Two weeks have passed since Hikaru added the three jutsu to his schedule. He was glad that he asked the jutsu from Koji sensei early, as his sensei still does not seem to have the attention to teach the other students.
The reason may be that they were still in their first year, despite the fact that the number of elite Shinobi had significantly decreased due to the Nine-Tails demon fox attack and needed to replenish their strengths. There was no need to force anyone to graduate earlier from the academy.
Especially the rookies from his class.
Hikaru yawns, looking around the morning classroom. He sat near a window, feeling the warmth as the sun shone through. He felt a bit under the weather today as he sat with a worn expression.
He had been training before and after school for the past two weeks.
Coming to the academy has many benefits, but it also gives him a lot of headaches. Bully kid Inuzuka Seiji taunted him daily in class. It seems like this was his way of getting the attention he wanted.
Almost all the students in the class have experienced similar bullying. He was just another unlucky guy who got into an unwanted club unexpectedly.
The only positive aspect Hikaru could see in this boy was the puppy he had next to him. His Ninken, Eiji, seems really cute.
Looking at the clock, Hikaru then remembered that today was another fundamental class in the morning and a taijutsu class in the afternoon.
Opening his backpack, Hikaru takes one leaf out and plays around with his finger.
He can study most fundamental or theoretical classes independently at home, providing an ideal opportunity for his wind transformation training and sensory skill development at the academy.
Hikaru ignores the noise around the class, staring at the leaf in his hand and putting his usual effort into splitting it with his chakra. A small cut appears to have caused the leaf to split, but it is not significant.
That was the most progress he'd made since the start of his training.
Hikaru persists in trying multiple times, even disregarding the arrival of Teshima Yumi sensei, who has now begun teaching Ninja history.
After an hour of trying, Hikaru sighs, leaning back against his chair with his hand supporting his head, wondering, 'Should I go find another Chakra Induction Paper?'
Once again, he is doubting the authenticity of his affinity. Many times, he thought he would keep some allowance from his sister to buy a second Chakra Induction Paper just to recheck it again.
Maybe the last one provided by his parents expired or something.
The Ninja history lesson is quite dull, with some students falling asleep while Yumi sensei continues to teach. Hikaru was surprised, as it appeared Yumi sensei didn't mind and continued on with her teaching.
A few more students started to drool as the lesson changed to geography for another hour. Honestly, Hikaru would fall asleep too if it were not for trying to keep up with his training plan. He has nearly given up on his training plan a few times before, but he perseveres each time.
After slacking off for a few minutes, Hikaru put the leaves away from his table and started another training session for his sensory skills.
Hikaru began to concentrate and control his chakra by kneading it and changing it to "sensory mode." This allows him to sense chakra at his own discretion, allowing him to distinguish each individual classmate or even his sensei by their unique chakra signatures.
Hikaru attempted to extend his senses but was only able to do so within a ten-meter radius. Interestingly, no one has detected his use of sensory skills—not even Yumi sensei.
Hikaru exercised by keeping his senses spread out for fifteen minutes, and then he switched to a chakra suppression technique, which is the opposite of spreading your chakra out but focuses on keeping it inside to avoid detection for another fifteen minutes.
Compared to his training with the wind transformation exercise, his progress with the sensory techniques seems to be much smoother.
According to his father's notes, if Hikaru continued to train and refine the skill, he could theoretically become more proficient and spread the radius further to the same level as his father.
At his peak, his father, Muranaka Sora, could spread out his senses up to a dozen kilometers.
The downside to this skill is that when Hikaru switches to "sensory mode," he can only use it during non-battles. The skill requires a lot of concentration, and he cannot use the sensory mode when fighting. In fact, no sensory ninja can do it at the same time at all.
Hikaru continued to exercise his sensory skills until the end of the morning class, then stepped out for lunch.
His lunch was almost the same every day: two to three onigiri (Japanese rice balls) with different flavors inside. Hikaru finished his lunch and went to the training ground to wait for his afternoon class.
Today's Taijutsu class was a little bit more intriguing than any other day.
After teaching his class for one and a half months, not including the break from the Nine-tails demon's fox attacks, Koji sensei decided to have his students spar each other.
'Finally' was Hikaru's only thought when he heard the news: he would get to learn the taijutsu style he has been studying in combat. Even losing would be better than not fighting; experience only comes from real combat, after all.
Hikaru was chosen as the first one to spar with another classmate, but his first opponent today was not Inuzuka Seiji, as he expected, but another fatty boy, Kajiwara Ryōta, an orphan.
He shaved his head and wore a simple yellow shirt and black pants. At his age, he was nearly as fat as a young Akimichi boy.
