The Ninja Academy.
A score sheet and ranking list had been posted on the blackboard of Class A, Year One.
The theoretical examination, the practical examination, and the overall ranking.
Kuroda Ren had placed first in all three.
“Ren, you got first place!
That’s amazing!”
Yūhi Kurenai excitedly exclaimed beside Ren.
Judging from her expression, one would think she had been the one who took first place.
“Kurenai, you did pretty well too.”
Kuroda Ren smiled.
“You made it into the top five overall.”
Kurenai’s practical performance was relatively ordinary.
After all, her talent lay primarily in genjutsu rather than taijutsu.
Even in her weakest area, however, her “family inheritance” gave her a considerable advantage, allowing her to make it into the top eight.
She had only lost to Uchiha Tekka in the third round of the practical examination.
Combined with her theoretical examination score, Kurenai ranked fourth in the class overall, behind only Kuroda Ren, Hatake Kakashi, and Uchiha Tekka.
Uchiha Obito had unsurprisingly taken dead last in the theoretical examination.
Although his practical performance had been fairly decent, his overall score could only place him somewhere in the lower-middle of the class.
Might Guy was in roughly the same situation.
Nohara Rin and Shizune had excellent theoretical scores, but their practical performance was somewhat lacking, so their overall rankings weren’t particularly high either.
By comparison, Yūhi Kurenai had become one of the top-ranked students in the class overall.
Of course, these were merely examination results.
There were simply too many monsters among this generation of students.
Especially after Uchiha Obito eventually fell into darkness, his strength would become utterly ridiculous.
The shinobi world was ultimately a place where strength mattered.
In the future, someone like Yūhi Kurenai—a “normal Jōnin”—would be on an entirely different level from monsters like Hatake Kakashi, Might Guy, and Uchiha Obito.
Countless thoughts flashed through Kuroda Ren’s mind.
His gaze settled on the little girl beside him, whose eyes had curved into a smile.
He couldn’t help smiling as well.
So what if she’s weak?
Looks are justice.
If Kuroda Ren were allowed to choose, he only wanted to be friends with Yūhi Kurenai.
After all, he would have strength sooner or later anyway.
“Are you going to the training ground for extra practice today?”
Yūhi Kurenai asked.
“Yeah.”
Kuroda Ren nodded.
“A shinobi senior gave me some advice and said that the training intensity at school isn’t enough for my needs.”
“From now on, I’ll probably have to train for several hours after school every day.”
“Then… can I train with you?”
Yūhi Kurenai tilted her head as she looked at Kuroda Ren, looking especially adorable.
Kuroda Ren couldn’t resist reaching out and patting her on the head.
“Of course.”
“But will your family agree?”
Unlike Ren, Kurenai had a family.
If she came home too late, her parents would probably worry, even though children in this world matured much earlier than those in his previous life.
“Hey! Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
Why did you suddenly pat my head?!”
Yūhi Kurenai slapped Kuroda Ren’s hand away.
“I’ll talk to my dad when I get home today.”
“He spoils me the most, so he should agree.”
“If your family agrees, then from now on we’ll train at the training ground near Konoha Park after school.”
Kuroda Ren said it casually.
Training alone was still training.
Having Yūhi Kurenai accompany him wouldn’t affect anything.
And having a cute, beautiful little girl around was certainly pleasant to look at.
Naturally, Kuroda Ren had no reason to refuse.
“Kuroda Ren.”
Imai Nobuyuki’s voice came from the classroom doorway.
“The teacher’s calling me.
I’ll be back.”
Kuroda Ren greeted Yūhi Kurenai before leaving the classroom and walking over to Imai Nobuyuki.
“Teacher, is something wrong?”
“You remember what I said before.”
Imai Nobuyuki smiled.
“If you took first place in this month’s examination, I’d teach you a ninjutsu.”
“Don’t leave immediately after school today.”
“I’ll teach you the technique today.”
Kuroda Ren had already guessed this was coming, but hearing it confirmed still made him extremely happy.
He immediately agreed.
When Yūhi Kurenai heard that Kuroda Ren had to stay at school, she was initially a little unhappy.
