Chapter 3: Clan Training

Today, after Uchiha Kiyoshi woke up and finished his daily exercise and breakfast, instead of reading, he prepared himself and headed to the training grounds in the Uchiha Clan's rear mountain.

With only four months left until the start of the ninja school, today was the day when the Uchiha Clan conducted advanced training for six-year-old children.

As a prominent clan, the Uchiha Clan starts their advanced training one or two months earlier than other ninja clans.

It's not that other clans don't want to start early, but the early training is not just about refining chakra ahead of time for the younger generation; it's mainly about laying a solid foundation for them.

How to lay that foundation? It requires money! The extensive training every day, coupled with the daily medicinal baths, costs a considerable amount.

Take the daily medicinal bath, for example. Although it may not compare to the medicinal baths used by children who have been training for one or two years ahead, it still costs five thousand Ryo per bath! And this is provided for free by the clan!

Uchiha Kiyoshi receives subsidies from both the village and the clan, totaling eight thousand Ryo per month. Even though most of his meals are homemade, including some additional expenses, he still spends at least three thousand Ryo per month.

Over the course of four years, Uchiha Kiyoshi has saved up only two hundred thousand Ryo.

But the clan's training continues until one month before the ninja school starts, which is a total of three months or ninety days. With a medicinal bath costing five thousand Ryo per day, the total cost amounts to four hundred and fifty thousand Ryo!

It's more than double the amount of money Uchiha Kiyoshi has saved up in four years!

Although it's true that a significant portion of the medicinal herbs are collected by the clan themselves, they still have value. Even if there are some discounts for purchasing other medicinal herbs in bulk, it won't reduce the expenses too much.

And this is just the cost of the medicinal baths for each younger generation. There are various other expenses to consider as well.

Every year, there are more than ten eligible younger clan members, so when you calculate the overall training costs, it amounts to more than twenty million Ryo!

Smaller ninja clans simply can't afford to spend this much money for a few months of early training.

Uchiha Kiyoshi sighed at the grandeur of the clan while walking towards his destination.

Soon, Uchiha Kiyoshi saw the gathering point from afar. Many same-aged younger clan members were already waiting there.

There was still half an hour until the designated time set by the clan, so Uchiha Kiyoshi wasn't in a hurry. He leisurely strolled over.

Don't be fooled by his relaxed demeanor at this moment. This is one of the rare times he can relax in these few years, so naturally, he wants to make the most of it.

The other children were playing with each other, and some even invited Uchiha Kiyoshi to join, but he declined.

Uchiha Kiyoshi couldn't bear to play with a bunch of kids. Isn't that childish?

He wasn't worried about his behavior being doubted by others. There are plenty of precocious children in the ninja world, and ever since Uchiha Kiyoshi's parents died four years ago, he has always carried himself with a mature demeanor, and no one has ever suspected him.

When it was almost time, two ninjas wearing the Uchiha Clan emblem on their clothes, which resembled ping pong paddles, and with Konoha headbands, arrived in front of Uchiha Kiyoshi and the others.

One of them, a taller ninja, asked them to stand in formation and counted the number of people before starting his instruction.

First, he introduced himself.

"Hello, I am the ninja assigned by the clan to guide you in your chakra training and shuriken throwing during these three months. My name is Uchiha Rong, a Jounin. This person next to me is Uchiha Shin, a special Jounin. Like me, he is responsible for your guidance, but he focuses more on physical techniques."

Saying that, Uchiha Rong pointed to the shorter ninja beside him.

Uchiha Shin also introduced himself and his responsible aspects to the children in front of him.

"Alright, kids, we don't need any troublesome self-introductions. Let's start today's main lesson directly."

Being able to recognize everyone in the same clan, Uchiha Rong didn't ask them to introduce themselves either. He wasn't interested in such formalities.

"Alright, the first thing we will learn today is chakra extraction."

Suppressing the excited group of kids below, Uchiha Rong continued his explanation.

"As ninjas, the most important thing is chakra. The amount of chakra directly affects how many ninjutsu a ninja can use and also influences the power of those techniques. So, from now on, all of you should practice extracting chakra and try to increase your chakra capacity as much as possible."

Seeing the somewhat puzzled looks on the children's faces below, Uchiha Rong patiently explained.

"...Alright, by now, you should understand the importance of chakra, right? Next, I will explain the method of extracting chakra."

Not wasting time with the eager gazes of the children below, Uchiha Rong began explaining the process of chakra extraction.

