The following morning, Shinra arrived at Training Ground Nineteen considerably earlier than usual.
The first rays of sunlight had only just begun creeping above the horizon. The training ground remained completely empty aside from Shinra it was completely barren.
That suited him perfectly.
Shinra finished another lap around the perimeter of the training ground before slowing to a stop. A thin layer of sweat covered his forehead as he rolled his shoulders to test something.
'I don't feel almost any resistance from these anymore.'
The weights strapped around his wrists and ankles felt no different from ordinary clothing at this point.
Several months ago, simply wearing them throughout the day had been enough to leave his muscles aching by nightfall. Now he could complete his daily training routine, practice swordsmanship, and even undertake missions without noticing their presence.
Which meant they had stopped serving their purpose. Shinra lowered himself onto a nearby rock before examining one of the weights strapped around his ankle, they were each locked on the highest setting.
'I'll have to replace them soon.'
Unfortunately, decent training weights weren't cheap.
Thankfully, the combination of his savings from several months of D-rank missions alongside the recent C-rank payout meant that he could finally afford a higher-grade set.
Just as he finished the thought, a familiar voice interrupted him.
"You're here early."
Shinra looked up.
Yogi stood several meters away with both hands resting inside his pockets.
For several moments, neither spoke.
Then Shinra glanced toward the sky, it wasn't even close to noon yet.
"You're here early."
That immediately caused Yogi to cough. "Can't slack off when my students are so hard working that would make me look bad."
Shinra wasn't entirely convinced.
Yogi's gaze eventually drifted downward toward the weights strapped around Shinra's wrists and ankles.
"You still wear those?"
"Most of the time."
"Even during missions?"
"Yes."
The jōnin stared at him for several moments before shaking his head.
"That could cost you your life if you are not careful."
"It's only because they've become too light"
Shinra glanced down at the weights.
"I was planning on buying a new set soon."
"Buying a new set?"
"Yes."
"The current set isn't providing much resistance anymore."
For some reason, Yogi suddenly looked at him as though he had just said something profoundly stupid.
Shinra frowned slightly.
"What?"
The jōnin remained silent for several moments.
Then he asked:
"You're studying under Kurosawa, aren't you?"
"Yes."
"And you're planning on spending your own money?"
"…Yes?"
Yogi slowly rubbed his forehead.
For the first time that morning, he genuinely looked disappointed.
"Shinra."
"Hm?"
"You are a shinobi but you are lacking a very important aspect of a great shinobi."
This time it was Shinra's turn to stare blankly.
"What do you mean?"
"You need to become more shameless, I mean why are you spending your own money when you have direct access to Kurosawa?"
The statement caught him off guard.
Several moments passed.
Yogi continued.
"Do you honestly think that old man spent half of his life as a seal master and doesn't have training equipment lying around somewhere?"
"…I never asked."
"Clearly."
The jōnin sighed.
"You're his student. Go bother him afterwards."
Shinra considered the suggestion briefly.
The more he thought about it, the more reasonable it sounded, the last time he had done such an act was when he asked of a B-rank jutsu of Reigen.
Everytime Shinra had visited Kurosawa, he always drank sake until he ran out. The brand of sake he drinks is an expensive commodity, so he should be fairly wealthy and not to mention that he probably had an old set that he doesn't use or can create a new one for him.
Yogi immediately noticed the change in his expression.
"There we go."
"What?"
"You finally started thinking like a ninja."
"By considering taking advantage of an old man who is my fuinjutsu-sensei?"
"Exactly."
Somewhere else in Konoha, Kurosawa suddenly sneezed.
"Did I catch a cold or something?"
Neither of them noticed.
For several moments, silence returned to the training ground.
Shinra's thoughts gradually drifted elsewhere.
Specifically toward the idea of participating in the Chunin Exam.
The more he thought about it, the more apparent the issue became.
His sensory abilities were excellent.
His swordsmanship continued improving steadily.
His shadow clone usage helped him create many more plans during a fight.
Yet despite all of that, his actual offensive options remained surprisingly narrow.
Lightning Palm.
Lightning Kunai.
Rasengan.
One Jutsu he couldn't openly use.
One Jutsu that required distance.
One Jutsu that lacked fire power.
It wasn't enough.
Eventually he looked toward Yogi.
"Sensei."
"Hm?"
"I want to learn more ninjutsu."
Unlike what he expected, Yogi didn't answer immediately.
The jōnin simply studied him.
"So after deciding to take advantage of Kurosawa you decide to do the same of me? You are a quick learner aren't you?"
Shinra thought about it briefly.
" It's not that, my arsenal feels incomplete."
Yogi nodded once.
A surprisingly serious expression appeared on his face.
"That's because it is."
The blunt answer caught him slightly off guard.
"I thought you'd disagree."
"Why would I?"
Yogi shrugged.
"You've spent most of your time improving what you're already good at."
Shinra remained silent.
Because that wasn't entirely wrong.
The sensory field.
Swordsmanship.
Lightning Release.
Most of his progress over the past six months had come from refining existing strengths rather than addressing weaknesses.
The jōnin suddenly pushed himself away from the tree.
"Take the weights off."
Shinra blinked.
"What?"
"The weights."
Yogi pointed toward the ground, "Drop them off."
Then toward himself.
"I'm going to see how much of that problem is actually your arsenal and how much of it is you."
A grin slowly appeared on his face.
"Come at me."
After giving it some thought Shinra complied with his request and removed the training weights that were normally hidden under his clothes. He normally only removes them when showering or if he needs to be in the best shape possible.
With over 200 kilograms off of his body, Shinra began stretching and bouncing his body to get a feel of his current state. His body felt lighter than ever in a weird way, he even felt that he might be able to land a few hits on Yogi today.
Yogi waited for Shinra to finish his stretch before asking him, "Are you ready now?"
"Yes" Shinra drew his sword from his waist and held it in his right hand.
As soon as Shinra answered, Yogi dashed towards him with a short blade in his hand which was surprising as he usually never used any weapons during a spar even the team spar.
Yogi swung down the blade at Shinra who parried it with the blade of his sword supported by his other hand. He kicked his leg towards Yogi to create some distance but was met with thin air as he had already jumped away.
As soon as some distance was created, Shinra thought, 'His short blade gives him the advantage in close range, if I want to effectively use my sword I need a little distance.'
Shinra immediately dashed towards Yogi surprisingly fast and slashed his sword from a perfect angle, Yogi parried the attack but unlike Shinra's parry he deflected the sword by the body of the blade and had it slide down using the momentum of the attack.
As Shinra's body had yet to balance itself from the earlier attack, Yogi kicked him directly in his ribcage, the force of the kick sent Shinra a couple of metres back.
Shinra felt a dull ache at the place where the kick had landed, 'Is he not pulling any punches? Normally in a spar he would limit himself to the other side's physical capabilities, is he trying to push me to my limits?'
Not only did Shinra notice this difference, Yogi's defence just now and his counterattack were the exact reaction of Shinra to his attack but performed at a higher level and precision.
While Shinra was thinking that, Yogi began forming hand seals and spat out a huge fireball. Upon seeing the hurling fireball towards him Shinra formed a single hand seal and flickered away into the forest causing the fireball to hit a stray tree.
Seeing the tree set ablaze Yogi smiled and used his sensory jutsu to try to sense Shinra but couldn't, 'Upon realising the difference in strength he decided to hide and suppress his chakra signature, but the moment he decides to use chakra he would be immediately exposed.'
Shinra closely monitored Yogi from behind one of the trees, he quickly thought of a plan and pulled out a scroll from underneath his shirt and unfurled it.