Chapter 26: The Training Begins

Chapter 26: The Training Begins

Chiba settled into Orochimaru's underground base. Orochimaru had already devised a comprehensive training plan for Chiba. However, Chiba had no idea that the days ahead would turn into his nightmare.

Early the next morning, before dawn, Chiba was woken up by a snake. As the snake slithered up to his bed, Chiba jolted awake. This snake even spoke human language—it was clearly one of Orochimaru's summoned beasts.

"Master Chiba, Lord Orochimaru is waiting for you."

It was the first time someone—no, something—referred to him as "master," and it felt quite strange.

When Chiba arrived at Orochimaru's office, Orochimaru was already reading a scroll of ninjutsu.

"Since you're up, let's begin. Follow me."

Orochimaru led Chiba to the training grounds of the underground base. In the center of the training area, Orochimaru summoned a large number of snakes.

Orochimaru said to Chiba, "We'll start with physical training. You can't use Lightning Release chakra to enhance your body. Rely solely on your physical strength. In one minute, try to hit as many snakes as possible. I'll tell you when to stop. Are you ready?"

Still groggy from just waking up, Chiba felt caught off guard. He hadn't even had breakfast!

Chiba took a deep breath and nodded, "I'm ready, Master Orochimaru."

"Then let's start. The timer begins now."

Chiba dashed forward and began striking the snakes with his hands. Each snake he hit vanished in a puff of smoke.

Orochimaru moved to the edge of the training area, sat on a prepared chair, and continued reading the scroll.

A minute passed quickly, and Chiba found it still quite manageable.

After a minute, just as Chiba was about to report that time was up, Orochimaru's voice came without looking up: "Continue."

Chiba resumed hitting the snakes.

Minute after minute passed, and Chiba lost track of how many minutes had gone by. Orochimaru's only command remained the same: "Continue."

The snakes seemed to change repeatedly.

As time went on, Chiba didn't even ask anymore, simply starting a new minute on his own. Initially, it was easy, but as time dragged on, his body grew increasingly exhausted.

Chiba had started training at five in the morning, and it was now nearing ten o'clock. The minute-long training session was still ongoing.

Chiba's speed slowed, and his steps became heavier. Several times, he was bitten by the snakes. Fortunately, these snakes were not venomous; otherwise, Chiba would have been in serious trouble.

When Chiba was first bitten, Orochimaru allowed him to activate his Sharingan for the training. The enhanced dynamic vision made it somewhat easier, but the Sharingan didn't boost physical stamina, and the speed of the snakes remained fast. Soon, the training became difficult again.

Since Chiba stopped asking for updates, Orochimaru focused solely on his scroll, seemingly forgetting about Chiba, which was quite frustrating.

The moment Chiba's concentration wavered, a snake bit his arm. As he shook off the snake and prepared to continue, Orochimaru's voice came through: "Let's stop the physical training here."

Chiba had never found Orochimaru's raspy voice so pleasant. He collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily.

Although the training seemed simple, it was actually quite demanding, testing precision, concentration, endurance, and speed—especially the eyes. Constantly focusing on the snakes made Chiba's eyes feel sore and dry, and he saw double.

Orochimaru closed the scroll and approached Chiba. He began explaining Chiba's issues: "You have significant problems. Your speed and endurance are entirely dependent on the stimulation from Lightning Release chakra. Without it, you could only hit about 120 snakes per minute—about two per second. This speed is already quite good compared to your peers, but for someone pursuing speed like you, it is inadequate.

As for your endurance, after an hour, your speed at hitting the snakes sharply decreases. This means that in battle, your combat effectiveness will greatly decline after an hour.

Your concentration is barely acceptable. You were only bitten by snakes after about two hours. However, your use of the Sharingan is poor. The Sharingan enhances your dynamic vision, so you should not focus only on the few snakes directly in front of you. Instead, use your enhanced vision to monitor the movements of more snakes and react in advance.

You rely too much on the enhancement from Lightning Release chakra. What you need to do now is to improve your physical condition. Once your physical condition is better, using Lightning Release chakra will significantly boost your speed and endurance.

So, for tomorrow morning's physical training, in addition to what we did today, you will also need to include strength training."

Listening to Orochimaru's assessment, Chiba accepted all the feedback with humility. At the same time, he felt a bit disheartened. He had always thought he was putting in a lot of effort and was quite good, but Orochimaru's comments made him feel inadequate. He needed to work even harder.

Chiba thanked Orochimaru, saying, "Thank you, Master Orochimaru. I will work hard!"

Orochimaru nodded and said, "Let's go have a meal first. We'll start ninjutsu training in the afternoon."

Chiba followed Orochimaru out of the training area. To his surprise, lunch was prepared by Orochimaru himself, and it was an omelet rice dish.

Looking at the omelet rice drenched in sauce, it seemed quite appetizing. After taking a bite, Chiba found it truly delicious. He was somewhat amazed.

Orochimaru, who was now completely engrossed in ninjutsu, even while eating, continued to read a scroll during the meal.

The afternoon ninjutsu training was no less demanding than the physical training and might even have been more intense.

Since Chiba only knew the Lightning Breath technique, Orochimaru first taught him four C-rank ninjutsu: Lightning, Fire, Water, and Earth. Chiba practiced these techniques, depleting his chakra and refining it on the spot to continue practicing.

The process of refining chakra was Chiba's brief rest period. The training continued until around six in the evening, when Chiba's day of training finally ended.

After a hasty dinner, Chiba collapsed onto his bed, completely exhausted. The day had drained all his physical and chakra reserves. As he thought about the days to come, he couldn't help but shiver.