Super Ninja

Three days of rest passed quickly and imperceptibly. As always… rest goes by fast because there is never enough of it. But, oh well, nothing can be done about that. During this time, I didn’t accomplish much: I meditated a bit and read the book I had bought. In general, nothing interesting at all, but this break turned out to be very necessary and useful for me.

 

My parents didn’t make me do anything either, except for that one day when I helped my father carry boxes of baked goods. Basically, I caught up on sleep, and my body relaxed a bit. Besides that, my mind also rested, which was helpful. But even such a brief rest was enough for me to be ready for active training again.

 

"Are you going to train?" my mother asked when I was already prepared to leave early in the morning.

 

"Yes," I nodded to her.

 

"Then maybe you should have a bite, at least? Maybe drink some tea?"

 

"Sorry, mom," I shook my head. "I don’t really have an appetite right now."

 

"Alright," she sighed. "At least take something with you."

 

"I won’t say no to that."

 

She just snorted at my words and handed me a packed lunch. I stuffed it in my bag and went outside. It was a bit chilly. Gray clouds covered the sun, but it didn’t feel like it was going to rain anytime soon. I had a sense that it wouldn’t rain at all.

 

When I arrived at the training field, I felt a bit mentally drained. I had felt ready in the morning… but now… Ugh... I sat down at the base of a majestic tree, its leaves lazily swaying in the light breeze. Resting under its wide branches felt like a small refuge from the world. I allowed myself to relax, gazing at the gray landscape of the cloudy sky. My imagination started turning the clouds into different shapes: one looked like a bent banana, another resembled the silhouette of a naked, sexy woman. I even found a couple of clouds elegantly entwined, forming images of two naked women in seductive poses. I was completely absorbed in this activity. Even my mouth started to water.

 

But suddenly, my peace was disturbed. The feeling of someone’s gaze made me alert. The gray clouds instantly lost their charm, and I stood up, ready for action. I thought it was likely Kiochi-sensei deciding to conduct a surprise training to test my vigilance and ability to react instantly to a threat.

 

Indeed, I was ready. Suddenly, the leaves on the trees around me started rustling loudly, and I quickly jumped to the side, dodging a potential threat. Several kunai buried themselves in the ground where I had just been standing. Without wasting time, I threw a few shurikens in the direction where I thought the attack had come from. They sliced through a few leaves along their path but eventually hit the trunk of a tree, failing to find their target. My heart was pounding in my chest from the adrenaline and excitement. My mind quickly analyzed the situation: it could be the sensei, but it could also be an enemy scout trying to learn something important or gain access to classified information through me.

 

The next moment, the bushes behind me rustled, and I felt the presence of something heavy quickly approaching me in the air. My instincts screamed danger. Turning around, I barely managed to glimpse the figure of Captain Kiochi, preparing to strike me in mid-air. It was somewhat unexpected. I hadn’t expected him to jump like that.

 

Acting on reflex, I crouched, ready to dodge. The captain landed, his leg whistling through the air above my head, but I was already moving. Seizing the moment, I decided to go on the offensive. With a quick lunge forward, I aimed a strike at his torso, but the captain easily blocked it, turning it into a counterattack. I instinctively leapt back, avoiding his knee aimed directly at my torso.

 

The air around us seemed to spark with tension, and I flipped over my hands, preparing to continue the sparring. But, to my surprise, the captain suddenly stopped and started clapping. His hands clapped sharply, and his eyes gleamed with approval of my alertness and reaction.

 

He smiled, as if evaluating my efforts, and his eyes sparkled with approval.

 

"Well done, Suzuki," he said. "I’m glad you remain alert all the time and haven’t let your guard down even in the safety of Konoha."

 

"Good morning, captain," I greeted him. "How were your days off?"

 

"Not bad," he chuckled. "Very good, actually. I was pleased to see how quickly you reacted to my surprise attack. But, of course, there was another way to respond."

 

"Perhaps," I agreed with him. "What’s the plan for today?"

 

"It’s simple," he replied. "While we wait for the girls to arrive, I’ll teach you a new technique. I think you’ll be able to master it without losing much in your combat capabilities."

 

"Oh?" I was intrigued. A new technique is always good. "What kind of technique?"

 

"It’s a more advanced defensive technique," he said. "It’s called Stone Armor. Unlike Earth Armor, it doesn’t distribute damage across your body but simply blocks it."

 

"Oh," I replied, intrigued. "I’m interested, and I’m ready to learn it right now. What do I need to do?"

 

"First, I want you to see how it works," the captain said. He slowly formed a few hand signs, allowing me to observe each one and try to memorize them. "Earth Style! Stone Armor!"

