He had been training under Lee in Taijutsu, yet completely neglected Ninjutsu.
Shiki had clearly defined himself as a Versatile ninja excelling in both Ninjutsu and Taijutsu, with some Genjutsu as support.
Yet so far, he hadn't even started training in hand seals.
He knew that for a ninja, hand seal speed during battle was often the key to winning or losing.
Even if he couldn't reach Itachi's level of seal-making speed, at minimum it shouldn't become a weakness holding back his abilities, right?
Shaking his head, Shiki thought regretfully, "Looks like I've really been going down the wrong path all along."
Yes, although Taijutsu was extremely important for every ninja, he shouldn't have abandoned Ninjutsu entirely because of it.
"I guess I should stop by the bookstore soon too. And also visit a Ninja Tools Shop."
Rubbing his chin, Shiki considered—maybe he should add some weights to his training as well. If he continued practicing without any weights, his Taijutsu might not improve further.
He quickly took a deep breath, finished the bowl of instant ramen, said goodbye to Naruto, and left home.
Since it was already summer, Shiki didn't feel cold at night. Instead, he felt quite refreshed.
Just thinking about the booklet gifted by Iruka-sensei tucked inside his clothes made him noticeably excited.
But before studying, he still needed to master those basic hand seals first, and improve his speed of forming them.
Otherwise, even if he learned these Ninjutsu techniques, against an opponent like Lee using ultra-fast Taijutsu, he definitely wouldn't have time to form seals slowly.
And opponents certainly wouldn't allow him the chance to create distance either.
Walking through the sparsely populated streets, Shiki arrived first at a Ninja Tools Shop since it was closer to home.
"Welcome! Is there anything I can help you with?" A middle-aged man asked eagerly when he saw Shiki entering.
"Do you have weights specifically for Taijutsu training?" Shiki asked.
The man with a rounded belly walked out from behind the counter and headed toward a shelf. "Of course, though very few people use this kind of thing nowadays."
Nodding in agreement, Shiki recalled from his memory that aside from Might Guy and Rock Lee, practically no one else used such "crazy stuff."
Perhaps some other ninja did buy them for Taijutsu training, but they definitely couldn't reach Rock Lee's level.
Sure enough, it took the shop owner quite a while before he finally found these items from some box.
He brought them over and handed them to Shiki, but noticing Shiki's slight frown, suddenly understood, "Look at me! How could a kid like you possibly handle such heavy weights? Wait a moment, I'll get you something lighter."
[Too light!]
Just as the man turned around, a voice suddenly came from behind him.
Thinking perhaps he'd misheard, he turned back to look at Shiki again, asking, "What did you say?"
Shiki stared into his eyes and clearly stated, "Too light."
Chapter 20: Appropriate Weights
The shop owner was greatly astonished because even he, as an adult, found that weight quite heavy. How could a child of such a young age handle it?
"May I ask your name?" The shop owner couldn't help but ask while looking at the red-haired Shiki.
"Shiki Uzumaki," Shiki replied.
The middle-aged man nodded before saying, "Shiki, I understand that being able to lift something so heavy at your age is already quite admirable. But you must understand, just being able to lift it doesn't mean you can use it freely. Let alone carrying it around during daily activities."
Shiki felt helpless; apparently, he'd been mistaken for an arrogant and ignorant kid.
"Hmph! Kids these days have no idea what they're getting into," said a sixteen or seventeen-year-old ninja who had entered the shop. After overhearing their conversation, he commented.
Shiki turned his head toward the ninja. The latter's appearance was rather ordinary except for the forehead protector and the green vest of a Chunin.
"I beg your pardon," Shiki addressed him, "Why do you say that?"
Unexpectedly, the Chunin immediately began mocking without any apparent reason, "I, Kousen Fujino, despise brats like you most—thinking ninja work is just kids playing games. You have no real abilities yet act as if defeating the Hokage is easy. Although I've never used these weights myself, I know how heavy they are. You said they're light? Probably, you couldn't even stand up with heavier ones!"
So much unnecessary talk!
Shiki couldn't help feeling annoyed in his heart—another person treating him as if he knew nothing, regarding him as merely a clueless child.
Having an adult soul inside a kid's body, he hated being laughed at like that.
Just as Shiki was about to retort, the door to the ninja tools shop was suddenly pushed open again.
The girl appearing in the doorway wore a mandarin-style qipao dress, paired with an equally traditional Chinese hairstyle. Yet she looked unusually cute without seeming weak despite being female.
Her gaze carried sharpness filled with heroism and confidence. Shiki recognized her instantly—he had encountered another character from the original story, Tenten, jokingly called the high-society princess.
"Hey, Uncle, what's all the commotion inside?" Tenten seemed especially familiar with the place as she casually walked in greeting the store owner.
Actually, Shiki wasn't surprised. Considering how much Tenten used ninja tools, knowing several store owners wasn't odd.
"Oh, it's Tenten! Here again to buy ninja tools, right?" The middle-aged man showed particular enthusiasm upon seeing Tenten.
Indeed, merchants always treated customers capable of bringing substantial profits with special warmth.
However, Tenten fixed her gaze on Shiki instead.
"Red hair?" Tenten approached Shiki, almost searching for something. She leaned in close, inspecting him like he was some kind of mystery. Then she spoke,
"Could you possibly be the rumored genius, Shiki Uzumaki?"
"Shiki felt a bit overwhelmed by the girl's strange behavior and could only modestly reply, "No, it's just an exaggeration from my classmates."
Tenten gave an adorable nod and said, "I knew it. Girls are always into good-looking guys and then call them absolute geniuses."
"Er... yeah." Since he had already made a humble remark, Shiki couldn't very well take it back, so he could only go along with what Tenten said.
"Hey! Brat! Are you listening to me?" The Chunin shouted, seeing that Shiki was talking with Tenten and ignoring him.
"Oh, so you're still here," Shiki coldly remarked. "I thought this conceited ninja here would've already left out of shame."
"Brat! Why should I be the one leaving in shame? It's you who's conceited!"
Tenten, confused by the argument between the two, pointed one of her delicate fingers at herself and said, "Did I miss something just now?"
Shiki wanted to explain everything that had happened to Tenten, but seeing the provoking look in the Chunin's eyes, he decided to counter with the facts instead.
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