Chapter 551: Kenichi Discovers a Training System That Could Change the Shinobi World
The future Child of Prophecy was clearly no match for the current Kakashi.
Naruto could only obediently abandon the idea of challenging him and follow Kakashi's lead, preparing to complete missions such as catching cats and delivering groceries.
Naruto did not look down on those tasks.
In his opinion, as long as he could earn money, he would accept not only cat-catching missions, but even rat-catching missions.
Kenichi followed behind them, lost in thought.
These missions were necessary for the continued operation of the ninja village, but how could he change the system?
For now, he could only wait for Konoha to locate the object he needed.
The mission system...
Kenichi scratched his head.
The simplest way to change everything was to increase productivity.
Ultimately, most of the problems in the current Shinobi World came from insufficient productivity.
If productivity became high enough, spending five thousand ryo to hire a ninja would become a trivial expense, and many things would naturally become easier.
Moreover, compared to the dangerous assignments ninja received during wartime, Kenichi suspected that many ninja would actually prefer these ordinary and safe missions.
They might be boring and tedious, but at least they allowed a person to live peacefully into old age.
A very small number of ninja had even shorter lifespans, especially those who practiced the Eight Inner Gates.
Opening the Gate of Death practically guaranteed death.
Unless someone mastered Six Paths Mode and used its overwhelming physical power to offset the damage caused by opening the Gate of Death, survival was almost impossible.
Thinking about this, Kenichi subconsciously opened the Eight Inner Gates.
A powerful wave of air instantly erupted from his body.
The aura surrounding him first turned green, then rapidly began shifting toward blue.
Everyone immediately turned to look at him.
A trace of astonishment flashed through Kakashi's eye.
Kenichi actually knew this technique?
Was he not afraid of dying young?
It was common knowledge that the average lifespan in the Shinobi World was not particularly long.
Living to thirty or forty was already considered respectable, while surviving past fifty was enough to be called long-lived.
Kenichi closed the Eight Inner Gates and continued walking slowly at the back of the group.
Opening the gates no longer cost him very much.
Even the physical burden had become much smaller.
Perhaps it has something to do with the primordial chakra inside my body?
Kenichi scratched his head.
Then he glanced toward Naruto.
Naruto was touching his left arm.
It had been grazed by Kakashi's Fireball Jutsu during the survival exercise, and the burning pain had been intense.
Yet after only a short time, the wound had almost completely healed.
If the wrinkled sensation on his skin had not reminded him of it, Naruto might have forgotten that he had been injured at all.
This was most likely the powerful healing ability granted to him as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
To some extent, Naruto could be considered another version of Monkey D. Luffy, someone capable of repeatedly getting back up during a battle until his opponent was completely exhausted.
Although situations like that rarely happened.
At least Naruto was not like a certain strongest teacher, who could master advanced Haki after taking one hit and then awaken his Devil Fruit after another.
With that thought, Kenichi looked toward Sasuke.
Sasuke had mastered several ninjutsu, but the current Sasuke also seemed to be walking down an entirely different path from his original self.
That was rather interesting.
Sasuke looked at Kenichi in confusion.
What was wrong with this teacher?
Why had his gaze suddenly become so strange?
"By the way, what was that technique you just used?"
Sasuke suddenly remembered the aura surrounding Kenichi and could not help asking.
When Kenichi's entire body had turned green, the surprise in Kakashi's eye had been unmistakable.
That meant the technique had to be extremely powerful.
For Sasuke, who was entirely focused on becoming stronger, that alone was enough to make him desperate to learn it.
"You shouldn't try to learn that technique casually."
Kakashi, who was walking ahead, unusually turned his head to look back.
Sasuke clearly remained unconvinced.
"That technique is a forbidden jutsu. It's extremely difficult to learn and requires an exceptionally strong body."
Kakashi continued speaking.
"If your physical condition is insufficient, then even if you somehow learn it, you won't be able to use it. Activating it could cripple you. Even if you aren't crippled, you could die."
If Sasuke had asked about any other technique, Kakashi would not have interfered.
It was not particularly strange that Kenichi had mastered the Eight Inner Gates.
Kenichi was mysterious enough that even the Third Hokage treated him with caution.
However, if Sasuke intended to learn it, Kakashi had to warn him.
Kenichi possessed an extremely powerful body.
