Over the next few days, Tachibana Kenji continued his routine as usual.
As soon as he finished his shift at the hospital, he would head straight to Training Ground No.
11, practicing while completing his daily tasks.
Every now and then, he would also see Mei Terumi practicing Water Release nearby.
Strangely enough, the reason this training ground was rarely used was not only because of its remote location.
Another reason was that there was no lake, river, or other natural source of water nearby.
Tachibana really couldn’t understand what Mei Terumi was thinking, choosing to practice Water Release techniques in a place like this.
Yet after all these days, he had never once seen her practice either of her signature Kekkei Genkai techniques, Lava Release or Boil Release.
He didn’t know whether she simply hadn’t developed them yet, or whether she was deliberately concealing them because he was around.
Although the two of them often came to the training ground at roughly the same time, they rarely interacted.
They mostly trained separately, occasionally exchanging a greeting.
As luck would have it, today was Sunday, so Tachibana didn’t need to go to the hospital for his internship.
He came to the training ground in the morning instead.
At the moment, he and Lan were each holding a wooden training post and doing strength exercises, one large and one small.
Suddenly, he noticed Mei Terumi approaching him from a distance with an unusually hesitant expression.
Seeing this, Tachibana tossed aside the wooden post and gestured for Lan to take a break as well.
When Mei Terumi came over, she seemed unusually hesitant, completely unlike the arrogant tomboyish girl he had met before.
“Um…
I’ve recently been practicing a Water Release defensive technique.
Could you…
come over and help me test it?” Before Tachibana could say anything, Mei Terumi quickly continued.
“My teammates and sensei have both been rather busy lately.
And when I saw you using your techniques the other day, your attack power seemed pretty good, so…
so…” She trailed off after repeating “so” several times without managing to finish her sentence.
Tachibana was waiting for her to finish so he could agree to help with this little favor.
After all, this was the future Fifth Mizukage.
There was nothing to lose by building a good relationship with her early.
But when Mei Terumi saw that Tachibana had remained silent for so long, she seemed to assume that he had rejected her.
She lowered her head and turned around, apparently preparing to leave.
“Hey, hey, it’s just a little thing.
Of course I’ll help!
You can consider it a chance for you to test the power of my attacks, too.” Seeing that the girl, who clearly wasn’t accustomed to asking others for favors, was about to leave, Tachibana hurriedly assured her.
“Come on, Lan.
We’re training together today.” He waved for the little frog to follow.
“Hmph~ It’s just a technique test.” Mei Terumi seemed dissatisfied with how she had behaved just now.
As she spoke, she kicked an innocent blade of grass beside her.
A moment later, the two arrived at the other side of the training ground.
Tachibana normally preferred to train on the western side, where there was a wooded area.
The complicated terrain allowed him to practice his agility while moving, while the trees served as convenient targets for testing the power of his techniques.
The eastern side, where they were now standing, was much more open.
It was one of the few relatively flat areas in Kirigakure.
However, the ground was now covered in puddles of various sizes, clearly left behind by Mei Terumi’s previous Water Release training.
“This is a technique I recently learned—Water Release: Water Formation Wall.
But I’m still not very proficient with it, so I need someone to help me practice my timing and speed, as well as test the technique’s defensive strength.” After saying this, Mei Terumi seemed a little embarrassed.
Tachibana’s attention, however, was caught by something else.
He hadn’t expected Mei Terumi to be practicing the famous Water Formation Wall.
An A-rank technique?
And she’s already learning something of this level at the same age as me?
In the original story, Kakashi had been astonished when he saw the freshly graduated Sasuke use the C-rank Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique.
Of course, Sasuke had actually mastered the Great Fireball Technique at an even younger age than when Kakashi witnessed him use it.
Even so, the fact that a ten-year-old genin like Mei Terumi had already mastered a high-level Water Release technique was astonishing.
As for Tachibana himself, his Flying Water Shuriken would probably also be rated around B-rank if it were formally classified.
But that was primarily because of the knowledge directly imparted to him by the system.
He had first mastered the fundamentals before being able to learn and practice the technique.
All he could do was sigh inwardly.
The geniuses of the shinobi world really did play by a different set of rules.
“No problem.
I’ll test it for you with attacks of increasing power.
How many times can you use Water Formation Wall?” Tachibana looked at Mei Terumi and asked.
“I can still use it four more times.
There’s no need to test it against shuriken or kunai.
I have that much confidence in it.” The girl sounded rather proud of herself.
Tachibana nodded and instructed Lan to remain where he was.
