat-filled world until the final arc, brains weren't enough—he needed a durable body too.
"Let's begin, then."
The next two hours became Tetsu's personal hell.
Push-ups. Weighted sprints. Tree climbing until his chakra ran dry and he fell.
Every time he reached the point where even lifting a finger felt impossible, Fugaku's cold voice pierced the air:
"Refine chakra. Right now. Don't let your body rest!"
It felt like trying to wring water from a bone-dry sponge. Every chakra pathway in his body screamed in pain.
Minato trained alongside him, but he was clearly more comfortable.
His natural physique was already excellent. This was just a warm-up for him.
Still, Minato didn't act superior. He stayed close, offering steady support.
"Tetsu! Hang in there! Breathe—match your breathing rhythm!"
Finally—
After who knew how many collapses and recoveries, Tetsu formed the "Ram" hand seal with trembling fingers.
A tiny thread of warm chakra surged up from deep within his dry core.
It was weak—but more refined than anything he'd felt before.
"Stop."
Fugaku's voice felt like salvation.
Tetsu collapsed into the mud, chest heaving, vision blurred by sweat and rain.
"How do you feel?" Fugaku approached and offered a Soldier Pill.
"Like I just died."
Tetsu swallowed the pill. As strength slowly returned to his limbs, he gave a tired smile. "But… I think I'm starting to get it."
He closed his eyes and felt the subtle shift in his body.
If his chakra used to mix haphazardly—wasting both mental and physical energy—
Now, under duress, his body had instinctively located the most efficient fusion point.
Not just more chakra—but purer chakra.
"Good."
Fugaku looked down at the exhausted but clear-eyed boy and nodded.
"At this pace, within a month, your chakra levels should reach those of an average Chūnin."
For someone without a bloodline limit, that was an astonishing rate of progress.
"Alright. Ten-minute break."