( 16 September- year 12 AK )
( DAIKI POV )
I stalked my cute little genin from above. Ino had been unòucky enough to get her scroll on tree walking eaten by a tiger.
Why a predator would choose to destroy a piece of paper instead of focusing on hunting the much more interesting living prey was something my student needn't to concern herself with.
I smiled sadistically, maybe I was being a bit extreme, but I needed to knock Shikamaru down a peg or two, to make Choji believe in himself, and to force her to see her teammates at least as her equals.
That was why she was running from a bunch of beasts that I had cornered her against one of the may unclimbable walls that littered the area, no doubt leftovers from doton techniques.
And like I had hoped, like a prince in shining armor, Choji barreled (literally) over the pack of wolves that had been chasing Ino over the last three days.
Many of them jumped back and managed to avoid him, but he didn't expect to get them all, only to buy Ino enough time to gather her wits to start walking on the wall where the wolves couldn't reach her. Unluckily, she didn't know how.
Choji exited from his move and jumped on a trunk, his momentum denting the wood, but his feet glued him to the bark. He raised his head to look at his teammate, who was looking at him with an admiration that had immediately turned into a confused expression.
Likely believing her simply too exhausted to copy him, Choji jumped from a tree to another and on the earth wall behind Ino, enlarging his arm and scooping her up from the ground.
I nodded to myself, he would be teaching her how to walk on trees, and I was free to go prod Shikamaru, I had been herding bears for the past week on that purpose.
The camouflage jutsu I had Ino learn was chakra intensive for a genin, that she immediately picked up that she was supposed to use it in conjunction with her family technique had been a welcome surprise.
Anyway, the camouflage jutsu had more than likely shook awake her atrophied chakra coils, while entering the mind of an animal and mimicking its mannerism enough to not startle the other predators or giving up her game had been an alternative but nonetheless effective way to improve her control.
I reached the system of caves in which I had herded the bears, making them all fall asleep without attacking each other hadn't been a joke, but that gave me enough time to tinker with the animal conditioning genjutsu I had recently learned.
It would unravel in a few days, but for a while, they would mostly behave like a pack of wolves. Paper bombs or not, the pack of bears would barrel over the traps Shikamaru had set up around his lair, while the leeches I had thrown over the branches of the area would wake soon.
...
A week later
I hopped from a branch to the other, following the wave of mouth-frothing enraged bears that was sweeping through the undergrowth. my kage bunshin dispelled, letting me know that my other two cute little genins were on their way.
Shikamaru only had to survive for n hour or two. Then I thought again about the pace Ino was keeping with her newly learned tree walking skill and grimaced. Well, Shikamaru is a genius, I'm sure he will find a way to survive for a day or two.
...
( 30 September- 12 years AK )
TEAM 10
Three exhausted and worse for wear genin walked into the Hokage's large office, dragging their limbs towards the table where Iruka was sitting, ready to hand out missions the lower-ranked missions.
"Daiki-kun." the Sandaime spoke, his eyes running over the recently healed wounds on the young ninja' bodies. "What happened to your team?"
The smiling sensei tilted his head, painting an honestly confused expression on his face: "Whatever you mean, Hokage-sama? You reminded me that they had to start contributing to the village's welfare with D-ranks, and here we are, even if I had to cut their trial period shorter than I would have liked."
He turned his head toward his students, who were almost too tired to whimper. Almost.
The Hokage recognized a lost cause when he saw one, so he nodded slowly, holding back laugh when he saw that both the Nara and the Yamanaka had fallen asleep, their third teammate mounting guard.
He nodded slowly, recognizing the effectiveness of Daiki's training method, and almost losing it when he recognized the dismay on Iruka's face.
"Well a D-rank for team 10 please, Iruka-san. Oh, and since my cute little genins forgot to make themselves presentable, team 10 might as well tackle garbage cleaning or manure loading." Daiki said with a cheery tone.
...
( 07 November-12 years AK )
After a week of two D-ranks every day, I had determined they had suffered enough that there would never be complaints of the whiny kind through the months I had left to teach them.
However, the survival training I pushed them through forced them to familiarize with the Forest of Death in preparation of the chunin exams, to think about how to adapt what they knew to several different situations, to rely on each other, and to realize that the more they knew or were capable to do the less likely they were to die.
I had left them a day to gather their bearing, even going so far as to allow them to return to their homes. It was more to keep their parents off the Sandaime's back than anything else, but I wouldn't deny them the comfort of their families.
During the previous week, I let them set up camp on training ground 10, and for the first three days, they only got the most disgusting tasks, since there wasn't time for them to do their two D-ranks, eat, sleep, spar with me and also properly wash themselves.
If the teppodamas that had hit them were any weaker, I suspect they would have jumped into them to clean themselves from the grime and dirt.
