Training

The blazing sun casts its scorching rays upon the Sunagakure training grounds. The sand, heated to extreme temperatures, seems to shimmer with intensity. In the center of the arena, Kaito and his teammates were training their fists and kicks on scarecrows.

Konoha and Sungakure possessed different mindsets about its new generation. With its mighty clans and abundance of wealth, Konoha could afford to use Jonins as instructors, whereas Suna could only rely on chunin in the academy, and leave the genins autonomous later on.

Due to a certain old man, the current Hokage, Konoha had a policy on leaving the children out of bloody conflicts. While it was respectable, it was not to the advantage of Konoha, which would later on have a rose-tinted generation uncapable of making decisive actions. Sasuke leaving the village unscathed is one of them.

Because there was no instructor, Kaito could only rely on his teammates to complete his training.

He was not as well-versed as Aki in ninjutsu, and he definitely was lacking in taijutsu or kaijutsu in comparison to Eiji. Yet, none of them could compare to him in a duel thanks to his puppetry mastery. There was a reason behind the creation of the [Puppet Brigade]. Puppet masters were just very strong, as long as they were protected.

Knowing that Kaito would be the most likely to be targeted, he knew the importance of training his body and learn some taijutsu.

*BANG*

And he knew that Eiji and Aki would both benefit from this.

*BANG*

After a couple of hours, Aki gave up and started to rest. Eiji continued, as if he wanted to test the limits of Kaito, whose muscles were already trembling from exhaustion. However, Kaito knew that he had not reached his limits yet, or else a status ailment would have appeared.

Disregarding pain, he moved forward and struck the scarecrow with another elbow strike.

[You have used [Sunagakure Taijutsu - Elbow Strike]. You have dealt 16 points of damage]

And again.

[You have used [Sunagakure Taijutsu - Elbow Strike]. You have dealt 16 points of damage]

And again.

[You have used [Sunagakure Taijutsu - Elbow Strike]. You have dealt 16 points of damage]

Finally, after three hours of training, he received a notification.

[You have trained your body to the limits. Additional training will not yield benefits]

[Your physical attributes are rising slightly...]

[Your taijutsu proficiency has risen slightly...]

Opening his status window, Kaito was a little disappointed.

'As expected, my attributes did not rise by a whole point yet...', he analysed with a hint of melancoly, used to the slow growth rate of his body

[You have earned 10 Reputation points with Eiji and Aki]

"My mother wanted to invite you to dinner. How about it?", Aki asked, blushing slightly

Eiji, obviously in love with her, nodded fervently. Besides Aki's presence, a dinner prepared by her mother meant high-quality and abundance of food in a village where wheat grains were eaten on a daily basis.

Not seeing a reason to refuse, Kaito nodded as well. Life was not all about training. In order to keep sanity, making friends, getting happiness from the simple things, and keeping a clear goal were all necessary.

'Let's train for a week still, to let them recuperate. Thereafter, we will continue taking C-rank missions', Kaito thought.

[Name - Kaito | Level 16 Sunagakure Shinobi [1 120 / 2 800 EXP] | HP - 210 / 210

Title - Sunagakure Genin (+30% EXP and reputation from Sunagakure missions)

Attributes:

Strength - 12 (+4) | Agility - 15 (+4) | Vitality - 16 (+5) | Chakra - 18 (+5)

Chakra control: [C-rank]

Perk - Puppeteer (Increased growth rate of puppet-related skills)

Skills: Puppet Creation Mastery (C), Puppet Control Mastery (C), Shuriken Mastery (E), Sunagakure Taijutsu (E), Kunai Mastery (E)

Jutsu: Katonjutsu Fire Blast (C), Katonjutsu Fire Shuriken (E)

Items - Shuriken Thrower Puppet n°42 (D), Shield Puppet n°13 (D), Dual Arm Puppet n°6 (C)]

Little did he know, for this period of 'training' would be the prelude to a long and harsh period of his life.