I performed all the forms written in the book I got from the old man.
He had asked me if I knew anything about the sword arts, and after receiving a 'no' as an answer, he gave me a book saying that this is the one and only 'sword martial manual' he possesses and that I should learn everything that's written in this book.
Although the old man told me to call him by his name, Akari Masamune, I refused because calling him 'old man' feels more natural to me.
'I feel tired. Let's go home now.'
I decided to skip the chakra control part of my daily training because my body had accumulated a lot of fatigue.
I couldn't tell the flow of time while I was practicing my sword, but it was already 9 p.m. right now, and I was really late.
The starry night sky in this world is just so damn beautiful that it caused me to not want to leave this place and just spend the night here, but I would rather not get scolded by my mom. I have already pissed her off three times this week, and I don't think I can escape her wrath by being cute anymore. That power now resides with my younger sister.
-Rustle!
-Clink
I immediately unsheathed Mugenji and pointed in the direction where the rustling sound of bushes came from.
"Who's there?" I asked
A figure popped out from the bushes with it's hands raised in the air. "Whoa. Calm down. I mean no harm."
Judging by his tone, he was being sincere, but I still held my blade up just in case. If the nine-tail's jinchuriki can be kidnapped while she is in the village, then I, for certain, can be attacked by an enemy.
I still couldn't see his face in the dark, so I told him to come forward.
He walked towards me with his hands still raised in the air.
And I recognised him as soon as the moonlight illuminated his figure.
A brown-haired brat, probably my age. He was a bit younger than his anime counterpart, but I still managed to recognise him.
Nawaki Senju.
He is Tsunade Senju's younger brother, who will die tragically during the second great ninja war.
"Who are you?" I asked
"I should be the one asking you. This is part of the Senju clan's estate. Outsider's aren't allowed here."
I did not know that
"I see. I will leave then. I had no idea that land belonged to the Senju clan." I said that and lowered my weapon.
"Don't worry, this part is on the outskirts of our estate. Even we don't frequent here, and I am Nawaki Senju, by the way. Who are you?" he asked
"I am Tatsumi Nakamura." I replied curtly and sheathed my sword.
"I will leave now." I said that and was about to run away. But he stopped me.
I had no intention of engaging in a conversation with him because I can't really talk to a kid normally as an equal. Also, there was no need to. But I also didn't want to come off as rude, so I stayed regardless.
"What is it?" I asked
"Um...You see..."
"If you don't have anything to say, then I will take my leave. I am already running late." I said
"No! Um...Can you teach me how to use a sword?" he asked
What? Why?
Even if he might have watched me use it, it wasn't good to pique anyone's interest. I myself have been training with a sword for only a year. It feels like he is just forcing the conversation forward. Is this his way of making a connection or a friend?
He has no intention of learning kenjutsu anyway, and even if he does, he must have proper trainers for it in his mansion.
"No. I can't teach you." I said it with a rather cold tone because I was really getting annoyed.
A normal person might not realise it, but being in the body of a child after being an adult and then being expected to act like a kid and be friends with them is incredibly annoying. If you say that I don't really behave like an adult, judging by how clumsy I am, then let me clarify that that is just how I am. That didn't change in my previous life and probably won't change in this one either.
"I will be leaving then," I said, and this time I actually ran away.
I heard him calling me out, but I didn't stop in my tracks.
I may come off as incredibly rude, but quite frankly, I really don't care.
Though his appearance just now was a little concerning, I had always thought that he was 4-5 years older than me.
But if he is really my age and not suffering from a low amount of testosterone that caused him low growth in height and muscles, then my life is going to get a lot harder than I had initially expected it to be.
In the anime, Minato was never shown fighting in the second Shinobi War, which is why I thought that he was younger than Nawaki, who actually did fight in it.
It can't be that he graduated before Minato, because Minato actually graduated at the top of his class before anyone else.
I can't tell for sure if I will have to participate in the war, but on the off chance I end up going to the battlefield, then I need to be prepared.
I can't take things lightly anymore. I need to increase my training and make quicker progress.
***
The next day, I managed to reach the academy on time.
For some reason, I woke up 30 minutes before the start of the academy instead of my usual 10-15 minutes.
I thought this day would be great, judging by that start but life is a bitch.
"Are you still going to ignore me?"
"If you still don't have anything meaningful to say, then yes."
Apparently this doofus slept and got incredibly late to come to the academy yesterday and when he actually did wake up, he was scolded by his elder sister for about an hour.
