Chapter 36: First Lesson

The selection kept going on all morning, and Masahiko ended up choosing three from the eleven candidates. He looked at his new disciples in front of him and nodded slightly.

The first disciple is the crying 6-year old girl, Yuriko; Masahiko thinks she has a high learning ability. Her chakra attributes are certainly wind and fire, perfect to learn Masahiko's techniques. The second disciple is the 8-year-old boy, Kenichiro, who have great perseverance. Masahiko plans to teach him Lightning Releases and Taijutsu, he planned to teach him Konoha Senpu technique just like Gai, and then claim it for his own.

And last is Nanako, the 11 years old girl. Masahiko didn't expect this, but Nanako, who seemed awkward at the beginning, could answer four out five questions correctly. The only one she couldn't answer is the last; it was a brain teaser. Masahiko planned to teach her Fuinjutsu. Because different than ordinary ninjutsu, Fuinjutsu, or sealing technique is a test of the user's cognitive and mental ability.

"Very good, thus the first Konoha team is officially established!" Masahiko clenched his fist, then raised it, with a smile.

"What is the first class of the first session, Grandpa?" that was Nanako Asking.

"Is there a second-team, Grandpa?" Kenichiro asked.

"Grandpa Masahiko, what is Konoha?" Yuriko asked.

Facing these series of questions, Masahiko just ignored these kids.

"You just need to know that all of you are the first team of Konoha, and you the rest in the future."

"Now, it's the time to teach you some powerful ninjutsu!"

Upon hearing, the three children forgot all about their questions and became excited, including Nanako.

"But before that, I need to know what Jutsu you've already mastered, then I will decide what to teach you next."

"I only have three-bodies-technique* grandpa." Crying Yuriko whispered.

*This three-bodies-technique means the three basic ninjutsu for academy students to master; Which are the basic ninjutsu, basic Taijutsu, and basic Genjutsu.

"It's already excellent. I will teach you another one." Masahiko nodded and smiled. If Naruto knew that this crying girl has mastered three-bodies-technique at the age of 6, he would feel like killing himself…

"I can do the three-bodies-technique and some basic Lightning Release," Kenichiro said proudly.

"Very good, lightning, just like Sasuke." Masahiko nodded.

Masahiko then turned to Nanako.

"What about you?"

Nanako looked down, "I… only know three-bodies-technique."

Masahiko smiled and didn't scold her.

"Then I will teach all of you something interesting…"

Masahiko glanced slightly, and he could see how all three of them seemed like they were looking forward to this, then he said, "Shuriken throwing training!"

They're motivation suddenly collapsed, and started to doubt this whole thing. Masahiko smiled wickedly when he saw their expression.

"It will be your first lesson. Don't you dream of learning great ninjutsu, before you master the basics!"

Masahiko brought three target dummies then said: "Look when you can do this, I will teach you other ninjutsu."

Upon saying that, he took out three Shurikens and put them in his right hand and then threw them simultaneously. The three Shurikens landed precisely on the center of the dummies' target marks.

"And also, I have to teach every single one of you something else separately."

"Yuriko, you're first, the rest of you start practicing Shurikens throwing."

Masahiko brought Yuriko to an empty space, then he weaved a series hand seals, "Snake → Ram → Monkey → Boar → Horse → Tiger, Katon-Great Fireball Technique!" Masahiko released a big fireball and shoot it to the sky.

Yuriko got surprised, Masahiko then said, "You don't have to summon the fireball, your chakra isn't enough to do it. I only want you to copy the hand seals. It requires six hand seals to cast a fireball, and I want you to do it in less than two seconds. Now go and practice it."

Yuriko nodded, "Yes, Grandpa."

"Hey… call me Sensei next time, okay? Now go back to practicing Shuriken throwing, and call Kenichiro over."

"Okay, Sensei." Yuriko nodded, then she went back and called Kenichiro over.

"Kenichiro, your perseverance is good. There are lots of physical techniques that you can learn. Besides, doing the shuriken training, you have to carry weights every day. Whether it's weighted clothing or bracelet. It's for your self-restricting practice." Masahiko said. "I will go to the blacksmith later to forge some weights for you."

"Got it, Sensei." But Kenichiro then tilted his head and ask, "But teacher, what is self-restricting practice?"

"Self-restricting is a form of practice. The main object of this training is to push your potential. When you reach your limit, you will need to break it, by putting a handicap on yourself to challenge that limit. To put it simply, it's to make your training harder by adding more heavyweights or adding more repetitions. It will make your training more rigorous. Just do your best so you can keep on moving forward, 'you have the gift of perseverance, and that's what makes you a genius too!"

"A great ninja said this before, keep that in mind," Masahiko explained.

( T/N: A quote from Maito Gai.)

Kenichiro seemed to understand and nodded his head, saying, "I understand Sensei!"

"Okay, now go back and call Nanako over."

A couple of minutes later, Nanako came and stood in front of Masahiko.

Masahiko looked at her, then smiled and said, "I was surprised by how good your logical thinking is. From five questions, you managed to nail four of them."

Nanako smile and blushed, "The first four questions are related to the water in the bucket. And every day, I use the buckets and water to do the chores…"

"Ah, I see, so that's why…" The expression on Masahiko's face changed, and he seemed quite displeased, he felt the urge to drop her as an apprentice, but Masahiko felt like he should give her a chance to prove herself first.

"Well, it doesn't matter how you answer it… Since now, you are my pupil and considering that your ninja skill is not that remarkable. Then you will start learning Fuinjutsu with me. Masahiko took out a scroll, then continued, "This is the principle and the foundation of the clan Fuinjutsu, you can check it out later, and start studying it."

"Now go back practicing Shurikens throwing."

Masahiko gave guidance to his pupils one after another. Then he returned to the Shurikens throwing practice ground. He found a stone to sit on and kept watching from a distance his pupils training.

Of course, the fourth training ground has a lot of people training there. The eight children who were eliminated before also were practicing there, working hard to show their effort, hoping that Masahiko would change his mind.

Besides these children, there are also some instructors from the clan who were responsible for teaching other kids. They've been paying attention to Masahiko's teaching. But after watching for a while, they didn't find anything notable.

This kept going for an entire week, the three kids Shuriken throwing technique has improved a lot, so he ended up adding more targets, which was enough for them to practice on for a while.

As for the separate training, except for Kenichiro, who has become used to the self-restriction practice, the other two kids have made only a little progress. Masahiko didn't feel disappointed about this. He understands that Fuinjutsu and hand seal training cannot be learned in a short time.

Masahiko wanted to keep the relaxing life he has been living for this entire weak, but then a line of familiar Chinese characters popped into his thought, interrupting his peaceful life.

"Witness and do a major change to the storyline of Naruto World: The Twelve Guardian Ninja. Reward: +5 witness points (*8).

Major change… Masahiko didn't expect to get 40 witness points from this!

Masahiko checked his status bar, and he has 65 witness points after years of hard-working.

"Now, it's time to distribute some points, and verify that guess in my heart!"