Naruto: Reaching the Stars

The next morning, after an awkward breakfast with Kirikou, Kisuke helped her set up their store, which sold medical herbs and flowers.

Once everything was in place, Kirikou told him he could go out and play.

Kisuke thanked her and left home, curious about his surroundings.

Their home was on Konoha's commercial street, not within the Kurama clan's area, making it easier for Kirikou to attract customers.

After wandering around the streets and checking out different stores, Kisuke quickly lost interest. Except for the Hokage Rock, which made him pause, nothing else caught his attention. It was just a village, far less exciting than the city life he remembered from his previous world.

Eventually, he reached the forty-third training ground, where the original Kisuke used to train. He began his warm-up for physical training.

Only a few people were training there, which Kisuke preferred over the crowded training grounds. He remembered that this training ground was south of the infamous forty-fourth training ground, also known as the Forest of Death.

Ignoring the older kids who gave him strange looks, Kisuke focused on his own training.

His first plan was simple exercises: running, push-ups, and sit-ups to build strength and endurance.

Since chakra is a mix of physical and spiritual energy, he knew he had to train both aspects to increase it.

But after just five laps (1 km) at a moderate pace, he was already exhausted. It wasn't just because of his five-year-old body but also because Kurama clan members had inherently weak physiques in exchange for their high spiritual energy.

Despite his fatigue, he pushed himself to complete eight laps, which was impressive compared to his previous life.

"Chakra is really amazing."

Even though he didn't use chakra during his training, it still enhanced his physical abilities beyond normal limits.

After a brief rest, he did three sets of 10 push-ups, four sets of 12 sit-ups, and a few other exercises he could think of.

Hours later, Kisuke lay under the shade of a tree, exhausted and sore. While panting, he thought, "I might have overdone it for the first day."

Knowing that the bodies in this world were different from his previous one, he pushed himself beyond his usual limits, but the excitement kept him going.

"At least I'm better than Kisuke."

The original Kisuke rarely trained his body, focusing only on Genjutsu and Ninjutsu because he thought they were "cool."

"Well, he wasn't wrong; Ninjutsu is cool, but I won't try using any of it until I have fine control over my chakra."

He still remembered how the original Kisuke died from exhausting both his chakra and spiritual energy due to poor control. To avoid the same fate, he needed to learn how to control his chakra properly before attempting any jutsu.

Kisuke picked up a leaf from the ground and stuck it to his forehead.

When it comes to chakra control training, the easiest method was leaf concentration practice before moving on to more advanced techniques like tree climbing and water walking.

Feeling the chakra within him, he guided it to his forehead, making the leaf stick.

"About ten minutes," Kisuke muttered when the leaf finally fell off.

He frowned, not completely satisfied. According to his memories, the original Kisuke could keep the leaf for at least twenty minutes. Besides, his chakra was depleting faster than before, meaning he had lost some of Kisuke's original abilities and had to train to regain them.

"Well, it's not a big deal."

He continued practicing chakra control, and with each try, his time improved. After an hour of persistent practice, his record was about 13 minutes.

"I see you're doing much better."

A sudden voice interrupted his thoughts. Looking up, Kisuke saw a man with short brown hair and eyes walking toward him.

Searching his memories, he quickly recognized the man. "Uncle Daiki!"

"I see you started training without me," Daiki said, stopping in front of him. "And it looks like you've been doing some physical exercises you used to hate."

Daiki was a Konoha chunin and Kisuke's mother's younger brother. He sometimes trained Kisuke when he wasn't on a mission.

"Well, you could say I had some sudden motivation," Kisuke said, scratching the back of his head.

"Motivation?" Daiki raised an eyebrow but didn't think much of it. "Do you want to continue yesterday's practice, or should I leave you alone?"

"No, no, I definitely want to continue."

"Alright," Daiki pulled out a small bag of kunai and shuriken and handed it to him. "Here, you can throw these at that tree, and I'll watch to correct your form."

Taking the pouch, Kisuke couldn't help but smile bitterly as a certain memory surfaced. Kirikou was worried he might injure himself, so she strictly forbade him from carrying weapons and instead assigned Daiki to teach him. He could only practice with kunai and shuriken under Daiki's supervision.

He pulled out a kunai and moved to a clear spot in front of a tree with a carved bullseye mark on its bark. "Alright, let's see how I do."

Taking a deep breath, he threw the kunai. It sailed through the air but missed the tree entirely, landing in the grass.

