Early the next morning, after breakfast, the Tree Climbing training began again.
After seeing that Naruto, who had clearly been carried back to bed by Amane yesterday, had actually fully recovered and could continue his cultivation today, even Sakura had to admit that Amane was telling the truth.
As for Sasuke, he wasn't particularly surprised; he was quite familiar with Naruto.
Did he not know how cockroach-like Naruto's resilience was?
"Um, is it okay if I don't go protect the client?"
Sakura looked at Amane uneasily. Ever since learning some information about the Anbu, Sakura was still a bit afraid of Amane; after all, the Anbu had a reputation for being able to make a crying child stop.
To this, Amane stated that she had already replaced her with her own Shadow Clone. It must be said that this part of the original work was also a plot hole; could Sakura really protect Tazuna?
If Zabuza and Haku's goal hadn't been someone other than Tazuna, wouldn't this mission have been doomed to fail?
Then, while feeling relieved, Sakura also mentioned that she had no problem with Tree Climbing, but Amane directly used Ninjutsu to create a river.
This move greatly shocked Naruto and Sasuke. What shocked them even more was that Amane then actually stepped onto the river's surface without sinking.
So, taking advantage of the momentum, Amane told them about Water Walking, an advanced Chakra control training, and asked Sakura to come and try it.
Sakura stepped onto it very nervously, and unsurprisingly failed, lacking the ease she had when climbing trees.
A higher peak stood before them, and someone was already climbing it, yet they were still struggling before the current peak.
How could the two boys, Naruto and Sasuke, stand this? So, the two of them put in much more effort into their cultivation than in the original work.
But! The human body has limits.
No matter how hard one wants to push themselves, a person's energy and physical strength have limits; it's not like you can work hard indefinitely just because you want to.
Only a few hours had passed, and Sasuke's legs were trembling, while Naruto had begun to pant. As for the results... they had made more progress than in the same amount of time yesterday.
For this reason, most Ninja villages use medicinal supplements during the process of training Ninjas.
Or people like Naruto and Amane, who possess immense vitality, can use Shadow Clones to grind experience.
But Amane didn't plan to tell Naruto about this method yet. Without supervision, it would be far too dangerous for him to know; there was a real possibility he might kill himself trying it.
So the only method Amane chose was Medical Ninjutsu.
"Oh~ So cool! What's this now?" Naruto felt his depleted Chakra slowly refilling, and his full-body fatigue seemed to melt into a refreshing bath. He turned his head excitedly and asked Amane, who had one hand on Sasuke's back and the other on his own.
So Amane explained the knowledge of Medical Ninjutsu again. From Sasuke's knowing expression and Sakura's complaints, Amane knew this was once again the result of Naruto not paying attention in class.
Naruto continued to clamor, "Can you teach me this super cool Medical Ninjutsu?" but Sasuke suddenly interrupted coldly, "You total idiot, you haven't even passed Chakra control yet."
"That's right, Medical Ninjutsu is a very delicate and high-difficulty category; it's not something an ordinary Ninja can learn."
After Sakura agreed, she saw Amane turn her head and look at her with that peculiar, expressionless gaze. Involuntarily, she became nervous again.
"So, are you interested?"
"Me?!"
Sakura pointed at herself in surprise, incredulous.
So Amane explained the mandatory requirement for learning Medical Ninjutsu—meticulous Chakra control—as well as the role one would play in battle.
Without needing powerful direct combat strength, as long as one has enough means to protect themselves, they can play an irreplaceable role on the battlefield.
Hearing this, Sakura was clearly tempted.
She knew her own situation best; she was well aware that in terms of direct combat, she wasn't even as good as Naruto, and she considered herself lacking in combat talent.
But learning Medical Ninjutsu... could she really do it? Her education at the Ninja Academy told her that it required years of tireless study and practice to master.
"Ah~ What are you doing!" Just then, Sasuke suddenly cried out strangely, loudly questioning what Amane had just done.
This questioning instantly pulled Sakura back from the vortex of her thoughts, and her attention shifted. She saw Amane calmly deliver a "finishing move," saying:
"Does it hurt? You should have felt very comfortable just now. Look."
Sasuke let out another suggestive groan, but his expression wasn't one of pain; instead, it carried a hint of... lingering sensation?
"Please, you must train me to become the world's number one Medical Ninjutsu master! I beg you!"
Sakura agreed on the spot, bowing solemnly to Amane in request, her posture incredibly devout.
[That's one down. Next is normal development; anyway, Water Walking probably won't stump Sakura for more than a few days.]
Amane thought to herself, her gaze returning to Naruto and Sasuke.
[If only these two could compress the original work's seven-day progress of learning Tree Climbing so that they could also master Water Walking in a short time...]
Then, Amane could try that thing she had planned.
Glancing at her hands, which were still channeling Chakra into Naruto and Sasuke, Amane wore a smile of a successful scheme behind her mask.
Amane's Medical Ninjutsu was only at a passing level because there was no need to pursue further studies; she could already freely control the healing ability within her bloodline.
She no longer needed to heal others by letting them bite her.
Of course, the same applied when using it on herself.
"Alright."
Amane withdrew her hands.
The two immediately felt their bodies restored to their pre-training state, full and powerful. Their admiration for Amane's ability grew spontaneously, and their training momentum became even fiercer. Naturally, their cultivation progress far exceeded the original work's, and not just by a little.
By just before dinner on the second day, both Naruto and Sasuke had mastered the Tree Climbing technique, a full five days ahead of the original work!
And Sakura even completed the Water Walking training in one go.
So next, Amane began to adjust the training schedule.
As the saying goes, the first step is always the hardest. After learning Tree Climbing, Water Walking was only as difficult as solving a word problem after learning the formula.
Therefore, Amane had Naruto and Sasuke continue Water Walking in the morning, while Sakura studied Medical Ninjutsu, and in the afternoon, the three of them would spar with her together.
However, at this point, it was time to set new goals for Naruto and Sasuke, besides Sakura. To that end, on the third day—the afternoon of the first day of Water Walking training—Amane began the Chakra nature test.
Because they used Chakra Induction Paper, they measured the natures that best suited them. Naruto's was Wind, Sasuke's was Lightning, and Sakura's was Earth.
[Speed, attack, defense, plus medical support—even without considering Naruto and Sasuke's late-game cheats, this team's inherent potential is excellent.]
While thinking, Amane took turns demonstrating large-scale Wind Release Ninjutsu and Lightning Release Ninjutsu, which had cool visual effects and could enhance physical abilities.
Amidst Naruto's exclamations of "So cool! So cool!" and Sasuke's intrigued gaze, the carrot had been successfully dangled.
During the Water Walking training, Naruto reminisced about Amane's Wind Release Ninjutsu that was powerful enough to fell large swathes of forest. Filled with the beautiful vision of "as long as I complete my current training, I can master such powerful Ninjutsu," he blurted out his exclamation without thinking:
"I feel like... Uncle Jiu is even more amazing than Kakashi-sensei!"
"What... did you call me?"
Amane's voice seemed to carry an imperceptible tremble, and around her fingertips and body, there seemed to be a low, melodious wind... quietly flowing.
Full collection Avilable at low subscription patreon (Obito_uchiha)
50% offer going on.