"Chakra is the energy formed by the fusion of physical and spiritual energies in the body. It is essential for ninjas to use ninjutsu.

The key to chakra extraction is to control the ratio of physical and spiritual energies. This ratio is different for each individual. Only by finding the right balance can you fuse chakra."

Next, I'll explain how to sense physical and spiritual energies..."

Perhaps seeing that the children were having some difficulty understanding, Uchiha Rong encouraged them to ask questions and provided answers. Through this interactive session, the children gradually grasped the concepts of physical and spiritual energies and how to sense them.

Relieved that they finally understood, Uchiha Rong nodded in approval.

"Very good. It seems that everyone has understood the concepts of physical and spiritual energies. Now, I will talk about how to merge chakra."

...

"Of course, although chakra extraction is challenging, once you successfully perform it for the first time, your body will remember the correct balance, and it won't be as difficult in the future."

After a lengthy explanation, with the children nodding along, Uchiha Rong felt relieved.

"Now that we're done, the next part should be easier to explain."

Feeling somewhat comforted, Uchiha Rong turned his gaze to Uchiha Shin on the side.

"Tomorrow, we will officially start learning shuriken throwing. Next, you will proceed with taijutsu training, and that responsibility falls to Uchiha Shin."

After Uchiha Rong finished speaking, the group of children heard about taijutsu training and had mixed reactions. Some felt discouraged, while others were full of energy and confidence.

Not tolerating the demotivated kids, Uchiha Shin used his intimidating aura to force them to begin their taijutsu training.

"Taijutsu is a combat technique that involves enhancing the body with chakra and engaging in combat. It is a form of fighting that relies on powerful physical abilities.

There are no shortcuts to mastering taijutsu; it requires daily practice and hard work. The most crucial aspects of taijutsu are physical fitness and combat experience.

For the next three months, each of you will undergo extensive physical training..."

Realizing that the six-year-old children couldn't withstand Uchiha Shin's intimidation, they made up their minds to complete the task.

Moreover, the Uchiha training ground is smaller compared to the training ground in Konoha. One lap is five kilometers, so twenty laps would be one hundred kilometers, right? It shouldn't be difficult to complete... Hehe... Not difficult, right?

Some observant children carefully calculated and indeed, once they did, they were shocked. One hundred kilometers? Are you kidding?

Unfortunately, as Uchiha Shin announced the start, even if they were extremely unwilling, they had no choice but to begin running.

Throughout this process, Uchiha Kiyoshi remained low-key. He understood Uchiha Takashi's instructions from the first time he heard them, but he still listened attentively to Uchiha Takashi's explanations. Different perspectives in the explanations always helped him deepen his understanding.

As for the tasks assigned by Uchiha Shin, Uchiha Kiyoshi wasn't particularly worried. Over the past four years, he had been consistently training, and his physical fitness could be considered the best among the group. He could run one hundred kilometers in a day.

On the contrary, Uchiha Kiyoshi was quite happy. Since Uchiha Shin dared to assign a one hundred-kilometer task to this group of six-year-olds who had barely exercised or rarely exercised, it meant that the effects of the medicinal baths provided by the Uchiha clan must be even better than he had imagined.

As Uchiha Shin gave the order, a few energetic children were the first to rush out, clearly faster than the others. The remaining few also desperately tried to catch up.

Uchiha Kiyoshi didn't blindly accelerate but tried to maintain a steady pace, keeping his speed at around seventy to eighty percent of his maximum.

In this way, Uchiha Kiyoshi didn't fall behind and stayed in the same group as those desperately trying to catch up from behind.

His choice was indeed correct. The other children had to slow down their pace and gasp for air after running only two or three laps. Meanwhile, although Uchiha Kiyoshi was a bit tired, his speed remained unaffected, and his breathing remained steady.

Seeing this, Uchiha Shin secretly praised, "Starting with a steady pace is a smart move for this child."

As time passed and the number of laps increased, Uchiha Kiyoshi gradually began to pant heavily, drenched in sweat. However, he gritted his teeth and continued to maintain his speed, pushing through.

Uchiha Kiyoshi knew that in order to surpass his physical limits, he had to break them time and time again. However, in doing so, it was inevitable that his body would suffer damage. In general, until he mastered medical ninjutsu, he couldn't afford the high medical expenses.

Therefore, this training was an opportunity for him. With the support of the clan's medicinal baths, Uchiha Kiyoshi planned to thoroughly train his body during these three months.

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