As soon as school ended, the classroom instantly became empty.
Anyone who was not eager to leave school had a problem.
Just as Natsuki stood up, he saw Minato.
Just like yesterday, he invited them to go home together.
"We need to stop by the Mission Hall first."
After thinking for a moment, Natsuki told him the whole story.
There was no need to hide this matter.
The ultimate goal of letting Nonō learn medical ninjutsu was to become Tsunade's student.
If it really succeeded, everyone would know about it.
Besides, since they had no medical shinobi teaching them right now, posting a mission to hire a medical shinobi to teach them was also reasonable.
After hearing this, Minato showed a thoughtful expression.
A sudden sense of crisis rose in his heart.
He could not keep slacking off like this. He had to work harder.
Becoming Hokage was something he was serious about.
Thinking of this, Minato headed straight for the Academy's training grounds.
Natsuki withdrew his gaze.
"Do you want takoyaki?"
Nonō smelled the fragrance and suddenly felt a little hungry.
"I'll go buy some."
Without waiting for Natsuki to answer, she quickly ran to a nearby snack stall.
Soon, she reappeared with a box of takoyaki.
Nonō used a wooden skewer to pick up a takoyaki and brought it to Natsuki's mouth.
Natsuki took the skewer, but he did not eat it. Instead, he brought it to her mouth.
Nonō froze for a moment, then obediently bit into the takoyaki and chewed a few times.
Feeling the flavor spread in her mouth, she could not help but narrow her eyes. A happy smile appeared on her small face.
Although children in the shinobi world matured early and were more sensible, they were still children in the end.
"How does it taste?"
Natsuki looked at her and asked.
"It's good, but it can't compare to your cooking."
Nonō answered.
She was not flattering him.
Yesterday, Natsuki had learned five dishes on the spot. Aside from the first dish, which required a lot of help from Mayū, the others were truly cases of the student surpassing the master.
It had even made Mayū question her life.
Nonō also felt a sense of defeat.
Because the shinobi world was a feudal society, most women believed in becoming good wives and wise mothers, so they were very good at cooking.
After arriving at the entrance of the Hokage Building, Natsuki and Nonō soon reached the mission hall.
"I am Chiwa, the one who accepted your commissioned mission."
A female shinobi who looked to be in her thirties took the initiative to introduce herself.
"I am currently a Genin, and I work at Konoha Hospital."
"Then we'll be troubling you, Chiwa-senpai."
Natsuki bowed and said.
"A Genin who works at Konoha Hospital isn't an ordinary Genin."
Chiwa reminded them, "According to Konoha's rules, I can't teach you medical ninjutsu. I can only teach you basic medical knowledge."
"We understand."
Natsuki was not surprised.
In Konoha, there were only three ways to obtain ninjutsu.
The first was through rewards from Konoha.
The second was to be taught by a team Sensei after graduation.
The third was inheritance from one's parents or clan.
Any other method was not allowed.
Such rules existed to ensure that Konoha could monopolize ninjutsu.
If anyone could teach ninjutsu privately, then the Ninja Academy would be affected, and so would Konoha's position.
"Can you teach us how to prepare some common medicines? For example, anesthetics."
Natsuki thought for a moment and asked.
"No problem."
Chiwa did not become suspicious and agreed readily.
For a shinobi, one had to master many methods, and poison was one of the most important.
But it was not medicine for saving people. It was medicine for killing people.
Applying poison to ninja tools was an extremely common practice.
Although most shinobi bought poison, some shinobi made it themselves.
Chiwa clearly thought Natsuki was that kind of shinobi who wanted to make his own poison.
After agreeing on the teaching schedule, she brought them to her home.
Looking at the thick pile of books in front of him, Natsuki could not help but twitch the corner of his mouth.
No pain, no gain.
Nonō clenched her small fists and began working hard.
She wholeheartedly wanted to repay Natsuki.
Ever since Natsuki joined the Konoha Orphanage, he had always taken care of her.
Now, he had even spent money to hire a medical shinobi as her Sensei. No matter what, she could not let him down.
Time soon reached April.
During this month, the one who stood out the most was undoubtedly Minato.
No matter the class, he performed extremely well and was deeply liked by the Sensei.
At the same time, he also gained a group of admirers, to the point that his fame spread to other classes.
Natsuki felt that within two years, Minato would gain Hiruzen's recognition and eventually become Jiraiya's disciple.
But that was a good thing.
It could also help Natsuki maintain his relationship with Minato, allowing him to be seen by Hiruzen or Jiraiya.
During this period, Natsuki only did three things.
Physical training, practicing kunai and shuriken, and learning medical pharmacology.
At Chiwa's home.
Natsuki carefully picked up a test tube.
He was preparing anesthetic.
Strictly speaking, after only one month of study, he was not yet qualified to prepare anesthetic.
But in order to unlock the Conan Template's ability in advance, he had asked Chiwa half a month ago to teach him the preparation method.
He did not need to understand why it worked. He only needed to memorize the relevant steps and carry them out.
"It's done!"
Excitement appeared on Natsuki's face.
"Amazing!"
Nonō immediately praised him.
In truth, she was learning faster.
[Congratulations, Host. You have unlocked Ability Two of the Conan Template, Tranquilizer Needle.]
Natsuki smiled and pinched her small face.
A month of hard work had finally not been wasted.
Now, only Ability Three of the Conan Template was still locked.
Of course, he still had to continue learning medical knowledge. This concerned his and Nonō's safety in the future.
After studying for half a day, Natsuki and Nonō left Chiwa's home.
But they did not return to the Konoha Orphanage immediately.
Instead, they went to a nearby training ground.
Natsuki took out a kunai.
Over this month, his kunai and shuriken skills had already reached beginner level.
The standard for beginner level was to hit the bullseye of a fixed target more than seventy percent of the time.
If one could hit the bullseye seventy percent of the time when attacking a moving shinobi, then that would be Chunin level.
As for the ordinary level, it required more complicated throwing techniques.
For example, the Uchiha clan's shurikenjutsu.
They used wire to control shuriken, giving the shuriken more variations in the air.
Natsuki applied the anesthetic he had just successfully prepared onto the kunai.
After coating ten kunai, he finally stopped.
He suddenly flicked his wrist, raised his arm, and released his fingers. The kunai flew out with a sharp whistling sound.
With a thud, the kunai hit the bullseye.
But this was not the end.
Natsuki quickly threw the second one.
Until all ten kunai had been thrown.
Nonō, who had been watching from the side, subconsciously revealed a shocked expression.
She still remembered the last Academy assessment. Natsuki had only hit seven out of ten throws.
Now, he had hit ten out of ten.
The difference between the two was undoubtedly huge.
But very quickly, she became happy for Natsuki.
"I've become a lot more accurate."
Natsuki felt as if he had been possessed by a sharpshooter. He could hit wherever he pointed.
Next was the monthly test next week, or rather, the monthly assessment.
Aside from theoretical knowledge, the most important part was the practical exam.
There were mainly three items, physical fitness, the Three Basic Techniques, and kunai.
Physical fitness was relatively simple.
The Three Basic Techniques and taijutsu were harder.
The Three Basic Techniques sounded simple, but in reality, they were difficult for most students.
They needed to spend six years learning the Three Basic Techniques.
Even so, there were still many students who could not master them and therefore had no way to graduate as shinobi.
(To be continued.)