 

In seconds, small stone protrusions and growths appeared all over his body. His face became a bit rougher, as the stone mimicked some of his features and made them more grotesque. The captain took a few steps, and I noticed one drawback of the technique. Stone Armor makes the body slightly heavier, but not to the extent that it reduces mobility. I think it will just require some work on movement in this form.

 

"Hit me," the captain ordered in a somewhat gruff, deep voice.

 

There was no need to ask me twice. I quickly jumped up and delivered a two-punch combo to his torso. It felt as though I was hitting solid stone. The captain swung his arm sharply, and I blocked. The strike was heavy. It sent me flying several dozen meters. I tumbled and got up. There was a slight ringing in my ear, and the arm that took the blow ached. It was painful.

 

"How was that?" the captain asked, dispersing his technique. The stone growths vanished, and he returned to his normal appearance.

 

"Not bad," I replied. "I like it."

"Then memorize this," the captain began, giving me a brief lecture on the technique. The girls arrived at the usual time and joined in on the lecture as well. They were interested too since, in the future, they might face an opponent using this technique. Knowing the weaknesses of a jutsu is already half the battle won.

 

In general, the technique wasn’t particularly difficult. As the captain described how to perform it, I immediately noticed that it had many similarities to the Earth Armor technique.

 

"Captain," Ayamane asked, "how can you break through this defense?"

 

"There’s only one way. Deal more damage than the technique can handle," he shrugged. "Every defensive jutsu has its own damage threshold. A good tactic is to immobilize the enemy by any means, and then overwhelm them with attacks—whether it's with stones, kicks, or techniques, depending on what's in your arsenal."

 

"Hmm," Ayamane mused. It seemed like her mind was already racing with thoughts on how she might counter such an opponent. "Got it."

 

"Exactly," the captain chuckled. "Now that we’re all here, let’s discuss how our first C-rank mission went. What are your thoughts? How do you assess your own actions? Let’s start with… Suzuki."

 

He created a chair for himself and calmly sat down, watching me attentively.

 

I didn’t expect this and hadn’t had the time to think through what I would say or where I might have made mistakes. To be honest, it seemed to me that discussing missions like this wasn’t the most common practice among shinobi. But on the other hand, admitting your own mistakes is one of the best ways to grow quickly in terms of skills and abilities.

 

"Sensei," I began, still thinking. My mind replayed the entire mission, focusing on where I might have slipped up. "Maybe the fight with those rogue ninja didn’t go as well as it could have?"

 

"I see," the captain nodded slightly, encouraging me to continue. "What do you think you could have done better?"

 

"It’s hard to say, captain," I replied after several minutes of intense thought. "Maybe I shouldn’t have let Shiko and Ayamane take the hit instead of me?"

 

"Hmm," the captain muttered, shaking his head slightly. "You’re a team, and your main goal in such a battle is to win at all costs. No… keep thinking."

 

Then it dawned on me. I shouldn’t have stayed in the path of the lightning attack—it was too dangerous.

 

"I shouldn’t have stood still when the lightning was coming at me," I said.

 

"Exactly," the captain smirked. "Why did you stay in one place? Did you think that just because you won, you could relax? No… remember, the euphoria after a fight is not what a shinobi should feel. It often leads to an unexpected death. In your case, it could’ve meant the death of the whole team."

 

"I understand, sensei," I replied, looking away. Although… I know that lightning wasn’t from a shinobi. But it’s better they don’t know that. What if someone decides to dissect me to figure out what it was? Do I need that? Absolutely not, so let it stay a secret.

 

"I hope so," the sensei nodded, then turned to the girls. "Now, let’s hear from you, Shiko."

 

The discussion with the girls was much more difficult, and the captain had to practically lead them by the hand to help them understand and accept their mistakes, as well as the things they could have influenced. I can’t say they accepted it right away or without much resistance. Not at all. They didn’t like that the captain was making them talk about their own failures.

 

"I hope this doesn’t happen again on our next mission," the sensei said. After that, he clapped his hands on his stone chair, and it crumbled into pieces. He stood up sharply and added, "Now it’s time for training. Isn’t it?"

 

I wouldn’t say that the girls were particularly eager to train. From what I understood, they had other ideas and desires, but for now, they couldn’t refuse the captain’s command or his wish to train. With that kind of mindset and approach, they’ll never rise above the rank of chunin. The question is, do they even want to rise? I don’t have an answer to that.

 

"So, first," he began. "I’ll increase the weight of your training weights. The next few days will involve very intense training."

 

"But why, sensei?" Ayamane asked in surprise.

 

"Listen, you have a D-rank mission coming up," the captain said.

 

"A D-rank mission?" Shiko was puzzled. "I thought we wouldn’t be doing those anymore."