"Both of you, please execute a seal of confrontation, just as I have instructed." Koji sensei spoke, glancing at the two of them. "Remember, we only allow taijutsu; no shuriken or kunai throwing."
After completing the seal, Hikaru takes his ready stance for a fight while looking at his opponent.
Unexpectedly, Ryōta, who was considered a timid boy in class, decided to open a fight and start coming at him.
Despite the boy's slow pace, his right hand clenched into a fist, poised for attack. Taking a quick look, Hikaru shifts his body slightly to the left to dodge the incoming attack and counters with a side kick to his head.
Ryōta successfully avoided the attack by bending down on his knee and countering with a sweep kick, aiming to knock Hikaru down.
Hikaru, seeing the incoming attack, flips back with a one-hand jump to dodge and reposition himself, then immediately jumps back with a spinning kick at his opponent.
Ryōta blocked his kick with both hands, after which he took three steps back to balance himself.
Despite feeling a bit numb over his hand, Ryōta decided to approach Hikaru again, aiming for his left side with a low kick, followed by a high kick and several punches.
Hikaru only dodged the attacks left and right for almost ten seconds; once he saw the opening, he took a quick jab back at the boy. Ryōta dodged the attack up close and responded with another strike from his left foot.
This time, Hikaru decided to jump over, dodge the attack, and follow up with a tail kick and a fist. His attack this time didn't miss the target; his kick was blocked, but his left fist connected with Ryōta's chin and knocked him back.
His left fist didn't actually have that much power to put him down, but the momentum did.
Ryōta attempted to stand up and continue the fight, but Koji sensei ultimately declared it over, with Hikaru emerging victorious.
After the fight ends, both of them perform a seal of reconciliation following the ninja tradition.
Hikaru first reached out his fist bump to him, saying with a light smile, "It was a good spar."
"Yeah, but I lose really quick." Ryōta lowered his head and timidly responded, giving a fist bump in return.
"I was just lucky; don't think too much." Hikaru said his encouragement and suggested, "We should spar again sometime."
Koji sensei interrupts the conversation, saying, "Alright, you two, stand nearby. Give other classmates some space to spar, too."
Hikaru stuck out his tongue in embarrassment and hurried along with Ryōta to the sidelines. His first fight was short and had no fancy moves, but he was thrilled to win. Some of the moves were the result of this previous body experience with his parents.
He may not have remembered everything, but the body doesn't forget.
While Hikaru was observing, other classmates engaged in friendly sparring. Ryōta suddenly spoke to him, asking, "Do you think I can be as good as you one day?"
Hikaru was astounded by the question and thought for a moment before turning to say, "Of course you can! But you shouldn't use me as your target."
He gave the boy his honest thought: "If you want to aim high, just use the Hokage as your main goal." Hikaru pointed at the Hokage rock for the boy to look at, then turned back toward Ryōta and said.
"If you think that's too much, just keep working hard; try to be better than yesterday's you, because that's what I'm doing right now."
"Yeah, thanks!" Ryōta spoke in a timid tone, gaining confidence from the expression on his face.
Hikaru felt a bit silly to offer advice on how to get stronger, given that he wasn't exactly considered strong yet. Despite his best intentions, Hikaru could only provide advice on the mental aspect.
Kids often doubt themselves about whether they are doing well or not. Hikaru holds the belief that it is wiser to provide encouragement rather than dash their hopes.
After observing the ongoing friendly sparring match, it was finally time for Inuzuka Seiji to spar with another classmate, Taketa Kenta, another orphan.
Despite his name meaning "big," he was a small, skinny boy who looked like he lacked nutrients.
As soon as both parties execute the confrontation seal, the battle begins. Seiji initiated the fight with confidence, forming both hands into claw styles and starting to attack his opponent with his quick speed.
The attack only made Kenta jump around and try to dodge. He did attempt to retaliate with a kick or a punch, but his efforts were limited. The entire fight looks like a one-sided attack.
Seiji ended the fight quickly, smashing Kenta to the ground when he couldn't dodge as fast enough.
"What a loser!" After winning the battle, Seiji made a bashful comment to the boy, which made him feel embarrassed.
Hikaru couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor boy who was the target of bullying and beatings. Even though he couldn't tolerate this behavior, confronting him immediately for justice wouldn't be a wise decision.
Hikaru acknowledged that, based on the current fight just now, his speed is still inferior to Seiji's. His body reflex speed also needs to improve. His previous victory was fortunate because Ryōta was slow, making it simple to predict his moves and dodge his attacks.
To summarize in one sentence, he still needs a lot of grinding time for training.
Koji sensei later forced the two to perform a seal of reconciliation after the spar ended, marking the end of their taijutsu exercise this evening.