After sparring with Lee all afternoon, Ayato returned home for dinner.
"I can't just rely on brute strength. Combat experience can improve, and so can chakra control."
Next came his routine: using Yang chakra to relieve fatigue and Yin chakra to control bone growth for weapon formation.
During the spar with Lee, he hadn't used much chakra. He was after experience, not domination—crushing Lee wouldn't help him grow.
"It's weird, though. Why does my chakra affect my physique? Is it my bloodline? Or some transmigrator perk?"
Ayato still hadn't figured out why his eyes changed when infused with chakra. Early experiments were impulsive, but now, with practice becoming habit, he had time to ponder.
If Senju, Kaguya, Hyuga, or Uchiha bloodlines were so easy to awaken, Orochimaru would've noticed after years of research.
This had to be unique to him.
That made Orochimaru his biggest threat. If Orochimaru learned about his changes, Ayato would end up a lab rat—blood drawn, body sliced.
"Whatever. If it works, use it. Why overthink? Saving the world's not my job. Train hard now, run fastest later—don't get caught and killed."
Who knew if resurrection would leave his otherworldly soul intact? Better not risk it.
The next morning, Team Gai gathered at their usual spot. When not busy, they took on a low-level mission daily.
"Ugh, proposing yesterday and vanishing today? Total sleaze. He didn't even talk to me when he left!" Tenten fumed, noticing Ayato's absence.
The others weren't surprised. Ayato had agreed to train with them in the afternoons, not mornings.
Meanwhile, Ayato was in his courtyard, working on physical conditioning.
Training was repetitive—weights, endurance drills. His home had equipment, more convenient than the training grounds, saving time compared to Team Gai's mission treks.
After lunch, Ayato arrived at the training ground where he'd sparred with Team Gai yesterday.
As expected, they were already training. Unless something came up, they ate bento there to maximize training time.
"Ayato, you're here!" Lee shouted, leaping off the pull-up bar.
Before he could say more, Tenten stepped in front of him.
"I'll spar with him today. You go with Neji," she said, cracking her knuckles, her summoning scrolls ready at her waist.
Lee scratched his head but didn't mind. Sparring was sparring. He bounded over to Neji for warm-ups.
"Need to warm up?" Tenten asked Ayato.
Ayato shook his head, confused. Yesterday, she'd avoided him; now she was confrontational. What changed?
Tenten glared at his innocent expression, fuming. He'd proposed, then ditched after training, causing her to mess up the mission and get scolded by Neji. Then he spent the afternoon sparring with Neji, who crushed her all day. She was not happy.
And this morning, he didn't even show! New grudges piled on old ones. Time to teach this guy a lesson!
From the previous day's spar, Tenten knew Ayato's weakness: no combat experience, no ninjutsu. Her weapon barrage tactic was perfect—nobody could predict her tools' angles or combinations.
"Let's go!" Tenten shouted, leaping six meters into the air, unfurling her scrolls.
The scrolls spun in her hands, spiraling upward. To Ayato, they looked like a barber shop pole come to life.
Her nimble fingers traced the seals, summoning weapons in puffs of smoke—mostly shuriken and kunai for now.
Tenten danced between the scrolls, her movements fluid. Ayato, momentarily mesmerized, forgot the fight.
He already liked her, and seeing her—youthful, fierce, focused—only deepened it.
So cute! Too cute! he thought.
"She's really going all out," Lee whispered to Neji.
Even in their spars, Tenten rarely fought this hard.
Neji nodded, watching closely.
Tenten gave Ayato no time to react, hurling her summoned weapons the moment they appeared.
Caught off-guard for a split second, Ayato saw a storm of blades flying at him.
"This is insane! How many hands does she have?" With no time to dodge, he bolted.
The weapons covered a wide range, but Ayato's speed outpaced them, letting him escape and reach Tenten's landing spot before she touched down.
She couldn't stay airborne forever.
But as he stopped, weapons flew from all directions, unavoidable. No matter where he ran, a wall of blades awaited.
"How is this happening?" Ayato gaped, the situation growing absurd.
"Tenten's weapons never miss," Gai remarked.
From their vantage point, they saw it clearly: weapons Ayato dodged collided with each other or obstacles, redirecting toward him. Others, thrown to empty spots, were pulled by invisible chakra strings to reposition. Grounded tools were resummoned and thrown again.
"She's serious," Neji said.
Even as teammates, they'd never seen Tenten like this.
Controlling all her scroll's weapons demanded immense chakra and mental focus. Recovering them afterward took time. She never used this in training—only in life-or-death fights.
"What did Ayato do to make her this intense?" Neji wondered. They didn't even know each other before.