Auron was slightly dissatisfied—the evaluation panel was just too basic. It only showed chakra levels and potential.
After a short rest, Auron spoke:
"Shisui, starting today, your training plan will change. We'll begin practicing the Body Flicker Technique and work on enhancing your chakra control."
Since Shisui earned the title "Body Flicker Shisui" during the Third Great Ninja War in the original timeline, Auron felt it made perfect sense to teach him the technique early on.
"Okay." Shisui nodded without objection. After a month of learning, he had complete faith in Auron's teaching ability.
The Body Flicker Technique isn't a single jutsu—it's a broad category. Any technique that achieves instant high-speed movement can be considered a Body Flicker Technique.
On the high-end, space-time ninjutsu like Flying Thunder God fits, as does the Lightning Release Chakra Mode, which boosts the body's speed.
Of course, Auron didn't know Flying Thunder God or Lightning Chakra Mode. The version he had mastered was the most basic form: gather chakra in the legs through hand seals, then release it in a burst to move rapidly. The downside? Repeated use strains and can injure the leg muscles.
Though only a D-rank taijutsu technique, it was very practical in battle—perfect for sudden attacks or swift retreats.
Shisui's talent didn't disappoint. Even without awakening his Sharingan, his remarkable ability allowed him to master the Body Flicker Technique right after Auron's demonstration and explanation.
Later that day, after ninja school ended, Might Guy and Obito arrived at the training ground as well.
"Hold off on training for now," Auron stopped the eager pair. "I've made a special two-month training program just for you."
Hearing Auron's gentle voice, Obito lit up with excitement, assuming it meant new powerful jutsu. "Teacher Auron, are you going to teach us an amazing new technique?"
"You haven't even fully grasped Great Fireball and Dragon Flame Jutsu yet. Why would I teach you new ones?" Auron shook his head.
"So what's the special training about?" Obito asked, disappointed.
"It's training that will help you defeat Hyuga Homon in the next final exam," Auron said with a smile.
"Obito, your taijutsu is far too weak. Forget Hyuga Homon—even if you fought Guy right now, he'd beat you before you could launch a single jutsu. So, you need to seriously improve your taijutsu."
Obito wanted to object but couldn't argue—he had lost to both Homon and Guy, just like Auron said.
Although ninja battles can look like flashy magic duels, relying solely on ninjutsu and neglecting physical training is a fast track to death on the battlefield. Most strong shinobi have at least decent taijutsu.
"As for you, Guy, your job is to strengthen your strengths. You need to become faster—so fast that even if Hyuga Homon sees your movements with his Byakugan, he won't have time to dodge."
Yes, Byakugan is powerful, but Guy didn't need to outpace the Byakugan's sight—just Homon's reaction speed.
"From now on, for every hour you train, you'll spend half an hour sparring using only taijutsu—no ninjutsu allowed."
"Huh?! No ninjutsu?!" Obito looked horrified. He already lost fights; without ninjutsu, he was asking to be pounded.
"If you don't want to lose to Hyuga Homon again, then don't use ninjutsu," Auron replied calmly.
Obito remembered all the boasting he'd done in front of Rin. Even though he could already foresee a painful training future, he could only nod tearfully.
Thus began a new round of training. Auron wondered whether this special training would finally trigger the growth bonus from his disciples' progress—it hadn't activated once yet, and he wasn't sure how much progress was needed to qualify.
On Saturday morning, Obito, Shisui, and Guy began their new training as instructed by Auron.
Obito started with the basics of taijutsu under Auron's guidance. After an hour of drills, Auron handed him a water bottle and even wiped his sweat.
Obito immediately got suspicious. Auron was a good teacher, but this level of care was too much—offering water, sure. Wiping sweat? That was pushing it.
"Obito," Auron smiled, capping the half-finished water bottle and placing it on the ground, "I believe you've got a lot more untapped potential."
"No, no, I think you've already activated every bit of it," Obito said nervously. Cold sweat replaced the warm one just wiped away.
"You're underestimating yourself," Auron said, shaking his head.
"Let's do this—during your sparring with Guy, every time you get hit, you'll do one extra written exercise during rest."
"That should help unlock your full potential. And if not, at least your theory score will improve."