He then moved several steps to the side, creating an angle between himself and the little frog.
“All right.
Get ready.
Let’s begin.” “Lan, Water Gun!” As he ordered the little Froakie to use Water Gun, Tachibana also shamelessly pulled two kunai from his shinobi pouch and threw them.
Mei Terumi clearly hadn’t expected this smiling, sunny-looking boy to resort to such a sneaky ambush right from the start.
She immediately formed hand seals.
“Water Release: Water Formation Wall!” A large amount of chakra-infused water spewed from Mei Terumi’s mouth, rising into a thick, curved wall of water in front of her and blocking attacks coming from two directions.
Whether it was the kunai or Water Gun, both attacks were firmly stopped on the outside of the newly formed water wall.
Tachibana hadn’t expected Mei Terumi’s claim that she could use Water Formation Wall four times to mean she could create it without relying on an existing water source.
He had even deliberately positioned himself and Lan so that their attacks would pass directly over the puddles on the ground.
Looks like these talented shinobi don’t need to be members of the Senju or Uzumaki clans to possess chakra reserves far beyond those of ordinary people.
Tachibana couldn’t help admiring her while silently marveling at the difference between ordinary shinobi and true prodigies.
However, once the Water Formation Wall dispersed, Mei Terumi glared at him furiously.
“I can only use it once now!!” Seeing her expression, Tachibana immediately understood.
He was rendered speechless, rubbing his forehead in exasperation.
So he had simply misunderstood her earlier.
Mei Terumi had only failed to use the water from the puddles because his attacks had come too suddenly, leaving her no time to draw upon them when performing the technique.
“Well, you said yourself that you wanted to train your timing and speed.” Woman, thy name is fickleness.
Mei Terumi seemed to feel that she had lost face.
Embarrassed and irritated, she urged him on.
“I can only use it once now.
Just use your strongest attack!” “Your strongest attack?
Are you sure?” Mei Terumi merely stood there with a cool expression, slightly raising her chin without answering.
Seeing this, Tachibana could only rapidly form hand seals.
Since he was firing at a stationary target this time, and there was plenty of water around him, he didn’t need to use Water Release: Water Jet first.
“Water Release: Flying Water Shuriken!” In an instant, a water shuriken condensed in Tachibana’s hand and began spinning rapidly.
As its rotation accelerated, streams of clear water rose from several puddles around them, rapidly converging toward him and continuously merging into the water shuriken.
When the water shuriken’s diameter approached the size of the one he had created yesterday, Tachibana dared not continue gathering more water.
Although the Flying Water Shuriken could be launched directly after being formed, Tachibana habitually planted both feet firmly on the ground and stretched his body, his entire form resembling a fully drawn longbow as he gathered his strength.
Then his arm swung forward.
The water shuriken shot out with the smooth motion.
The technique’s own velocity combined with the force of his full-body throw, tearing through the air as it flew straight toward Mei Terumi.
“Water Release: Water Formation Wall!” Having been warned beforehand, Mei Terumi watched Tachibana intently.
She anticipated his attack, completed her hand seals, and slammed both palms toward the ground.
Using the puddle in front of her together with the large quantity of water produced by her previous Water Formation Wall, she performed the technique again.
A wall of water, even thicker than the previous one, surged upward.
Yet the incoming Flying Water Shuriken was like a ferocious beast raising its claws.
The instant it struck the water wall, it paused for only a moment before tearing a huge hole through it amid a harsh grinding sound.
The Flying Water Shuriken then continued forward without losing momentum, passing in a curved trajectory just to the left of Mei Terumi’s cheek before flying toward a massive boulder not far behind her.
Shrrrk—zzzzzt—BOOM!
Amid the bizarre sound of tearing and cutting, the Flying Water Shuriken carved a deep gash into the surface of the boulder before exploding violently.
Just moments earlier, when the Flying Water Shuriken had screamed through the air and passed beside Mei Terumi, she had felt something terrifyingly close to the presence of death.
She stood frozen for a moment before finally coming back to her senses.
Her face was filled with shock as her eyes darted repeatedly between Tachibana and the massive boulder behind her.
“Are you really a genin?
A medical genin!?” Tachibana was just about to say something when a system notification suddenly interrupted him.
[Ding!
You have defeated a genin for the first time.
Achievement unlocked: “And You Call Yourself a Genin?!”] Lan gave a soft croak and glanced sideways at Tachibana with an unusually strange look.
You tell him.
What exactly have you been hitting me with all this time?