Jokichi did not know that Hiruzen had come, and even if he knew, he would not care.
He was now entirely immersed in his training. Twenty clones plus the main body each held highly flammable paper and channeled chakra into it.
Although the output amount was not high, twenty-one concurrent outputs added together was quite a lot, and it was a continuous, uninterrupted output.
"Such consumption was difficult to sustain for long, even for a Sage Body."
Jokichi persisted for an hour and a half before he could no longer hold on, forcing him to stop and rest.
And the paper remained completely unchanged.
Jokichi could not help but sigh, "The road ahead is long and full of obstacles!"
Ever since he understood how to use his cheat, he could gain visible progress every time he trained. Only this time, there was no change at all.
However, he was not discouraged.
The road is long and obstructed, but if you keep walking, you will arrive.
As long as you keep moving forward, there will eventually be a time to reap the rewards.
As his strength became greater and greater, the things he would train in the future would also become more profound and difficult to learn.
This was an inevitable phenomenon.
"Have some water!"
Ryohei walked over holding a water canteen.
Jokichi voiced his thanks, took it and drank a large mouthful, then let out a refreshing breath. His face, which had looked exhausted from training, became much more energetic.
Ryohei took the canteen returned by Jokichi and continued, "Lord Hokage was just here."
"Oh."
Jokichi responded indifferently, seemingly having anticipated it long ago.
Ryohei hesitated for a moment, then relayed the instructions Hiruzen had just given.
After listening, Jokichi lowered his head, deep in thought.
A moment later, he looked up at Ryohei, "No need to pay it any special mind, just do as he said."
Although he was not interested in the Hokage or power, living in Konoha and living as a ninja meant it was unavoidable to deal with these people.
In a person's life, there are always times when you have to ask others for help. An extra friend means an extra path.
He was just a commoner who was not even a ninja yet. If others were willing to lower their status to be on good terms with him, it was not because they were plotting to get something from him.
If he thought too highly of himself just because he had a cheat, looked down on others, and cut off contact with them, that would be arrogance.
The arrogant ultimately never have a good end.
Not to mention, he had a good relationship with Choji, Shikamaru, and the others. There was no need to make his relationship with the villagers so estranged.
"Mhm!" Ryohei nodded, "Then I will go to the Nara clan right now to ask for the medicinal ingredients."
"There is no rush for this. I estimate the Hokage's side has not sorted things out yet. In a bit, perform the chakra nature transformation for me, and I will take a close look with the Sharingan."
"Alright."
After resting for a while and feeling his chakra recover, Jokichi continued his training.
He thought of many methods to improve efficiency.
But after a whole day, he only managed to make the paper emit a wisp of light smoke.
Jokichi did not get discouraged and continued the next day.
Then the third day, fourth day, fifth day...
In the blink of an eye, two months passed.
The weather gradually turned cool. The lush green forest turned red, and autumn leaves danced with the wind, looking extremely beautiful.
Jokichi dispelled the Shadow Clones, enduring the exhaustion brought about by the clones training for a day, but at the same time, gaining a great deal of enlightenment.
Then...
Poof!
As chakra was channeled, the paper in his hand was instantly ignited.
"Congratulations, congratulations."
Ryohei clapped his hands and walked over, a faint smile on his face.
After two months of interacting, his temperament had become increasingly easygoing. He was completely a different person from his previous cold Root image.
Jokichi shook his head gently, "It is merely the first stage."
"This was just the most easily flammable paper, and it was only ignited, not instantaneously combusted."
Next, he still needed to ignite things that were full of moisture and not easily flammable.
Only upon reaching this step could he imbue weapons made of metal with nature and shape transformations.
Ryohei also shook his head slightly, "Everything is difficult at the beginning. Now that you have grasped the fire nature transformation, next you just need to work hard to make the flames burn more vigorously."
"True." Jokichi smiled, "However, the leave is already over. I have to go to the academy tomorrow."
"Are you not going to continue asking for leave?"
"One has to strike a balance between work and rest."
"Is that really it?"
Ryohei was a bit suspicious; he felt Jokichi wanted to slack off.
"Really."
Jokichi nodded sincerely.
In reality, he just felt it was unnecessary.
A person's life has many wonderful things. If there was only training, that would be too sorrowful.
There were still four years until graduating from the academy. Relaxing occasionally, walking around and chatting with familiar people could relax the body and mind. This was beneficial to both physical and mental health, and also beneficial to training.
Moreover, it would be October 10th in just a few days.
Jokichi prepared to resume only after paying respects to his parents.
...
Early the next morning, the sun shone brightly.
Jokichi got up early and walked toward the academy.
On the street, there was heavy traffic and it was extraordinarily bustling.
"Konoha is getting more and more prosperous," Jokichi could not help but sigh with emotion.
For the past two months, due to training, he had been constantly rushing about, never stopping to properly look at the nearby scenery.
At this moment, walking slowly on the street and observing, he actually had a feeling as if a lifetime had passed.
"Jokichi, Jokichi-kun..."
From far behind, a crisp, silver bell-like voice rang out.
Jokichi did not need to look to know who it was.
He turned around and, sure enough, saw that figure with alternating purple and golden yellow.
Although she was still small, one could faintly see a bit of her future figure.
The little girl ran all the way over, panting slightly.
Jokichi smelled the faint scent of cosmos flowers from her.
"Good morning, Ino, Jokichi greeted with a smile."
Ino was captivated by the smile, froze for a moment, and then snapped out of it.
Her flushed little face was somewhat shy.
"Um, um... Jokichi-kun, are you asking for leave to train today too?"
"No, I am going to school today. I have not greeted Naruto, Shikamaru, and the others in a long time."
"Is that so? Then let's go to school together!"
"Mhm!"
Jokichi nodded slightly, and then the two headed to school together.
On the way, neither of them spoke.
However, Ino would secretly look at Jokichi from time to time, and then quickly turn her head back, deeply afraid that Jokichi would notice.
Ino wanted to say something to Jokichi, but she was too nervous to speak.
Seeing the academy getting closer and closer, Ino seemed to have made up her mind as she shouted, "Jokichi-kun!"
"Mhm?" Jokichi looked over in confusion.
Looking at the face close at hand, that gentle and handsome aura made Ino's heart race.
She clasped her hands in front of her chest, somewhat nervous, "Jo... Jokichi-kun, I..."
Before she could finish her sentence, a child dressed entirely in a shit-yellow outfit, looking as if he had not fully woken up, walked out from the crossroad ahead.
"Naruto!"
Jokichi's eyes lit up, and he shouted loudly as he ran over.
Watching his figure running away, Ino's heart felt empty.
She felt both disappointed and deeply relieved.
However, looking at Naruto chatting happily with Jokichi, he became more and more of an eyesore to her.
"This bastard Naruto, of all times to come, he just had to come now..." Ino gritted her teeth in hatred.
After that, the three headed to school together.
Entering the classroom, there were already many people inside. Most were chasing each other and playing around, and there were also guys sitting quietly in their seats daydreaming.
Because he had not come to school for two months, Jokichi attracted the attention of the whole class as soon as he entered.
Regardless of whether they knew him or not, they all gathered around curiously and asked him all sorts of questions.
Suddenly, Jokichi felt an intense gaze.
Looking towards the direction, he saw Sasuke sitting in his seat, staring at him with burning eyes.
"These past two months, I have become stronger. This time, I will definitely win."