Weeks trickled by slowly as I guided each and every single one of the students inside my classes, introducing them to swords and how to fight with kunai, adding another layer onto their already decent physical prowess as I began to sift through each of the students and place them into groups based on what they were good at.
Kenjutsu had Sasuke, Tenten, Ami, Shikamaru, Midori, and Kasumi, with each of them displaying quite the talent with longer blades compared to the others in the class, and Shikamaru was the surprise amongst the entire group; his lazy style made him pinpoint precise with his attacks, and he began to shave off the time needed to finish his fights with frightening ease.
Kunai were what the twins - Ika and Aki - Sakura, Ino, Shino, and Fuki were suited for, with a mix of their dexterity and penchant for searching entirely for weak spots working in their favor, along with them being amongst the stealthier of the class with their patience and coordination.
Lastly, there were those that were entirely Taijutsu specialists for close combat, which was Naruto, Kiba, Neji, Hinata, and of course Rock Lee, their physical strength or techniques in regards to hand to hand fighting giving them an edge over their classmates... as well as a direct reluctance to let Naruto and Kiba have access to bladed weapons up close due to their... terrible display with them so far.
That left Choji, who didn't go for a blade and instead followed alongside his father's footsteps with the Bo staff, though for now he also resided with the Taijutsu to make things easier.
Of course, I also had them try out a variety of weapons to see if any stuck - like the Bo Staff with Choji - and discovered that Naruto and Kiba were actually really deadly with Tonfa, while Shikamaru and Sasuke did quite well with a Chokuto compared to normal Ninjato that most Kenjutsu users utilized, and I also got to experience just how talented Tenten was with blades of any kind, the girl taking to them like a fish to water.
Ami preferred the destructive prowess of something longer and heavier, but she also had a knack for blades of a shorter reach too, so I allowed her to experiment as well.
Otherwise, most of the class stuck with their base weapons and got accustomed to them, learning more about the signature tools of their trade under Iruka and I as we guided them through the different ways to utilize kunai, senbon, razor wire, and shuriken before splitting them off to learn more about their specialized close combat techniques.
Just like the year before, we made progress in leaps and bounds as I twisted the curriculum to fit what I deemed necessary to teach these aspiring Shinobi, honing the skills they truly needed before working on the things that would help them, but weren't always utilized.
One of those things that I twisted around was something I thought would be incredible training for them, and I was proven right.
Iruka and I came in early one morning to set up a large obstacle course on the field, using Earth Jutsu to create a series of buildings and various other obstacles that we would force the students to sneak through in groups of three, and they had to avoid being caught by one of their peers who would be seeking them out.
The seeker and hiders wouldn't know anything about the other, and this would hone both their stealth skills alongside their sensory skills, which were two large portions of what makes a Shinobi a Shinobi.
No weapons, no fighting, just purely hiding and seeking on a larger, more realistic scale.
Points would be given and deducted by Iruka and based on how quickly they were discovered, how well they avoided detection or found their peers, what techniques they used to try and avoid being found or to find someone, and so on and so forth.
It was both fun and competitive, and it was something that the Principal had to come out and watch when she suddenly discovered a small village had been constructed on the field, while the other classes watched as I set everything up.
When we sent the first group in to hide and then sent in someone to seek, everyone was watching as best they could, with my first group being a rather mixed one; Kiba, Neji, and Naruto.
They all had incredible sensory skills, but they were all vastly different personality wise, so I was intrigued to see how they tried to avoid the detection of someone who wasn't the greatest seeker, but determined enough to find everyone; Sakura.
We watched from afar as Neji instantly peeled away from the group and slipped into a crevasse he widened with his chakra, blending into the shadows with the use of a few other Jutsu as well.
Kiba tried to order Naruto around, but they eventually were startled when they heard the countdown beginning, causing them both to rush to the other end of the miniature village and find shelter inside a building, peeking out the windows and watching as Sakura was turned around and let loose.
The pinknette walked around quietly, her eyes scanning the various buildings and trying to discover where they were hiding, which made Naruto begin to slink around as he moved away from Kiba, taking the riskier, yet more skillful approach of constantly moving to avoid detection.
Keeping to the shadows, Naruto weaved through the village while Sakura listened closely for any clues, the girl eventually jumping into the air and getting an aerial view of everything, letting her see Naruto's blonde hair for a split second.
Diving back to the ground, she rushed through the village quietly and found the trickster, who chuckled wryly as he got tagged by Sakura, who clicked her tongue at him.
It didn't take long for her to find Kiba either, the same trick working on the Inuzuka as he got tagged out quickly as well, making Iruka and I shake our heads at how easy they were making this.
But... Neji didn't disappoint, evading detection for a few more minutes as Sakura scoured the various buildings to no avail, only eventually finding him when the Hyuga's chakra ran out, revealing him when she checked the crevasse again.
All in all, the first round went great, and as we began the second round the Principal came over to congratulate us for something that seemed so obvious to do for training, yet hadn't been done before.