Chapter 14

The captain's instructions on how to execute the technique were detailed and somewhat hard to follow. However, I managed to understand parts of it. After several tries and watching his demonstration, I began working to master it on my own.

Naturally, my initial attempts failed, as the technique didn't come together properly. To perform it successfully, like any other technique, everything had to be done precisely and on time: making the hand seals, transforming the chakra, and directing it to the skin's surface while ensuring it didn't disperse. It reminded me of the chakra release process from my early training.

By evening, I succeeded in forming the technique with the chakra I had left.

"Earth Style: Earth Armor Jutsu!" I performed the hand seals, channeled my chakra, and released it. A moment later, I felt a slight tingling and a bit of weight on my skin. It seemed I had finally managed to form my first elemental technique in a very short time.

"Excellent work," the captain began clapping, clearly pleased with today's progress. I was showing promising results for a genin. "Now, you need to practice this technique and move on to the next one."

"Can I practice this technique at home?" I asked Captain Kiochi. "Or is it better to avoid the risk?"

"You can train this technique at home," our team captain replied, waving his hand dismissively. "What I wouldn't recommend practicing are combat offensive techniques."

"Understood, captain," I replied with a smile. Increasing my personal potential was exactly what I needed.

Practicing offensive techniques at home isn't the best idea since they're designed for destruction. Destroying your own home is certainly not the best thing that can happen to a person.

Since I had no energy left for technique training, I switched to physical exercises. My body was starting to get used to the weight, but I needed to push a bit more to feel completely comfortable. I think after this, the captain will increase the weight even more.

Shiko and Ayamane returned from their training looking a bit bruised. It was clear that the sensei's clone had worked them hard. I think they'll master the movement techniques quite well soon—some better, some worse—but all at a level that will make them competent shinobi.

We said our goodbyes and went our separate ways, dispersing through the familiar streets of the village. I walked home, feeling a pleasant tiredness after training and reflecting on the day's events. My parents were already waiting for me since they had a short workday today. They always try to spend as much time with me as possible, and I appreciate that.

"So, how was your day?" my father asked as I entered the house, smiling at me expectantly.

"Not bad," I replied, taking off my shoes and hanging my jacket on the rack. "Trained with the team, learned new techniques."

"By the way, how's your team?" my mom asked, smiling as she hugged me. "You haven't told us much about them... We're curious."

"My team," I began, my eyes lighting up with excitement. "Well... there are two girls on my team: one from the Nara clan, the other from the Yamanaka clan. Our sensei is an experienced jonin who's going to teach us a lot."

"Oh," my mom said, her eyes sparkling with excitement and a warm smile spreading across her face. She even straightened up a bit, as if this was the highlight of her day. "And do you like any of them? Hmm?"

"I can't say yet," I shrugged, answering honestly while trying to dodge the question. "We haven't talked enough for me to say I like someone."

"You're growing up so fast," my father chuckled, winking at my mom. "I'm sure you like someone, but you just don't want to tell us."

"Shh," I mumbled, rolling my eyes with a smile. "I'm going to take a shower."

"When you're ready, come join us," my mom said. "Your father brought a wonderful cake. Let's enjoy it together."

"Okay," I replied.

I've grown accustomed to my new parents; their warmth and care have made me feel like a real part of their lives. I've even started to see them as family, though deep down, I know our bond didn't form overnight. They treat me like their own son, with genuine love and care, so I can't help but respond with a sense of a child's love for their parents. I try to be grateful for their support and kindness.

Moreover, my current family functions perfectly: my father loves my mother, and my mother loves my father. Their relationship is an example of what a real family should be, where harmony and understanding fill the home. And the fact that I'm their only child... that's just the reality of life in this world. I understand that this comes with certain responsibilities, and I'm ready to accept them.

After dinner and the delicious cake my father brought, I went outside. The weather was clear, with the sun shining brightly. I resumed my training, diving in with focus, and continued almost until late in the evening. When my father returned from work, he noticed me and smiled, recognizing that I was engaged in something important. He didn't rush to interrupt. Everyone in our family understands that life in this world isn't easy, and we all need to be prepared for challenges.

The next day started much like the previous ones. I arrived an hour and a half before the scheduled meeting with the team to fit in some strength exercises in the fresh air. As I finished, my teammates began to arrive. We greeted each other, and I moved on to meditation and chakra control training—there's never enough chakra, and every shinobi knows how crucial it is for successfully completing missions.

Then our sensei arrived, and we started training as a team. Each day, I noticed the training became a little harder—running two more laps or doing five more push-ups. We had to push ourselves every day because each of us received training tailored to our level. Afterward, we had team sparring and then lunch.