Kisuke frowned, trying not to get discouraged. This was his first time throwing weapons, so it wasn't realistic to expect the same results as the original Kisuke. He picked up another kunai, adjusted his stance, and threw it, but again, he missed.

"You're missing your target, Kisuke. Focus," Daiki advised, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Kisuke nodded, feeling a bit of pressure. The original Kisuke was good at throwing, so this sudden drop in skill might raise Daiki's suspicion.

He pulled out a shuriken, aimed carefully, and launched it. The shuriken spun through the air but veered off course, embedding itself in the ground several feet away from the tree.

Daiki sighed, crossing his arms. "Kisuke, you were better at this yesterday. What's going on? Are you sure you're fully recovered?"

"I'm fine, Uncle Daiki. Just give me a moment."

Daiki observed him closely. "Alright."

Daiki stepped forward, taking a kunai from the bag. "Let's go over the basics again. Watch closely."

He demonstrated the correct stance, feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent. "Balance is key. You need a stable foundation." He held the kunai firmly but not too tight. "Your grip should be secure but flexible enough to allow smooth movement."

Daiki raised his arm, aligning his eyes with the target. "When you throw, use your entire arm, not just your wrist. It's a fluid motion, like this." He threw the kunai with a smooth, controlled motion, and it embedded itself perfectly in the center of the tree.

Kisuke watched intently, noting the subtle movements. "Now you try," Daiki said, stepping back.

Kisuke took his position, mimicking Daiki's stance. He adjusted his grip on the kunai, feeling more confident. He raised his arm, visualized the target, and threw the kunai. It nicked the edge of the tree.

"Better, but you need to follow through with your throw," Daiki instructed, demonstrating the motion again. "Your arm should extend fully, and your body should follow the movement."

Kisuke nodded, taking another kunai. He focused on the follow-through, letting his arm and body move as one. The kunai flew straight and hit the tree with a thud, though it was far from the bullseye.

"Well…" Daiki didn't know what to say and didn't seem to want to scold him for his failure, so he sighed and continued to correct his posture for an hour before moving on to other weapons.

"Now, let's work on the shuriken."

Daiki took a shuriken from the bag, showing Kisuke the proper grip. "Hold it between your thumb and index finger. The trick is in the spin. You want it to rotate smoothly through the air."

He demonstrated the throw, flicking his wrist to create a rapid spin. The shuriken whirled through the air and struck the tree dead center.

Kisuke took a shuriken, feeling its weight and balance. He copied Daiki's grip and flicked his wrist, sending the shuriken spinning toward the tree. But again, it missed.

Kisuke pursed his lips and looked at Daiki with a sheepish smile, causing Daiki to sigh and once again show him how to throw the shuriken correctly.

"Keep practicing that wrist flick. The spin is crucial for accuracy."

They spent the next hour working on Kisuke's throwing techniques, with Daiki providing corrections and tips.

As the sun climbed higher in the sky, Daiki finally called for a break. "Alright, that's enough for today. You're clearly not at 100%, so it's better to take the rest of the day off."

"Let's go home; Kirikou is probably waiting for you."

Kisuke nodded, wiping the sweat from his brow, and followed Daiki.

Despite feeling nothing wrong with his body except for fatigue, he didn't deny Daiki's claim and used yesterday's incident as an excuse for not performing well today.

As for his poor performance, he wasn't too discouraged since this was his first time throwing anything other than rocks.

On the way back, Kisuke looked up at the giant Hokage Rock overlooking the village and asked, "Uncle, do you know who carved the Hokage's heads?"

Daiki glanced at the rock and shook his head. "No idea. But it was probably done by skilled ninjas or maybe even each Hokage carved their own face."

"Really? How could they do that? With Ninjutsu?" Kisuke asked, curious.

"Yeah, most likely with earth-style jutsu," Daiki replied, then added, "When you master a certain affinity at a very high level, you can mold and shape that element however you want."

Kisuke was amazed by this. He remembered that Kakashi's earth-style jutsu had dog heads carved into them, so it wasn't too surprising.

He already knew Ninjutsu was incredible, but now he was even more fascinated by the details.

In battle, did they really have the time to focus and carve something like a dog's head? Was it just for decoration? It's not like it would make the jutsu stronger.

Or maybe it worked on intent—by focusing on an image in their mind, the chakra would mold the element into that shape.

So many questions filled Kisuke's mind, making him eager to dive deeper into learning Ninjutsu.

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