Chapter 79: Improving Training Intensity
After the mission, Renjiro continued training his students.
One day, as training was about to end, Renjiro observed his three students.
He looked at them with a proud smile, thinking to himself, "These three are all quite exceptional. I would be surprised if any of them didn't make jonin before they turn sixteen. I think they really deserve some praise from their teacher."
Training quickly ended, and as the genin were about to leave, Renjiro called out to them. He said, "Three months ago, I agreed to be your squad's jonin sensei. Do you remember what I told you then?"
Kaito, Hodaka, and Mieko all shook their heads. Hodaka asked, "Sensei, what did you say back then?"
Renjiro sighed and said, "You were still on probation, remember?"
Kaito understood that Renjiro just wanted to make the announcement official, so he tilted his head and asked innocently, "Sensei, what probation? Mieko, do you remember?"
Mieko caught on to his meaning and tilted her head, saying, "I don't remember. Hodaka, do you know?"
Hodaka also tilted his head and said, "I don't know what sensei is talking about either."
Watching his three students maintain perfect poker faces, Renjiro's expression darkened completely.
Seeing his reaction, the three couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Renjiro finally gave up on his students' antics. He composed himself and said, "You have passed—"
However, Hodaka interrupted him and said, "Sensei, we already knew."
Then, the three genin instantly vanished using Body Flicker, leaving their completely stunned sensei behind. Renjiro gave a wry smile and muttered to himself, "I really need to have a talk with whoever suggested I put the top squad of the year on probation."
Four weeks had passed since they officially became genin.
One day, after morning training, Kaito, Hodaka, and Mieko were resting under a tree.
Mieko was the first to speak. "Tomorrow is the final round of the Chunin Exams."
Hodaka nodded and said, "Yeah, two of my classmates will also be competing tomorrow."
Mieko continued, "I want to watch Uchiha Rai's match. I wonder if sensei will allow us to go."
Kaito smiled and said, "Good luck asking sensei for time off."
Hearing this, Mieko shot Kaito an annoyed look. Kaito ignored her, thinking to himself, "That being said, it wouldn't be a bad thing to see how much Senju Teru and Uchiha Rai have improved. They've been genin a year longer than me."
After their break, Renjiro appeared and gathered his squad.
As soon as she saw him, Mieko wanted to ask for permission to watch the matches the next day. However, Renjiro immediately refused, saying, "We have another mission to carry out, departing at nine AM tomorrow."
Mieko quickly asked, "Sensei, can't we take the mission a few days later?"
Renjiro narrowed his eyes and asked, "Why?"
She replied, "Sensei, we want to go watch the Chunin Exams tomorrow."
Renjiro, with the same expression, asked the same question again, "Why?"
Mieko showed a serious expression and replied earnestly, "We want to observe the tactics, strategies, and jutsu used by shinobi from neighboring villages, so we'll be better prepared when fighting them in the future."
Hearing this answer, Kaito secretly chuckled to himself.
Renjiro had never forbidden any of their ideas—he just needed a good reason to agree. That's why Mieko had prepared such an answer.
Renjiro waved his hand dismissively and said, "It's just a battle between genin. You won't learn anything useful."
Then he looked at his squad and said, "Let's continue training."
Mieko's shoulders slumped in disappointment. Kaito thought to himself, "This is a bit surprising. I thought he would agree to that reasoning. Well, it doesn't matter—it's not that important anyway."
The next day, Team Renjiro accepted a mission to escort a merchant caravan to the Land of Rivers.
The mission proceeded very smoothly, with only a small group of bandits attempting to attack the caravan. It took them nine days to reach the Land of Rivers, and the return journey took one day.
The squad returned to Konoha at midnight. After completing the formalities, Renjiro dismissed the squad.
When Kaito returned home, he saw a pile of newspapers outside his door.
He picked up the newspapers and walked into his apartment. He created several Shadow Clones to read through the newspapers while he went to take a bath.
The Shadow Clones simply skimmed through the newspapers and then dispelled themselves.
After receiving all the information from the clones' memories, Kaito thought to himself, "So that's how it went. Senju Teru and Uchiha Rai both became chunin. Although it's a bit surprising, I guess Konoha is still trying to increase the number of chunin and genin in preparation. Hmm, I guess my promotion should also happen in the first exam I take."
For the rest of the day, Kaito didn't have much to do, so he decided to review his techniques.
He created three Shadow Clones, and the four of them practiced all the sealing jutsu they knew together.
As Kaito reviewed his knowledge of sealing techniques, he began reflecting on his progress over the past few months, analyzing, "It's been four months since graduation. Honestly, the progress is amazing. I really underestimated the effect of having a dedicated elite jonin for guidance. Then again, I didn't expect us to be taught so thoroughly. My chakra reserves have almost doubled. I can withstand up to eighteen percent more pressure when training sealing jutsu."
"Although I haven't focused on training my sensory abilities recently, I can now perceive things up to a kilometer away. My taijutsu has also improved significantly due to constant sparring. Undoubtedly, my ninjutsu and kenjutsu have improved the most. I can now easily use chakra flow on my sword. I really want to have a full-power battle to test my current strength. I wonder if I'll get such an opportunity soon."
At 4:45 AM the next day, Kaito arrived at the training grounds. Mieko and Hodaka were already there.
Seeing them, Kaito asked, "Yo, ready for another three to four weeks of hardcore training?"
Mieko's shoulders slumped, and she replied, "I'd rather go on a mission."
Kaito and Hodaka laughed at her reaction.
Four months of training together and two lengthy out-of-village missions had greatly improved the relationship between the three.
Their teamwork was also excellent. However, it still needed to be tested in formal shinobi team confrontations.
At 5 o'clock sharp, Renjiro appeared before the team using Body Flicker.
Seeing that his squad members were ready to start morning training, he nodded inwardly with approval.
However, knowing what was about to happen, he couldn't help but smile.
Seeing that smile immediately made his genin very worried. Kaito thought to himself, "Okay, what's going on now?"
Renjiro began, "Over these four months, I have taught you all the basic formations. Even after you become chunin or jonin, you will still use these formations."
The squad members only calmed down slightly after hearing this. Kaito thought to himself, "Finally. No more boring formation drills. But why is he smiling? He wouldn't suddenly become friendly for no reason!"
Renjiro continued, "So from now on, I will focus entirely on improving your individual and team combat abilities. Therefore, the training will be stepped up several notches."
Hearing this, all three were stunned. Mieko was terrified, thinking to herself, "Several notches?"
Kaito also broke into a cold sweat, thinking, "Hasn't he already made us use one hundred percent of our strength?"
Hodaka also wondered nervously how intense "stepping up several notches" would actually be.
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