And so, here I was again, trying to master the Four Legs Technique.
And once again, nothing was working.
What was I doing wrong?
I had learned so much about it…
Wait!
I seriously doubted that every shinobi thoroughly researched the mechanics of their jutsu.
I only had to look at Kiba to realize that.
He had never even considered half the questions I was asking!
Yet, he could perform the technique effortlessly.
My meticulous, 21st-century mindset was playing a cruel joke on me.
It seemed the prevailing attitude here was: “If it works, don’t touch it, just do it!” It was only when shinobi reached the Jonin level that they started to deeply analyze jutsu and their underlying nature.
After all, shinobi were first and foremost fighters and killers, not scientists.
They didn’t need complicated theories.
It was only those Jonin who survived long enough who eventually grew to understand and dissect those theories.
To put it in layman’s terms: I was trying to read War and Peace without knowing the alphabet.
Full marks for effort, but I’d have to put that dream on hold for at least another ten years.
So, I decided to just surrender to the pulsing chakra within me.
I let it move naturally through my body as the technique formed, and as a result…
“Baaah!” …I headbutted the wall.
My imitation technique was definitely doing something wrong.
Or maybe my I’m a Ram trait was overpowering even the Fox inside me?
Either way, it was progress, but I was probably pushing myself too hard without having fully woken up yet.
I understood the value of epiphanies, and impatience was a valid emotion, but this was getting ridiculous.
I decided to start my standard morning workout and fully wake up from my latest dream.
Yes, I had seen another piece of Li Shuwen’s past.
I was returning to my home province.
How I missed my mother and father!
I hoped they would be happy; I had earned enough for them to live comfortably in their old age.
All those tournaments had been surprisingly easy.
As was escorting a couple of nobles.
But they had paid exceptionally well, and my mother would be thrilled.
With such bright thoughts, I approached my home village.
But something was wrong.
The familiar harmony was broken.
I accelerated, quickly cresting a hill that gave me a full view…
of burned-out structures.
So it was true.
Our Xunfu (a provincial governor and imperial representative in ancient China) had decided to secure his tax increase through terror.
Well, there was no point in mourning what was already done, or blaming myself for not being there.
It couldn’t be changed.
I would kill him and his servants.
But not for revenge—revenge only poisons and destroys a man from the inside.
I would destroy a rotten branch so it wouldn’t infect the rest of the tree.
Yes, I would kill him for the sake of the future, to ensure this situation never repeated itself.
I silently walked toward my former village.
First, I needed to honor the ancestors so my fellow villagers could rest in peace.
Haste was the domain of the weak; by acting methodically, I would advance further than the rest.
It would be foolish to charge straight at the Xunfu right now, but there was no sense in delaying unnecessarily either.
Yes, this memory was different.
Unlike all the others.
There were no martial arts skills to glean from it, but Li Shuwen’s philosophy had struck me deeply.
Could I have renounced revenge like that?
I didn’t think so.
It was a truly profound strength.
He grieved for his parents, but he didn’t waste energy hunting for scapegoats or engaging in self-flagellation.
Was that Chinese philosophy?
I didn’t know.
Still under the impression of the dream, I finished my workout, cooked breakfast, and greeted my babysitters on autopilot.
One of them was burning holes into the other with a highly suspicious glare.
What’s wrong, Yugao?
I know you realize Hitomi didn’t sleep in her own room last night, but you should also know absolutely nothing happened—in every sense of the word.
All in all, breakfast was eaten in an incredibly bizarre atmosphere: Yugao suspiciously glaring at nothing, Hitomi floating on a cloud, and me digesting my recent dream.
Quite the combination.
After that, I headed to the Academy.
Today was Mizuki-sensei’s class, so I needed to hurry so I wouldn’t miss it.
Yes, surprisingly enough, the future traitor actually taught the “shinobi larvae.” He explained things clearly, thoroughly breaking down even the concepts that were difficult for children to grasp.
He didn’t bow to the clan kids and didn’t play favorites.
He was basically the ideal teacher, lightyears ahead of the other instructors.
Honestly?
I was going to feel genuinely bad if such an excellent teacher got crushed by the wheels of canon.