"Teacher, that doesn't sound good... If I get hit a hundred times, I don't mind doing the questions, but I'm worried you'll be too tired from writing them," Obito replied, trying to sound considerate.
He was desperate, and desperation made him eloquent.
To Obito, doing written drills was worse than brawling with Guy—it was torture.
"I appreciate your concern for me," Auron said with a touched expression.
Obito thought he'd dodged a bullet—until Auron added:
"I expected this from a good student like you, so I prepared a large batch of practice papers in advance."
Auron pulled out a thick stack of worksheets with a calm smile. "Worried about running out? Don't worry—if needed, I'll have a shadow clone write more."
"No need! It's enough!" Obito frantically waved his hands. That stack alone already made him dizzy.
The sun was blazing, Auron's smile was warm, but Obito felt a chill shoot up his spine.
Seeing that he couldn't avoid it, Obito decided to at least reduce the damage. He gave Guy a look—an exaggerated wink and a pleading face.
Guy noticed and flashed his signature big white grin, giving a thumbs-up back.
Then Auron turned to Guy: "As for you—if you miss a hit during your sparring, you'll do fifty questions. Each hit you land reduces that by one, to a minimum of ten."
Guy's cheerful expression froze. Then, face serious, he raised his thumb at Obito again.
"Do we really need to go all out for this?!" Obito clutched his head in despair, imagining a tsunami of worksheets bearing down on him.
"For the sake of youth, we must reduce our worksheets to the minimum!" Guy declared, fully fired up.
Obito didn't want to do worksheets. Guy didn't either.
During the fight, Guy unleashed full power, chasing Obito down with 120% of his speed.
Obito, desperate to dodge, began showing real improvement—after getting hit a dozen times, his movements became sharper and quicker.
Auron watched their progress with satisfaction. Clearly, they both had a lot of potential yet to be tapped.
When the two were finally out of energy, the session ended.
Obito had been hit over thirty times, meaning over thirty exercises. Guy, on the other hand, only had to do around ten.
Auron felt this method was very effective. At this rate, they might not even need the full two months to surpass Hyuga Homon.
"A pity Rin doesn't have strong potential," Auron thought. "If I made her a student, it'd be easier to push Obito."
But to keep a low profile, Auron preferred not to train non-disciples.
Actually, there was an even better option: Kakashi.
Rin could only motivate Obito. But Kakashi could push both Obito and Guy.
Kakashi had the talent, but unfortunately, he was already a Chunin for two years—too advanced to be Auron's student.
Auron trained with them until noon, had lunch with the three, and then left two shadow clones behind as he headed to the Third Hokage's home for his tutoring job.
Since it was work hours, the Third Hokage wasn't present. Instead, Auron was greeted by a middle-aged woman with a single ponytail—Biwa, the Hokage's wife.
"Lady Biwa," Auron greeted politely.
"You're the tutor Hiruzen mentioned?" She asked, recalling the description she'd been given.
Auron nodded.
"Asuma is waiting for you in the backyard," she said, then added, "He's a bit rebellious. If he gets out of hand, just let me know."
"I will," Auron smiled. "But I have some special techniques for handling rebellious students."
Auron made his way to the backyard, where he found a nine-year-old boy lying against a tree with a blade of grass in his mouth, looking completely defiant.
He ran an evaluation:
[Name: Sarutobi Asuma]
[Chakra: 1100]
[Potential: A+]
Noticing Auron's arrival, Asuma spat out the grass and said without getting up, "You're the guy who's supposed to teach me? Auron?"
Before Auron could answer, Asuma added:
"If you can't make me stronger than the old man—the Third Hokage—then don't waste my time. Just leave."
Asuma was trying to assert dominance and gain the upper hand.
But Auron simply shook his head and replied:
"Of course I can't."
"Then get lost." Asuma waved dismissively and leaned back.
He didn't believe Auron would really leave.
"Alright. I'll go tell Lady Biwa you don't want a tutor," Auron said, turning around.
Seeing Auron actually about to leave, Asuma was stunned. Wait, what? That's not how this is supposed to go!
Wasn't the tutor supposed to gently convince him to behave? What kind of script was this?
"Wait, wait, don't go!" Asuma quickly jumped up, calling out to stop him.
If his teacher left before even starting, his mother would absolutely tear him apart…