Chapter 178: Training Test
After Nawaki and Mikoto's wedding, both of Masahiko's identities stayed in Konoha for a week. His Shadow Clone accompanied Gensuke to "get close" with the Daimyos of the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind. After all, the Land of Whirlpools would likely become one of the new Five Great Nations in the future, so they couldn't lack diplomacy.
As for the identity of the Taobao Shop owner, he also maintained it for a week. Only after he was sure no accidents would occur did he find an opportunity to dispel the Shadow Clone and swap back.
"Nagato-kun and Konan have improved quite a bit over this year and a half."
The Shadow Clone had been maintained for a year and a half. Initially, it possessed fifty percent of Masahiko's chakra, but since it couldn't be replenished, only twenty percent remained at the end. Also, because it was never dispelled, Masahiko didn't know the news from the Land of Whirlpools' side until now.
Receiving a year and a half's worth of memories all at once, Masahiko was slightly dazed for a moment. Fortunately, the Shadow Clone's life during this period was relatively monotonous, so he recovered quickly.
From the memories, Masahiko was happiest about his two disciples' progress. Nine-year-old Nagato already fully possessed the strength of a Jonin. It was estimated that with a bit more growth, becoming an S-class ninja by fourteen or fifteen was a sure thing; this was truly protagonist treatment. As for Konan, although she couldn't compare to Nagato, she was also a Chunin now. Moreover, what made Masahiko even happier was that she was very skilled at making explosive tags.
"Great Elder, we should go," Gensuke's voice came from beside his ear, snapping Masahiko back to reality.
"Gensuke, haven't seen you in almost two years; you've aged quite a bit." After all, Gensuke was already sixty-four years old this year, and being the Daimyo of the Land of Whirlpools was hard work.
"Two years?" Gensuke looked bewildered. He wanted to say they saw each other every day during this time.
Masahiko waved his hand, interrupting him. "Let's go, back to the Land of Whirlpools."
Only the two of them came from the Land of Whirlpools this time, so they didn't have to worry about security issues, nor did they care about pomp. Everything followed Masahiko's Shadow Clone's arrangement to keep it simple.
The return journey was even more relaxed than the arrival. After all, they brought several sealing scrolls as gifts when they came, all of which were given away a week ago.
"Hashirama, oh Hashirama, your great-grandson might be a ninja capable of surpassing you. You might even witness the day he surpasses you with your own eyes in the future." Masahiko pondered during the return trip.
The combination of Senju and Uchiha—who knows what kind of "monster" will be born? With the dust settled, Masahiko stopped worrying about the plot and started looking forward to it.
"In that case, if I don't work a little harder, I might run the risk of being surpassed." Masahiko's heart stirred. It would be very embarrassing for an over-one-hundred-year-old senior to be surpassed by a junior.
"Kekkei Mora... The next place where it's relatively easy to get Witness Points is Kakashi. Graduating at five, Chunin at six, Jonin at twelve—there should be Witness Points to grab for all of those."
The plot had changed, so Masahiko could only live by "calculating," trying hard to find events mentioned in the original work in his dwindling memories, specifically those that shouldn't change.
During this year and a half, besides protecting Nawaki and Mikoto, Masahiko also successfully got Sakumo to change "Hatake Kakadong" back to "Hatake Kakashi," because the former was really too awkward for him. Of course, the process wasn't easy; Masahiko had to pester him relentlessly to finally succeed.
Changing the name back wasn't easy for Sakumo either; he was "pestered relentlessly" by his wife.
"I told you back then the child should be called Hatake Kakashi, but you insisted on Hatake Kakadong named by Elder Masahiko, and now you want to change it back..."
The above process was the result of Masahiko's own imagination based on Sakumo's bitter smile. He silently mourned for Sakumo in his heart.
"Sensei, you're back!" The voices of Nagato and Konan snapped Masahiko back to reality. Only then did he realize he had returned to the Land of Whirlpools; a few people were welcoming them at the border.
"You two little ones have improved quite a bit." Masahiko sensed slightly and sighed with emotion. Memories from a Shadow Clone still couldn't compare to personal experience.
"Let's go. We'll go to the training grounds to check on your training."
"Sensei, didn't you just check before you went to Konoha a week ago?" The two children were somewhat resistant.
Masahiko smiled and didn't explain. "Checking a few more times will make you train faster."
When Masahiko said "checking training," of course, he didn't mean doing it personally.
He felt that his Shadow Clone was always more scatterbrained than the main body. He had actually built two tracks in the Whirlpool training ground—one for testing the 100-meter dash, one for the 400-meter—and even a horizontal bar for pull-ups. Even his main body felt a bit awkward seeing them; no wonder the two disciples were resistant.
But the equipment was already there; it would be a pity not to use it.
However...
In the Whirlpool training ground, Masahiko had black lines on his face. On the horizontal bar, someone was doing pull-ups so fast they had become a blur.
"Oh! Sensei, you're back." Seeing Masahiko, that person performed a 1080-degree aerial rotation, flung himself off the bar, landed in front of Masahiko, and actually stumbled.
Masahiko frowned and didn't help him up, squeezing out a smile. "Kento-kun, still training?"
"Yes, Sensei!" Kento-kun looked up. "These equipment you built are too convenient for training!"
Boom...
As soon as Kento-kun finished speaking, the horizontal bar collapsed entirely. Masahiko sighed helplessly.
"I built that for Nagato and Konan; what are you joining in for? If you're bored, you can go to Konoha. Dai's son is already five years old; maybe you can find a training partner."
Watching Kento-kun walk away excitedly, Masahiko felt a bit down. In his eyes, Kento-kun's physical ability was already declining. After all, he was over sixty; staying at his peak forever was impossible.
"Only two events left. Forget the 400-meter, just run the 100-meter. I want to see if you slacked off. Then I'll check your ninjutsu training."
"Yes, Sensei." The two children answered listlessly; they always felt running the 100-meter was stupid.
A ninja's running posture was naturally not swinging arms back and forth, but placing hands behind the back. Masahiko didn't understand the principle, but after so many years, he was used to it.
"Does this reduce air resistance?"
Seeing the two children finish—one with a result of over five seconds, the other over seven seconds—Masahiko nodded slightly. At the age of nine, having such results was very good. After all, they relied completely on physical ability; using chakra was not allowed on the track. If it were Sakumo, it would probably take close to two seconds.
"Not bad, but not much improvement. It's about the same result as the last test." Masahiko's sentence earned him resentful looks from the two children, and only then did he remember the last test was a week ago.
"Does using Shadow Clones for too long affect memory?" Masahiko frowned. No one had ever used a Shadow Clone for a year and a half like him before, nor did they have his chakra volume.
"It seems I can't use it for so long in the future."
Masahiko turned to the two again. "Progress is okay. Let me see how your ninjutsu training is coming along..."
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