"Ready to train?" the captain's voice was firm yet supportive as his clone led the girls to a different part of the training field to work on movement techniques.

I nodded, bracing myself for the training ahead.

"Yes," I replied, feeling a surge of adrenaline.

"Then begin," the captain said, stepping back to give me space.

Focusing my energy, I whispered:

"Earth Style: Earth Armor Jutsu!"

Almost immediately, a barely noticeable earth armor formed over my skin, taking on a dark, almost bronze hue. I had trained hard the previous evening to master this technique as quickly as possible, and I could feel the progress. However, my speed still lagged behind Captain Kiochi's, who created the armor effortlessly, as naturally as breathing. It seemed he didn't even need to perform all the seals. Perhaps one concentration seal was enough, but he hadn't shown anything like that, always using the full sequence of seals.

"Not bad progress," the sensei smirked, his eyes shining with approval. "Now it's time for sparring."

"Yes," I answered, gearing up for the next stage of training, feeling the earth armor on my body pulse in sync with my heartbeat. In the captain's eyes, I saw a challenge, and I knew it was going to be intense.

I didn't need to be asked twice for a sparring session. Taking my stance, I suddenly moved forward. A direct attack with the intention of breaking through the captain's defense right away. Obviously, I wouldn't be able to do anything like that, but as they say... it's worth a try.

The sensei easily and calmly blocked my strike and deflected it to the side. After that, he attempted to counterattack, but since I was ready for it, I simply ducked, almost crawling past him. Finding myself behind him, I tried to perform a sweep. But my leg felt as if it had hit an oak tree. Flipping over my head, I got back into my stance.

"Now it's my turn," the captain smirked and approached.

His speed was within what could be expected from a genin, but even that was enough to make my task difficult. Somehow, I managed to avoid his first strike, which allowed me to stay on my feet. However, the next strike, lightning-fast and precise, hit my arm. Unexpectedly, I didn't feel sharp pain. Jumping back to a safe distance, I examined my injured arm.

"What did you feel?" the captain asked strictly, a spark of interest in his eyes.

"No pain..." I replied, staring at my arm, trying to understand how that was possible.

"Then the technique is working. Good job," the captain chuckled, acknowledging my success. "Let's continue."

Before his words even faded, he accelerated again, but this time his speed was much higher. He appeared before me so quickly that my eyes could barely track him. A powerful blow struck me right in the abdomen, and at that moment, I felt the protective armor under my skin crack. With a light "Boing" sound, it shattered, leaving me unprotected. The pain that engulfed my body in the next moment was overwhelming. I felt myself being thrown several dozen meters away, my body rolling over the ground multiple times before I crashed into several rocks lying in my path.

Besides the torso, where the blow landed, other parts of my body hurt for some reason as well.

"O-o-o-h," I groaned, trying to slowly get up. My hands were trembling from the pain, as were my legs and other parts of my body.

"How are you, Machine?" the captain inquired.

"Huhhh," I could only moan in response.

The pain clouded my mind for a while. But, of course, it couldn't last forever. When it began to subside slowly, I managed to stand on my two feet.

"That was very painful, sensei," I said.

"Now you understand," he replied with a smirk. "I couldn't let you believe that your defensive technique was ultimate and couldn't be penetrated. Remember: there's always something that can bypass even your most advanced defense. It all depends on how skilled your opponent is."

"I understand," I replied, still feeling the echo of the strike. "But why do I feel pain all over my body?"

"It's simple," Captain Kiochi waved his hand. "The technique you're using doesn't cancel the damage; it distributes it across your entire body."

"I see," I muttered, processing what I had just learned. Somehow, this hadn't crossed my mind yet... although I had only started learning this technique and training with it yesterday. It's understandable that I can't know everything about it on the first day. "Got it."

"Again."

I recreated the technique and attacked again. The captain dodged sharply and struck me. The technique absorbed all the damage, and I continued attacking. Then I used the Illusory Clone technique and attacked again. The sensei calmly dodged, blocked my attack, and delivered a quick counterstrike. The defensive technique worked, but immediately shattered. This time the blow wasn't as painful, but it was still very unpleasant.

And so it went until I felt that there wasn't much chakra left in my body.

"Overall, very good," the captain said as I got up for the last time after he made me chew the dirt mixed with grass. "Your technique is already much better; it's become more durable. Excellent progress."

"Thank you, sensei," I replied.

This is roughly how our first week of team training went. These workouts had a significant impact on us, as we were pushed to do things we had never done before, particularly fighting against the sensei as a team. Naturally, he guided us, suggesting the best tactics for various combat situations: how to fight against another genin team, how to handle large numbers of opponents, how to face a single opponent with excellent taijutsu, and much more.