After receiving the information on his three potential students, Kakashi had investigated Kenichi, who maintained close relationships with Naruto and Sasuke.
He discovered that Kenichi subjected both boys to intense physical training every day.
Because of that, Kakashi did not find it too surprising that Kenichi had mastered the Eight Inner Gates.
Sasuke turned his confused gaze toward Kenichi.
He had heard about many kinds of ninjutsu, but this was the first technique he had encountered with such extreme physical requirements.
"It's true, Sasuke."
Kenichi nodded at his questioning expression.
"With your current physical condition, you wouldn't even be able to open the Gate of Opening."
Although Sasuke had undergone almost half a year of training, he was still not physically capable of mastering the Eight Inner Gates.
The Eight Inner Gates placed extraordinary demands on the user's body.
It was not a technique that just anyone could learn.
Otherwise, Konoha could simply train an entire force of taijutsu specialists and teach all of them the Eight Inner Gates.
Then, when war began, someone could tell them, "I'll take care of your wives and children."
The entire group could open the Gate of Death, kick every enemy to death, and unify the Shinobi World.
On the surface, the Eight Inner Gates appeared simple, powerful, and entirely worth the investment.
Yet within Konoha, only Guy and Lee had learned the technique.
Even by the time of the Fourth Shinobi World War, Lee still could not open the Gate of Death.
That alone proved that the Eight Inner Gates still demanded a certain degree of talent.
It also required incredible perseverance.
After all, ordinary people could never maintain Guy's daily training routine.
"Then if I keep training, can I learn it?"
Sasuke refused to give up.
He still wanted to master the technique.
As long as something could make him stronger, he was willing to pay any price.
"Yes. Your foundation is good."
Kenichi nodded.
There was no real problem with Sasuke learning the Eight Inner Gates.
However, it would require long hours of grueling training every single day.
As soon as Kenichi finished speaking, he felt someone tugging on his sleeve.
He turned and found Naruto staring at him with shining eyes.
Kenichi's mouth twitched.
His foolish little brother had not said anything yet, but Kenichi already understood what he wanted.
Thinking about Naruto's physical condition, Kenichi stroked his chin.
"You can learn it too."
Kenichi thought for a moment before warning him.
"But if you want to practice the Eight Inner Gates, your training volume will become enormous. I'm worried you won't be able to endure it."
"I'm not afraid!"
Naruto immediately thumped his chest.
Sasuke also nodded with complete seriousness.
Kenichi revealed a smile so friendly that it was almost terrifying.
"All right."
Later, Kakashi held the mission sheet in one hand and looked at the three students before him.
"Today's mission is to find Granny Mizutsuru's missing cat."
He paused and stared at them in silence.
"You three are really pushing yourselves. Do you honestly still have enough energy to search for a cat?"
There was no helping his concern.
From the moment they gathered, Kakashi had noticed that Naruto and Sasuke both looked utterly exhausted.
Their clothes were soaked in sweat, while their hands and legs trembled slightly even when they were standing still.
Kakashi could easily recognize the symptoms of excessive physical exertion and severe muscle fatigue.
"Don't worry, Sensei!"
Naruto gave him a thumbs-up.
The gesture nearly triggered Kakashi's trauma.
Whenever he saw someone raise a thumb like that, he instinctively thought of Guy.
Guy loved making the same gesture while flashing his bright white teeth and declaring, "That's youth!"
Looking at Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata, all of whom wore similarly determined expressions, Kakashi suddenly felt as though three bowl-cut copies of Guy were standing before him.
"All right. Then the mission is..."
Kakashi began explaining the details.
Hinata listened with complete attention.
Naruto and Sasuke also wanted to listen carefully, but their overwhelming exhaustion made it difficult to concentrate.
Finding a cat sounded like an extremely simple assignment.
However, Konoha had complicated architecture, confusing streets, countless irregularly constructed buildings, and forests scattered throughout the village.
In such an environment, locating one missing cat was practically a nightmare.
Kenichi squatted off to the side and listened.
If this had happened in his previous life, Kenichi would have advised them not to get their hopes up.
Once a cat escaped, bringing it home was almost impossible.
Unless the animal carried a GPS tracker, and an accurate one at that, there would be almost no way to locate it.
But this was the Shinobi World.