Today, he once again delivered a phenomenal lesson, and then dropped a bombshell on us: starting this academic year, our class was finally beginning Taijutsu.
We still had a year to go before Ninjutsu—that didn’t start until our third year.
For a proper evaluation of the Genin-to-be, and to serve as our primary instructor for the day, a Jonin specializing in Taijutsu had been invited.
That detail alone sent a shiver down my spine.
And when a still-cheerful Mizuki announced that the absolute best test of skill was a sparring match, and only a sparring match…
my ass immediately began broadcasting a warning signal.
[Skill Acquired: Sciatic Nerv— Intuition (Lv.
1).] System!
I know exactly what you were trying to say!
As I suspected, our “Taijutsu expert” was Guy.
Nice to meet you, Green Beast!
And then I nearly killed myself twice.
First came Ino and Sakura’s match, which vaguely reminded me of their canon fight during the Chunin Exams, just without the dramatic relationship drama.
It ended the same way, though—a draw.
After them was a much more beautiful and intense spar between Saya and Aya.
Which ended…
exactly like the previous one.
Then Sasuke stepped up and dismantled Choji.
To be fair, the Uchiha almost caught a beating twice—the Akimichi had impressive reach and plenty of power—but then the Uchiha actually used his brain and changed tactics.
He started brutalizing Choji’s legs, eventually kicking him to the ground.
He repeated the process three times, and Choji was defeated.
Not bad.
Unlike in canon, Sasuke was actually thinking here.
Right after them, Kiba and I were called into the ring.
“Begin!” Guy commanded, looking at us approvingly.
“Hehe, this is gonna be interes—” Kiba never got to finish.
I had assumed he would attack immediately, so I had moved to do the same, but he had decided to chat…
Honestly, I felt kind of bad.
I had closed the distance so beautifully, moving with the fluid grace of my martial arts style.
A single touch of an open palm to his chest—no chakra involved—and my friend went flying backward out of the ring.
“Sorry!” I was completely sincere.
“What speed!
What power!
And what technique!” I really didn’t like the delighted look on Guy’s face!
“Lee!
Come out here, I’ve found a sparring partner for you!” Guy boomed, completely ignoring the shocked stares of everyone present.
Immediately after, the glass of one of the Academy’s second-story windows shattered, and a highly recognizable character leaped out.
Hmm, non-canon.
I thought Guy didn’t take him on as a student until he graduated the Academy.
“Yes, Guy-sensei!” Ignoring everything else—including the fact that he had just jumped out of a second-story window from a building with notoriously high ceilings—the young terminator got up and walked toward us.
“Fight!” “Yes, Guy-sensei!” Are you kidding me?!
I smoothly swayed back, dodging a kick aimed right at my head…
Hey, you could kill someone with that!
I immediately struck back, targeting the back of his knee.
A fluid shift of my footing, and my opponent, twisting as he fell, struck empty air.
I was already gone.
One—I struck his overextended arm, locking the pressure point near his elbow.
Two—I used a softened version of No Second Strike, throwing Lee toward the edge of the ring.
But the monster just bounced back up like nothing had happened!
“In the name of the Power of Youth!” And after shouting that ridiculous catchphrase, he could magically move his arm again.
Fucking monster!
My Series of Endless Slaps seriously disrupted his beautiful technique, but I just couldn’t manage to throw him out of the ring again, and I even caught a few blows myself in the process.
Damn it, I was parrying his attacks with my Slaps technique!
It should have hurt him like hell, but the little parasite was completing his strikes anyway!
What kind of Abyss did you crawl out of?!
“Lee, you can take them off!” “Yes, Guy-sensei!” Did he know any other words besides “Yes, Guy-sensei” and “Power of Youth”?
And take what off?
Surely he didn’t have those monstrously heavy weights from canon on him yet.
He was too young for that.
If it was something lighter, I should be able to hold o— …And the world went black.
I opened my eyes to find myself staring at the ceiling of a hospital room.
Are you kidding me?!
No, this was a matter of principle now.
I was going to beat the crap out of that little bastard myself during the second stage of the Chunin Exams!
Oh yeah.
Deep in the Forest of Death…
where no one could see us!
I’m going to tear that parasite apart!
But whatever.
I at least needed to check what I got out of that humiliating defeat…