"Why are you so rude?" Nawaki asked
"Well, it's good to have a side hobby." I said
"Wha-"
"Hey! The two of you in the back, stop chattering!" Kiyoshi Sensei interrupted Nawaki with his scolding
"Sorry, sir," The two of us said
"I don't need your sorry. Answer the question written on the board. This seal is for which jutsu?" He asked, pointing at the seal drawn on the blackboard behind him.
"Oh...um...." Nawaki mumbled
"Answer clearly!"
"Oh, right, sorry...um."
"Do you not know the answer?"
"Uh...."
It was fun to watch and I could have let it go on for a while, but it was only a matter of time before I became the target of sensei's anger, and it's better to resolve it before that happens.
"It's a seal for [Water Release : Water Wall]." I said
Sensei looked at me for a few moments and nodded.
Right now, we are studying the most common ninjutsus used in the form of seals during battle.
Basically, there are other jutsus that can be sealed in paper and used in battle, like the paper bombs, which are just small fireballs sealed in paper.
It is necessary for a ninja to recognise which ninjutsu the enemy is using in order to dodge, block, or release a counter for it.
If you know they are using paper bombs, you can release a water ninjutsu like a water wall and nullify the attack.
Similar to fire, which produces paper bombs, ninjutsu of the other four chakra natures can also be used this way.
Anyway, this stuff is pretty basic for me. After all, I am already very good at sealing jutsus.
They weren't even that hard to master.
Usually, ninjas follow their intuition to guide their chakra in a way to perform and create a seal or they just memorise a seal and practice it over and over till they reach perfection.
Those who are at the level of grandmasters also know the logic behind the seals and can create completely new seals as well.
Although I know the logic behind them, I am not at the level where I can call myself a sealing grandmaster, nor do I plan to become one.
Although sealing jutsus are good for creating weapons, supporting infrastructure, making barriers, etc., they are useless in a fight. Aside from Minato's [Flying Thunder God], of course.
Sealing jutsus are only effective against beasts filled with immense amounts of chakra, i.e., the tailed beasts and any other beast close to their level in terms of chakra.
You can not seal a human inside a piece of paper, which is why there is no point in learning sealing jutsu unless you want to earn some extra money.
Besides, the only reason I am good at it is because I can relate to the method of creating a seal with my knowledge from my previous world.
You basically create an elemental seal by using that particular element's chakra nature. And you basically create a certain combinational or sequential circuit to get the desired output using valid logic. In order to use the seal, you create a trigger, which is basically your chakra, which will be used to activate the seal.
Who knew that engineering would finally become useful?
Anyway, in this way, you can use a jutsu without spending as much chakra as you normally would but then again, these elemental seals are only restricted to D-rank justus. There are very few C-rank jutsu ones as well but the only one I know is that [Fireball] one.
The reason is that the more complex the jutsu is, the more complex it's circuit is, and the tougher it is to create the seal.
But..wait. Why am I telling you this? You don't care about this.
I will stop.
So, getting back on track, Nawaki got scolded a bit more, and then he sat down and started glaring at me as if accusing me of getting him into trouble when he was the one who took a seat right next to me and started talking to me in the middle of the class.
He didn't have so much screen time in the anime, but I didn't expect his personality to be like this. Though, I suppose if he actually behaved like Naruto, he must be needy for friends as well.
But mending the words from Toy Story, 'You have not got a friend in me.'
***
Now it was time for our Shuriken throwing training.
All of us were lined up against 10 logs and would switch our turns at throwing the shurikens after one was done throwing all their 10 shurikens.
Without a doubt, Minato aced this by throwing all 10 shurinkens perfectly and landing them all in the bullseye.
My score was 3/10 if we look at the number of shurikens in the bullseye, but I got all of them on the board, which was the aim of this training.
The only people besides us who nailed all their shurikens on the board were Fugaku Uchiha, Mikoto Uchiha, and Nawaki Senju.
Even the other clan kids were having difficulty doing this.
While I was sitting and chilling under the shade of the tree, I sensed someone glaring at me.
At first, I thought it was just Nawaki again. But it was actually Fugaku Uchiha.
Although they are from opposing clans, they sure do have the exact same glare.
I wonder who made him so mad.
It was a smart decision on my end to not associate myself with the Uchihas because once you get involved with them, you can never stop, even if you try to.
I am glad to not have anything to do with them.
"Tatsumi"
I looked up and saw Fugaku staring right at me.
"That is your name, right?" he asked
Did I just jinx myself? Well, that's no good. I love monologging mentally.
"I challenge you to a duel!" he yelled, making everyone look at us.
"What do you say?" he asked
"I... am not interested."