Kenichi watched as Kakashi led the three students through the mission.
He taught them how to identify the cat's footprints and other traces, then showed them how to use those clues to narrow down its location.
Afterward, they surrounded the cat and captured it while it was sunbathing.
They finally returned the animal to a smiling Granny Mizutsuru.
Just like that, the D-rank mission was completed.
The reward was naturally not very high.
After Konoha deducted the village's share and the remainder was divided among the team, each person received a pitiful amount.
"How do you feel after completing your first mission?"
After the assignment ended, Kakashi unexpectedly asked them several questions.
"I feel like missions like this allow us to apply what we learned at the academy," Sasuke answered.
That was his greatest takeaway.
Finding an ordinary cat had actually tested intelligence analysis, tracking skills, logical reasoning, and even the use of reconnaissance ninjutsu.
If someone could locate a tiny cat in Konoha's complicated environment, they would gain valuable experience for tracking people in the wilderness later.
Kakashi looked at Sasuke in surprise.
Although he had not known the boy for long, he had to admit that Sasuke was exceptionally talented.
He was a natural-born ninja.
Naruto, meanwhile, did not even possess the strength to speak.
Hinata nodded in agreement with Sasuke's assessment.
Naruto had no thoughts about the mission at all.
He only wanted to travel back in time and punch his past self.
Training in the Eight Inner Gates was far too difficult.
"Then our next mission is to help harvest potatoes," Kakashi continued.
If finding a cat had required some actual technique, then harvesting potatoes required none at all.
It was pure physical labor.
The moment they heard this, both Naruto and Sasuke looked horrified.
However, before either of them could escape, Kenichi placed one hand on each of their shoulders.
"Perfect timing."
Kenichi smiled warmly.
"You've rested enough while searching for the cat. You can use the potato harvest as part of your training. Five kilograms of additional weight each shouldn't be a problem, right?"
Naruto and Sasuke swallowed hard and exchanged glances.
Naruto now desperately wished he could return to the past and slap himself.
Why had he asked to learn the Eight Inner Gates?
His big brother had completely stopped treating him like a human being.
Sasuke took a deep breath.
Then he silently removed the weights and strapped them to his legs.
He wanted to become stronger.
No matter what happened, he had to become stronger.
The memory of that bloody night and the sight of his parents falling continued to drive him forward at any cost.
Seeing Sasuke's determination, Naruto's fighting spirit immediately ignited.
He also put on the weighted bags and followed Kakashi.
So what if they had to harvest potatoes?
Naruto would not lose to Sasuke.
Kenichi shook his head.
He did not know whether it was caused by their reincarnations, but the relationship between Naruto and Sasuke was truly complicated.
Some time later, Hiruzen sat in the mission hall and took a puff from his pipe.
"These three children are growing quickly. I suspect they'll soon become tired of D-rank missions."
He had personally come to the mission hall to assign work to Team 7.
Naturally, other teams did not receive such treatment.
Even the genin from prominent clans, such as the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, were merely incidental.
Hiruzen's true focus was Naruto, Sasuke, and Kenichi, who stood behind them.
"Hokage-sama, performing D-rank missions is part of the village's established system..."
Iruka spoke quietly.
Although he also believed that Team 7 could probably handle C-rank missions with Kenichi nearby, he still felt it would be better for them to accumulate more experience first.
Hiruzen took another puff from his pipe.
That was naturally true for ordinary ninja.
However, geniuses would never remain satisfied with mediocrity.
Eventually, Hiruzen looked at Kakashi with a complicated expression.
"You've already completed more than a hundred D-rank missions. Have you considered accepting a C-rank mission?"
Kakashi understood the meaning behind Hiruzen's gaze and quickly nodded.
"Hokage-sama, I believe we're ready to accept a C-rank mission."
Looking at the three students behind him, Kakashi took a deep breath.
Damn it.
He swore that this was the most hardworking and most unusual genin team he had ever seen.
Then Kakashi glanced at Kenichi.
Team 7 becoming like this was inseparable from that demon.
Kenichi was simply too ruthless.
Far too ruthless.
One hundred and forty-two D-rank missions.
That bastard Kenichi had forced Naruto and Sasuke to take missions almost without rest, constantly accepting new assignments until they had nearly completed every D-rank mission available in Konoha.
....
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