Information flowed over us like a rushing river, relentless and unending, and as simple genin, we had to absorb and understand it all. For me, this pace wasn't too overwhelming since I had been studying under a similar schedule during most of my last year at the Shinobi Academy. However, for the girls, it was quite challenging—physical exercises were especially tough due to their relatively low endurance.

Why "relatively"? Because it depends on who you're comparing them to. It would be unfair to compare them to jonin or even chunin. They should be compared to their peers, or better yet, to those in the same social stratum. Compared to other clan children, Ayamane is at a medium-high level, and Shiko at a medium-low level. But then there's me... Not being from a clan but having put in several times more effort into personal development, I have higher endurance. What's just difficult for me is incredibly hard for them.

Of course, we spent the weekend training as well because the captain wasn't about to let us relax as long as we were part of his team. The girls weren't particularly thrilled about this since they had other plans, but disobeying the captain would be a violation of the shinobi code.

The shinobi code is a concise set of rules, just four pages long, with each page outlining one rule. These rules became the subject of our discussion on the first day of the second week of training

"So, the shinobi rules," Captain Kiochi began to speak. He pulled out the same booklet we had. "Rule number one: 'A shinobi must not show their emotions, regardless of the circumstances.' What do we think about this rule? Why might it be important?"

Nara raised her hand first. The captain nodded, allowing her to answer.

"In combat situations, it's important to remain calm and rational to make quick and correct decisions. Emotions can hinder objective thinking and assessment of the situation, which can lead to mistakes and losses," she quickly replied, then continued. "Moreover, showing emotions can reveal a shinobi's weaknesses or intentions to the enemy."

"Correct," the satisfied captain nodded. "This, of course, doesn't mean you should turn yourself into an emotionless rock. But the ability to control your emotions allows you to survive even in situations that could destroy a person who gives in too much to their feelings."

He began pacing in front of us and then abruptly stopped.

"Rule number two. Shiko, it's your turn to answer," the sensei said, pointing at Yamanaka. "Rule two states that shinobi must always be ready for battle or mission execution."

"Ahem," she cleared her throat slightly and began to speak: "We shinobi live in a very dangerous world. Being prepared for any danger gives us the chance to survive. Besides, constant readiness for battle and mission execution means constant development and honing of personal skills."

"Correct," the captain nodded. "Rule number three: a shinobi must always obey their superiors' orders. And... Suzuki, it's your turn to answer."

"Following orders allows for the effective completion of tasks, as well as because those of higher rank may have more experience and knowledge on a particular issue," I began to speak. "And, of course, order and discipline are important."

"Good," the captain smirked. "Rule number four: a shinobi can never refuse a mission, even if it's extremely dangerous. I'll explain this one myself."

He stomped his foot on the ground, and a stone chair emerged from the earth. For a moment, I felt him use transformed chakra, which quickly shot out certain emanations that I couldn't describe. It was more complex than it seemed.

"So, missions and assignments," he began. "You might think they're the same thing. But they're not. The difference between an assignment and a mission is that assignments are given by clients, while missions come from the village. Naturally, you can't refuse missions from the village because it's not just money for the village and yourself, but also influence on many other political and military issues. In general, no matter our rank... you're still playing in the game of the Great Nations."

We knew and understood this already, as it was taught at the Academy, and there were even several exams focused on this very question.

"But, besides this, there are a few other unwritten rules," the captain continued. "Who can name them?"

None of us could answer that question because we couldn't even guess what he was talking about. So, silence reigned on our training field for a while. The captain just shook his head, looking a bit disappointed.

"One of the unwritten rules is the rule about comrades and teammates," he began to speak. "Remember, Konoha shinobi almost never abandon their comrades. If you abandon your comrades, you'll lose all respect from others. You may disobey an order, you may not complete an assignment or mission if it's to save a comrade's life. Yes, you might be punished, but if you save your comrade, the punishment won't be too severe. And in return, you'll gain respect."

For a few seconds, he thought deeply, took a deep breath, and exhaled. It seemed that he had been in such a situation before. It would be interesting to learn more about it, but if the captain doesn't want to talk, no one can force him to speak about it.

"That's how it is," he nodded. "There are also other rules that specifically concern actions in certain situations. And you can be sure, I'll spend enough time ensuring you know everything that a genin and chunin should know."

We remained silent, waiting for what else the captain wanted to tell us. He shook his head and continued:

"Starting tomorrow, we'll increase the time for team training and sparring, as well as work on using techniques. I hope you're ready for the fact that we'll be working hard every day before we go on our first mission in the village. I don't know what it will be yet, but I'm sure... it'll be something interesting."