But after Kuroda Ren coaxed and persuaded her for a while, she quickly cheered up and left school alone to return home.
Kuroda Ren followed Imai Nobuyuki to a training ground beside a small river.
“Water Release techniques are best used in an environment where water is available.”
“They can save a considerable amount of chakra that way.”
“In an environment with absolutely no water, either the chakra consumption increases or the power drops drastically.”
Imai Nobuyuki gave a simple explanation of the principles behind Water Release: Wild Water Wave.
“This is an offensive ninjutsu.
You release a high-pressure stream of water from your mouth to strike the enemy.”
“Its advanced form is Water Release: Water Severing Wave, developed by the Second Hokage.”
“However, Water Severing Wave is far too difficult.”
“Water Shockwave is much easier to learn, and if you use it properly, its power is still quite impressive.”
“The hand seals are Dragon, Ox, Rabbit.”
“When casting it, you need to transform your chakra into Water Release chakra, gather it in your mouth, compress it, and then shoot it out.”
Imai Nobuyuki quickly formed the hand seals.
A high-pressure stream of water burst from his mouth and slammed into a large tree beside the river, breaking it in half.
After demonstrating the technique, Imai Nobuyuki looked at Kuroda Ren.
“You try it first.”
Kuroda Ren nodded.
Following Imai Nobuyuki’s instructions, he formed the hand seals, manipulated his chakra, transformed its nature, and compressed it inside his mouth.
“Dragon—Ox—Rabbit…”
“Water Release: Wild Water Wave!”
Kuroda Ren attempted to transform the compressed chakra in his mouth into a high-pressure stream of water.
But all that came out was a tiny jet of water barely as thick as a finger. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
It had practically no destructive power whatsoever.
Kuroda Ren froze.
He immediately looked dejected.
For a moment, he couldn’t help wondering whether he actually had any talent for ninjutsu.
“Hahaha!”
Imai Nobuyuki burst out laughing.
“Don’t let the fact that Water Shockwave is only a C-rank ninjutsu fool you.”
“It isn’t that easy to learn.”
“It took me an entire month to master it back then.”
“Don’t rush.
Take it slowly.”
“You made a slight mistake while transforming your chakra just now.
You should do it like this…”
Imai Nobuyuki patiently guided Kuroda Ren.
After several attempts, Kuroda Ren finally grasped the correct method for using Water Release: Wild Water Wave and managed to fire a high-pressure stream of water.
But it only looked like the real thing.
There was still a long way to go before it possessed sufficient combat power.
“The process is basically correct now.”
Imai Nobuyuki nodded in satisfaction.
“From here, you just need to keep improving your proficiency.”
“That’s enough for today.”
“Practice more on your own from now on.”
“If there’s anything you don’t understand, you can always come and ask me.”
“Thank you, Teacher.”
Kuroda Ren hurriedly expressed his gratitude.
“There’s no need to thank me.”
Imai Nobuyuki shook his head.
“It was Lord Hokage who approved this.
I could only teach you the technique because of his authorization.”
He then explained to Kuroda Ren that Sarutobi Hiruzen had personally approved his teaching the ninjutsu.
Kuroda Ren was stunned.
He hadn’t expected that in Konoha, teaching someone a ninjutsu actually required the Hokage’s approval.
With such strict controls, it’s no wonder ordinary civilian shinobi can barely learn any ninjutsu.
They can only rely on taijutsu and shuriken in battle.
“No matter what, I still have to thank you, Teacher.”
Kuroda Ren spoke seriously.
“If you hadn’t been willing to teach me, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to learn this technique.”
Compared with the Rasengan, which he could only “self-study” and couldn’t openly use without raising questions about its origin…
Strictly speaking, the Water Release: Wild Water Wave taught by Imai Nobuyuki was the first ninjutsu Kuroda Ren could legitimately and openly use without any hidden concerns.
“You’re still young.”
“Don’t practice too many times, or you might injure yourself.”
Imai Nobuyuki didn’t respond to Kuroda Ren’s words.
Instead, he gave him a few reminders before saying:
“It’s already getting late.”
“That’s enough for today.”