 

"Not so fast," the captain replied with a hint of sarcasm. "Yes, you have such a mission. It won’t be difficult or long. After that, we’ll have a joint mission with another genin team. I don’t know who it will be yet, but don’t expect a walk in the park. I can’t reveal more for now."

 

A joint mission with another team? Interesting. From what the captain said, I could already guess that the mission might be more challenging. After all, two teams of genin have the strength to instill fear even in a small town.

 

"So," the captain concluded with a smile, "I’ll be squeezing all the juice out of you. Here are your weights."

 

Sensei handed two weights to Shiko and Ayamane, and gave me six. As soon as I strapped them onto my legs, I felt a tremendous weight pressing down on my body. For a moment, it seemed like my spine might collapse, but of course, that didn’t happen.

 

The physical exercises we began with quickly showed that with these weights, we were on a very basic level, as if we hadn’t even graduated from the Ninja Academy yet. But on the other hand, as soon as these weights drop to the ground, we’ll immediately jump to a new level of strength. The boost will depend on many individual factors, but the leap will be noticeable.

 

We trained hard together during the first half of the day, but in the second half, Kiochi-sensei separated us again. His clone continued to train the girls, while the original stayed with me, teaching me how to use the Stone Armor technique.

 

"Earth Style! Stone Armor!" I performed the jutsu. It was my first attempt. I didn’t expect it to be successful because I still lacked the skill to control the element at a high level. I felt my skin tighten a bit, and then it was as if small scales appeared all over my body. It seems I managed to perform the technique on the first try.

 

"Excellent," the captain said, satisfied. "I thought you’d be able to master it on the first attempt."

 

"Yeah," I replied, noticing that my voice had changed slightly.

 

"Now let’s test it," the captain said with a mischievous smile.

 

In an instant, he was beside me. I couldn’t react in time because the captain was moving much faster than before. His knee slammed into my chest, and I… felt nothing. It seemed as though the captain hadn’t even struck. He jumped back and beckoned me to examine myself. Indeed, where his blow had landed, there were numerous cracks and a slight indentation.

 

"What did you feel?" he asked.

 

"Nothing," I replied. "Just a slight jolt when the hit landed."

 

"Perfect," Kiochi-sensei said with satisfaction. "Now, remember, this defense is not absolute and won’t protect you from everything. Do you remember what I said this morning about how the technique will shatter if it takes too much damage?"

 

"Yes, captain," I replied.

 

"Then memorize your limits for now."

 

The captain attacked me sharply. I tried to block his strike, but I immediately realized the problem. In addition to the weights I was wearing, which made it difficult to react at my usual level, the stones added to my weight. In short, I couldn’t move quickly in this situation, especially considering the inertia. Yeah, this girl is something.

 

The first hit, then the second and third—they all landed on my body. My armor held for a while, but cracks and chips began to appear everywhere. The captain wasn’t going easy on me, and after several dozen quick and powerful strikes, the armor couldn’t take it anymore and shattered completely. Feeling relieved from the weight, I tried to dodge the captain’s next blow, but he was too focused and wasn’t about to stop.

 

I raised my arms to block the strike. My arms felt like they exploded with pain. At the same time, I felt myself flying through the air. A moment ago, I was on the ground, and the next, I was airborne, flying who knows where. Coming to my senses, I started twisting my body to land on my feet. I hit the ground and even slid a bit along it. That’s how powerful the hit I took was.

 

"Are you alright, Suzuki?" the captain asked, jumping over to me.

 

"Could be worse, captain," I replied. "Heh."

 

"You’re a real machine," the captain said with a grin. "Give me your hands."

 

I extended my arms, and Kiochi-sensei quickly examined the damage. His right hand glowed with a light greenish-salad color, and then all the pain disappeared, leaving only a slight coolness in my hands. I wondered if I could learn even a little of this art. Maybe I wouldn’t want to dedicate my life to medicine, but it wouldn’t hurt to know something beyond basic field first aid.

 

"Captain, could you teach me some iryojutsu?" I decided to ask him.

 

"No," the answer was quick and simple. It surprised me a bit.

 

"You just can’t teach me?" I asked.

 

"No, I can’t," the captain replied. "Some directives in Konoha explicitly prohibit teaching iryojutsu to shinobi who aren’t in the medical field."

 

"So what should I do?" I asked him.

 

"Go to the hospital, sign up for courses, and wait for an invitation," the captain replied. "After that, the hard work begins. There’s a lot to learn, but if you master this art even at a basic level, your chances of survival with chakra will increase significantly."

 

"So, I’ll head over there to the clinic," I told the captain. "Will I need any documents?"

 

"Go and find out," the captain shrugged. "Now, let’s get back to the technique. Once more."

 

"Earth Style! Stone Armor!