"That's settled, then!"
Minato arranged the plan, saying,
"Rei, you'll spend the mornings training, and in the afternoons, you'll go work at the hospital. What do you think?"
Amamiya Rei naturally thought it was perfect.
He nodded. "Thank you!"
Connections really were wonderful!
He didn't even have to find the job himself—
For the Hokage, it was just a matter of saying a word.
Not even an interview was necessary.
Of course, Rei had his own reasons for wanting to work at the hospital.
First, working in a hospital meant an indoor environment, where he could openly avoid sunlight without arousing suspicion, preventing unnecessary consumption of his Sunlight Value.
Second... he was absolutely craving meat. If he didn't find a way to eat some soon, he was going to lose it.
It had already been two days since arriving in Konoha. He couldn't hope to eat meat from monsters like Minato and the others—that was far too much to ask, but surely he could at least get a taste of ordinary shinobi, right?
He was going to starve into a skeleton at this rate!
But what worried Rei most was still his Sunlight Value.
Since coming to Konoha, his chances of being exposed to sunlight had increased.
If he didn't stockpile enough Sunlight Value, he felt deeply uneasy.
If the day came when his Sunlight Value hit zero, he could be killed by sunlight in an instant.
That would make him the most pitiful transmigrator in history.
No way!
To die by sunlight... it would be too humiliating.
After breakfast, leaving Kushina alone at home, Rei followed Namikaze Minato to work.
To Rei's disappointment, Minato had no intention of personally teaching him.
Although Rei had somewhat guessed this might be the case, facing the reality still left him feeling deflated.
Still, Minato didn't neglect him.
The one who would teach him was Hatake Kakashi.
Just the thought of getting to "taste" Kakashi made Rei feel satisfied already.
Their training site was in a quiet forest within Konoha's boundaries.
Kakashi, masked as always, led the way in complete silence, exuding a chill aloofness.
Only when they arrived at the training spot, ready to begin, did he finally open his mouth.
"We'll start with taijutsu."
Kakashi's words were concise and direct.
Standing perfectly still, he immediately told Rei to attack him with all his strength.
Amamiya Rei: "..."
Who taught people like this?
Starting with an all-out attack—
Did Kakashi even know he was a complete beginner?
Rei's taijutsu foundation was zero.
His only advantage lay in his demon body.
A demon's body, aside from its regenerative abilities, had physical strength and speed far beyond a human's.
Of course, that "beyond humans" excluded shinobi.
Without skills or ninjutsu, Rei had already guessed that being pinned down and "polished against the ground" by Kakashi was inevitable.
But he hadn't expected it to happen this fast.
The moment Rei raised his fist to smash into Kakashi's face, before he could even get close, the world spun violently.
When his vision cleared again, all he could see was Kakashi's legs and the grass beneath him.
Kakashi's hand gripped Rei's wrist like an iron clamp.
"Too weak," came the laconic verdict from above.
Rei: "..."
He forcefully restrained his instinctive urge to demonize—
Otherwise, he might not be able to resist whipping Kakashi's face with a blood whip.
The crushing pressure vanished.
Rei climbed back to his feet, fixing his gaze on Kakashi.
Kakashi stared back, his brow slightly furrowing under the mask, his cold voice spitting out just two more words: "Continue."
Rei could only lift his fists again and charge at Kakashi.
This time, Kakashi didn't immediately throw him to the ground—
Instead, he simply caught Rei's punch mid-air.
Rei: "..."
Humiliation. Utter humiliation.
Closing his eyes briefly, Rei drew a deep breath.
In the next instant, his captured fist twisted at an unnatural angle, slipping free of Kakashi's grasp. The fist wind pressed close to Kakashi's mask, but he tilted his head aside.
On the other side, Rei's open palm lashed toward him with brutal force, the air itself groaning under the pressure.
And then—
Rei was sent flying by a single kick from Kakashi.
He absorbed the force skillfully, dispersing the momentum before landing steadily.
Brushing the footprint from his clothes, he kept his eyes on Kakashi.
Kakashi's gaze was cool and unreadable, but his tone grew colder still. "Continue."
Rei spent an entire hour practicing taijutsu with Kakashi in his human form.
Though "practice" was hardly the word—it was more like direct combat.
But for Rei, the result was clear—
Direct combat produced far greater improvement than rigid, step-by-step lessons.
A demon's body thrived on growth and strengthening through battle.
With the combination of his demon physique and what Rei proudly considered his "brilliant mind," mastering taijutsu would be a piece of cake!
Panting heavily, Rei was extremely satisfied with his performance that day.
Even in Konoha, geniuses like him were surely rare.
He glanced at the ever-masked Kakashi, smirking inwardly.
Tremble in awe before the might of a genius, Kakashi!
The system, capable of reading its host's thoughts: "..."
Such an unshakably confident host was truly rare even in a hundred years.
Kakashi gave Rei a sidelong glance, slightly raising his internal evaluation.
While Rei's taijutsu was completely devoid of technique, her talent was outstanding and her willpower commendable.
If she continued at this pace, she could indeed achieve in a short time what an ordinary shinobi needed ten years to master.
After taijutsu, Rei followed Kakashi in learning chakra control.
Compared to taijutsu, chakra control came far more naturally to Rei.
It was accurate to say that he mastered it as soon as he was taught—Kakashi barely needed to say more than a few words.
After all, Rei had once managed to grasp medical ninjutsu entirely on his own without any guidance.
Controlling his chakra was hardly a challenge.
In about ten minutes, Rei had almost instantly mastered abilities like tree climbing and water walking, which required fine chakra manipulation.
Kakashi shot Rei a brief glance—it seemed she wasn't clueless in chakra control after all.
For the remaining time, Kakashi decided to have Rei practice Mokuton.
This was something Minato had specifically instructed Kakashi to cover.
Unfortunately, Kakashi knew little about Mokuton himself, so he could only tell Rei to attack him with it as best she could.
Although Kakashi knew Mokuton was strong, he was certain that Rei, the idiot standing before him, still didn't have the power to harm him.
And since Kakashi himself said so, Rei naturally seized the opportunity to exact some payback.
Three thick vines burst from the ground beneath Kakashi's feet, growing taller than the surrounding trees in the blink of an eye, whipping toward Kakashi.
The air seemed to be sliced into invisible shards by the vines, producing a sharp whistling sound.
***