Sea Calendar, Year 1480.Calm Belt.
At the beach near the shore, Isamu sat with his right hand plunged into the water. At some distance, a huge boulder about five meters in height floated perfectly still on the water surface. Despite its size, the boulder wasn't sinking, and even the waves around it remained undisturbed—it was perfectly still.
But under the boulder, within the water, the situation was completely different. A small water cyclone was spinning beneath it, keeping it afloat. The force of the cyclone was equally distributed under the boulder, maintaining its absolute stability.
"As expected of the Second Hokage... This method not only increases my affinity with Water Release but also trains me to achieve perfect control over it," said Isamu, eyeing the floating boulder—the fruit of his effort.
It had been a month since Isamu awakened the Crossgate Seal. Every night since then, he had come here. All he did throughout the month was hunt the island's animals and master Water Release, following the notes left behind by the Second Hokage.
The continuous consumption of meat from these animals had, in just a month, doubled Isamu's physical abilities—and there was no sign of that growth slowing. This physical enhancement had also increased his total chakra reserves. Mentally, he felt much lighter, finding it significantly easier to master ninjutsu as well.
Perhaps that was the reason why, in just a month, he had made great strides in mastering Water Release. He had started with a small pebble and worked his way up to the massive boulder, now floating perfectly still.
"Hmm?"
Just as Isamu was wondering whether to try it with an even bigger boulder, he frowned and gazed into the distance. On the calm sea surface, the water began to bubble. A huge shadow appeared beneath it, swimming rapidly toward him.
SHUR!!!!
Isamu stepped back slightly, causing the boulder to immediately sink—but his focus remained on the approaching danger. The water's surface broke, and a massive head with green and yellow stripes emerged. The Sea King had a long nose and a snake-shaped head, with an eel-like body. Its purple eyes, ringed with dark circles, stared at the tiny Isamu standing on the shore.
"At least 100 meters in height," muttered Isamu, tilting his head up to the maximum to gaze at the Sea King before him—once again shocked by the size of creatures in this world.
"HOOOO!!!!"
As Isamu admired the Sea King, it growled in its unique roar, clearly angered by the tiny creature looking at it without fear. The beast immediately dived toward Isamu, its snake-like head and long nose stabbing at him with a speed utterly inconsistent with its massive size.
BOOM!!!
Instead of backing away—despite knowing the Sea King wouldn't chase him inland—Isamu actually rushed forward, leaping into the sea. The Sea King's nose drilled into the spot where Isamu had just stood. The ground shook, and massive clouds of sand burst outward.
"Gahhhh!!!"
Having missed its target, the Sea King growled and raised its colossal head, shaking it to rid its face of dust. It then turned to glare at the tiny creature behind it—now standing on the water.
"You arrived at just the right time. Let's try that," muttered Isamu with a smile on his face. His hands turned into afterimages, and chakra surged from his feet into the water.
Water Style: Drilling Water Spears!!
SHUR!!!!
The Sea King, about to attack again, froze when it noticed the water around its body begin to bubble. It watched as the bubbling water formed into ten spinning water spears.
"HOOOO!!!"
A sense of danger enveloped the Sea King. It tried to drill deeper into the sea to avoid the attack, but its massive body betrayed it—making escape impossible.
"GAHHHH!!!!"
The water spears pierced the Sea King's thick skin like knives slicing through butter. Red-hot blood splashed out as a painful roar spread through the area.
But even though Isamu had landed a successful blow, it wasn't enough to seriously injure a Sea King of that size. The beast quickly dove back into the water and disappeared, leaving behind blood and massive waves in its wake.
Isamu hadn't expected to kill—or even defeat—a Sea King nearly the size of a Susanoo. Still, he was satisfied that his attack had managed to pierce its tough hide.
Drilling Water Spears was a B-rank ninjutsu, one of the few rewards given to Isamu by the Second Hokage after he had offered up his A-rank Rasengan in return—and it had certainly not disappointed. Without lingering, Isamu vanished from the shore and headed into the forest, fully aware that the blood of a Sea King could attract others far more dangerous than the one he had just faced. He wasn't strong enough yet to take on multiple of them.
Konoha, Year 32Ninja Academy
After class, Isamu was called to the Vice Principal's office—and the reason left him deeply surprised.
"Congratulations, Hojo Isamu. I hope you continue to serve the village well," said the Vice Principal as he handed over a dark green jacket and a scroll tied with a beautiful red ribbon.
"Jonin… really?" muttered Isamu as he absentmindedly took the jacket and promotion letter, the sudden promotion catching him off guard.
It wasn't that Isamu thought himself unworthy—maybe a month ago he wasn't ready—but today, he definitely had the strength of a jonin. Still, he was sure he hadn't met the necessary mission count or merit for the rank.
Holding the jacket and letter, Isamu walked out of the office confused, heading slowly toward his own. On the way, he noticed a crowd of kids gathered around the academy's announcement board.
Curious, he stopped to take a look—and saw the announcement for three students who had graduated early.
Senju Tsunade.Orochimaru.Jiraiya.
The names didn't surprise him; after all, he was one of the five teachers who had approved their early graduation. But what caused his expression to change was the line just below their names:
Jonin Instructor: Hojo Isamu.
"I see… no wonder I got promoted," said Isamu, immediately understanding the reason behind the sudden elevation in rank.
"Congratulations on your promotion, Hojo Chunin—no, I should say, Hojo Jonin now," came a cheerful voice from behind, snapping his attention back.
It was the familiar petite girl with long, fringed black hair reaching her back—soft, cute facial features and bright, round eyes gazing at him with deep interest.
Sumire Hoshikawa—a fellow chunin and colleague.
"Thank you, Sumire-sensei. But I really don't know whether I should be happy or not... Seems like my workload just increased," said Isamu, pointing at his appointment as jonin instructor. He knew teaching the likes of Tsunade and the others wouldn't be easy.
"Of course, you should be happy! I'd trade places with you if I could... But sadly, I'm not as talented as you," said Sumire with a frustrated look. She had long accepted that chunin might be her limit, but it still stung to think about sometimes.
"Hmm~ you think so?" muttered Isamu, rubbing his chin, his gaze on the sulking Sumire before him.
"Well, if it's something to be happy about, then it should be celebrated... But doing so alone wouldn't be fun. Would you like to accompany me for some BBQ tonight? What do you say, Sumire-sensei?" asked Isamu teasingly, his face drawing closer with mischief in his eyes.
BOOM!!!
His words hit Sumire like a bomb. Her mind went blank and her face turned bright red in an instant—her words stuck in her throat.
"Accompany me… Accompany me… Accompany me…"These words kept looping in her mind, nearly making smoke rise from her head.
"Oh~ You don't want to?" Isamu's voice—feigning disappointment—snapped her back to reality. She looked panicked and quickly replied.
"No, of course I want to—I mean, it's a happy occasion, and celebrating alone would definitely be weird…" Sumire started in a flustered tone, her voice gradually growing softer as she lowered her head and fidgeted with her fingers.
"Hahaha! Brilliant! Then let's meet at 8, outside Akimichi BBQ," said Isamu, laughing as he walked away.
Sumire watched until he completely disappeared from her sight—then, unable to contain herself anymore, she jumped high in the air.
"Yeah!!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, not caring about the strange looks from students passing by. Her heart beating rapidly as pure happiness on her face.