When my cute three genins made their way to the training ground 11 were understandably wary of their surroundings, and each of them had a small backpack, likely filled with all the necessary for another three months of survival. How cute.
I was sitting cross-legged on one of the larger ponds and waited for them to reach me. The water around Choji's feet wobbled way more than I liked, but I couldn't fault them since my only explanation had been a scribbled note on the back of a paper bomb.
They were looking at me with almost dead eyes, but nobody ever voiced out loud that they wanted to give up. Or at least, never with me. With each other? More than likely, but that was only another sign of their teamwork, so I was happy enough.
"Relax, the three months trial period is over." I started, "You are still alive, so we can do the presentation thing. I'll go first. My name is Daiki, I like to understand the workings of chakra, my team, and teaching. I dislike sadists and wasting time.
My hobbies are playing music, eating stuff at the Pizzeria, and poetry. My dream... is that in this world wouldn't be necessary for children to be taught to kill."
Looking to Choji, I gestured him to start: "My name Akimichi Choji... I like my team and Yakiniku BBQ... I dislike leeches and the training ground 44." His expression turning serious. "I... don't have time for a hobby, and... I don't know my dream I guess."
I nodded with a smile and turned towards Ino, who didn't wait and went ahead: "My name is Yamanaka Ino, I like my team too, and my clan flower shop. I dislike D-ranks and tigers that eat scrolls." Here her two teammates exchanged a confused glance but wisely chose not to ask.
"My hobbies... were..." She shot a venomous look at me.
Then she stopped, likely thinking about the hobbies she had before my hellish training and realizing how abysmally stupid painting nails and seducing Sasuke sounded.
"Well, as Choji said, it's not like we have time for hobbies. And well... I'll find a better dream too."
Curious how hunger, pain and all-around helplessness make one realize what his priorities should actually be. I thought with a grin.
"My name is Shikamaru Nara... I like my team." He started with a roll of his eyes. "I like not to be about to die, being able to sleep without being awakened by sudden threats to my life, and shōgi.
I dislike that I now feel restless when I try to do some sane cloud watching... and so I am without a hobby... My dream... is to live a long and happy life, and that my children could do the same."
I rose from my seat, clapping my hands happily, "I am happy of how you are growing so far. Since I don't have a couple of years to teach you a proper taijutsu style, we'll be doing a lot of sparring.
You three versus me, or two of you against your third teammate, and a battle royale with you three. That will teach all that you're able to pick up."
I had dedicated a lot of thought to how to make them strong, and the experience was the best alternative to what I had endured with Guy's tutelage. Before I actually got them started on ninjutsu, I had to work so e more on their chakra reserves and control.
I started skating around them on the water, my chakra control so refined that I still didn't cause the barest ripple.
"Walking on water is used to gain better chakra control. To do this, the user has to be emitting a constant stream of chakra from the bottom of their feet and using the repellent force to walk across the water's surface.
This technique is more difficult to master than three Climbing Practice, because the amount of chakra that needs to be emitted changes constanttly.
If you mold it skillfully enough, like I am doing now, you'll skate, basically moving faster." I reached the end of the pond and started skating towards them.
"However you can 'explode' a certain amount of chakra to suddenly change direction." I told them and Ino brought her hands forward in the moment she understood what I was saying. When I was less than fifty centimeters from them, I turned sharply on my right, dousing them with a small waterfall.
"The sooner you understand it, the sooner you get your sweet revenge."
While Choji kept focusing on making his steps steadier, the other two started to experiment.
Ino was the most reckless of the two, and managed to fall underwater, having to climb back on. And, as noted by Jiraiya, the more one trains this technique the more they reach a state where they stand on water without even noticing it or basically even trying.
I kept teaching: "It doesn't have to just be at the feet. A user under water can focus chakra on their hands or any other body part that makes contact with the surface of the water. If they were submerged, they can climb atop the water as if they were climbing out of a pool."
I reached behind Shikamaru and swept his legs away from under him. He fell on his side and went halfway underwater before managing to climb out.
"Find a high tree and tie your team backpacks there Ino." I ordered when I spotted her blowing me a raspberry. It's nice that she manages to have fun when it's possible.
When she was back I made them leave the pond and placed myself in front of them.
"From today, team 10 will be taking three D-ranks every week, in the mornings, there will be a break for lunch in the village proper, then I'll be waiting you here, where I'll train you. You'll go home for dinner and come back here at 09:00 pm, don't worry, only on the D-rank day.
The following night you'll sleep in your homes and we'll meet at the Hokage Tower at 07:00 am the following morning. I'll leave you one... free day a week. During which you'll learn whatever your family deems you ready to master."
...
If you like the story so far, please throw some power stones.
======================
If you want to read ahead of the public release on p atreon.
p @treon Link :
p atreon.com/sybife
|● sybife