Natsuki thought for a moment, immediately ruling out Shino, Shikamaru, Chōji, and the others—they weren't suited for this kind of task.
Sasuke? Sure, his throwing technique was top-tier. But that guy was standoffish and arrogant. He probably wouldn't even bother replying to Natsuki. And with the growing friction between the Uchiha and the village, it was better not to get involved with Sasuke for now.
"Tenten… hmm, maybe I should find Tenten."
Natsuki suddenly thought of that girl with the floral Chinese-style buns, and for a second, he got a little lost in thought.
Tenten was honestly one of the most underused members of the Konoha Twelve. She had such a cute design, but little spotlight in terms of combat. All she ever did was throw weapons—maybe with an explosive tag or two. Her one shining moment was when she picked up the Bashōsen, one of the Sage of Six Paths' tools, and blew a hole through Kakuzu's heart.
Later, even though she acquired the Kohaku no Jōhei and the Benihisago, she never really got to use them.
Still, Natsuki thought of her now because—well—her family probably owned a ninja tool shop. That meant they likely had money. If anyone could help custom-make special shuriken, it'd be her. Maybe he could even sell his design to her, solving both the production and funding problem at once.
Plus, after graduation, Tenten would be trained under Maito Gai.
Thinking of that eccentric green-clad jonin, that man who almost ended the series with one kick, Natsuki couldn't help but feel fired up.
He'd already thought about seeking out Guy to learn the Hachimon Tonkō (Eight Gates Released Formation).
In fact, when planning out his path to power, Natsuki had already set his sights on three major techniques: Eight Gates, the Hatake Sword Style, and Flying Thunder God.
The Hatake Sword Style and Flying Thunder God were harder to get, but Eight Gates seemed more feasible—especially if he could get close to Guy.
With the support of his gravity training room and the special lab, he believed he could master it in no time. Especially with the lab's safety net—even opening the eighth gate wouldn't kill him during training.
But Guy might be simple… he wasn't stupid.
You couldn't just shout "youth!" a few times and get into his good graces.
Just look at Lee. Guy took a long time to observe him—because Lee's situation mirrored his own—and only after Lee proved his dedication did Guy accept him.
So don't assume Guy's easy to win over.
Also… Natsuki had absolutely no desire to wear that green bodysuit and look like a kappa.
Since that route wasn't happening, he decided on a detour: Guy's students. Lee probably wouldn't share Eight Gates easily. Neji? Not the friendly type. That left Tenten—definitely the easiest to approach.
So, his plan was: go to Tenten under the pretense of needing specialized shuriken, build rapport, get close to Guy, then eventually meet Kakashi.
If he got in good with those two, they might teach him both Eight Gates and the Hatake Sword Style.
As for Flying Thunder God… he'd wait until after Hiruzen died.
"The plan sounds good, but reality's never that easy. And now's not the time to be thinking about that anyway."
Natsuki slapped his cheeks, clearing his head of all the scattered thoughts. He redirected his focus and drafted two new research projects:
Deepening chakra shape transformation.
Studying the Shunshin no Jutsu.
Chakra shape transformation could take many forms. Rasengan and chakra threads were only the beginning.
The more shapes he mastered now, the more versatile his techniques would be later. He wanted to experiment with a spinning top shape that could be fused with earth release—great for high-impact drills. Or a spinning disk, like Krillin's Destructo Disc in Dragon Ball, which could be fused with water chakra to create a Water Disc Slash.
Basically, this was like playing with chakra dough. By shaping more forms now, he'd be laying groundwork for combining them with elemental transformations later.
As for Shunshin no Jutsu, it was all about using chakra to increase movement speed—to the point of seeming like teleportation. Similar to Soru from One Piece's Rokushiki or Shunpo from Bleach.
Even without guidance, this was far simpler than chakra nature transformation. He was bound to gain something useful.
After a full night of research, Natsuki arrived at school with dark circles under his eyes and collapsed into his seat to catch up on sleep.
When Shino arrived and saw his friend like that, he couldn't help but recall the scene from last month. Funny… last time was also on the 2nd. Was this some kind of habit?
He gently nudged Natsuki. "Natsuki, did you stay up training again last night? Didn't Iruka-sensei warn you not to stay up so late?"
Natsuki didn't even lift his head. "I'll tell you later. Let me sleep for now. Wake me when the teacher arrives."
Luckily, the first period was self-study.
Why? Because Naruto, in protest of being made to copy the Will of Fire, had gone and vandalized the Hokage Rock with paint. Iruka had been so furious, he'd dragged Naruto to the Hokage's office to apologize.
By the time Iruka brought Naruto back, Natsuki had caught up on enough sleep to be functional. Still tired, but manageable.
"Natsuki, did you really train all night?" Shino asked again.
"Yeah… I had a couple ideas, couldn't help myself. Got carried away and forgot to sleep. What can I say? Getting stronger is addictive."
He sounded both proud and tired. Whether Shino believed him or not, Natsuki didn't care.
With Iruka now going over chakra extraction and hand seals again, Natsuki didn't bother listening. He just pulled out his notebook and began copying the Will of Fire.
The Will of Fire may be a thin book, but come on. That one quote—*"Where the leaves dance, so too does the fire burn"—*could've summed it up. But Hiruzen somehow managed to turn that one idea into an entire book, repeating it in every way imaginable. Pure brainwashing material.
Natsuki found it painful to copy, but didn't dare slack off. If the handwriting was too sloppy, he'd have to start over.
Seeing this, Shino also began copying.
Actually, everyone—Shikamaru, Chōji, Kiba—was quietly copying too. Only Naruto was slacking off again. Not only was he blowing off the punishment, he wasn't even paying attention in class.
Had he forgotten that this whole punishment was his fault?
All of this started with you, you little yellow-haired menace.
Still, thanks to their practiced hand seal training, everyone's writing speed was fast. By the end of the class, Natsuki had already copied it four times. At this rate, they'd finish by the end of the day.
Next up: outdoor training.
Iruka took the class out for warm-up laps, then shuriken throwing practice, and finally… paired sparring.
These were all hand-to-hand combat drills. Most students didn't know any ninjutsu yet, and throwing tools could be dangerous, so taijutsu matches were the safest option.
Of course, the three basic techniques were still allowed. Combining the Three Basic Techniques with taijutsu was the bread and butter of ninja combat.
(End of Chapter)
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