I Just Wanted to Slack Off, But I Was Forced to Become Hokage

Chapter 35: [Sage Clan Guidance Technique]!

"Hyaaah!"

"Hooah!"

Before Nara Keisuke even got close to the Fire Temple's training grounds, his ears picked up the sound of spirited and wild shouts. He subconsciously stopped in his tracks and looked at the clan head beside him.

"Hm?"

"The ninja monks of the Fire Temple have extremely high requirements for their own physical conditioning," Nara Shikano said, his expression calm, not mentioning a word about his own embarrassment the first time he had heard these manly roars. "You can think of them as a group of taijutsu-specialist ninja from the Strong Fist school, Keisuke. For a ninja monk, they can go a day without eating, but they cannot go a day without training their bodies."

Strong Fist taijutsu specialists... oh, them...

Nara Keisuke subconsciously thought of a group of youthful kappas in deep green jumpsuits.

That's even more terrifying!

But since he was already here...

Keisuke took a few more steps forward, and his ears caught the sound of clearer, dull thuds. It was as if that group of youthful kappas up ahead were engaged in one intense and exciting match of bodily collision after another.

This time, before Keisuke could look at the clan head, Master Chūkaku appeared quietly once again, drifting before the two of them as if he were a gust of wind. For some reason, Keisuke always felt that the abbot of this Fire Temple was a person of temperament who came and went with the wind.

Nara Shikano smiled and greeted him, "Chūkaku-dono, I've brought Keisuke here to see the special training scenery of your Fire Temple."

Master Chūkaku replied with a smile, "The Fire Temple will not refuse any visitor."

Nara Keisuke added, "Master Chūkaku, I would like to have a practical exchange with the esteemed temple's ninja monks. Would that be convenient?"

The clan head's intention had been clear since he gave him the [Chakra Crystal] that morning. He hoped that Keisuke could spar with the ninja monks of the Fire Temple to test the effects of the crystal. But even if the clan head hadn't mentioned it, now that Keisuke was at the Fire Temple, he wouldn't let the ninja monks in this temple off the hook.

Even if the idea that "the Fire Temple might possess a special Sage Mode" was just an ethereal rumor, for the sake of "natural energy," Keisuke would not easily miss this opportunity.

"Young Benefactor Nara is too polite," Master Chūkaku said, pressing his palms together and nodding with a smile. "I will arrange it."

'Just as I observed before.' Standing to the side, Nara Shikano's expression was gratified as he stroked his beard and smiled. 'The lazy and slack Nara clan has really produced a diligent and enterprising genius junior!'

Setting aside the old clan head's wild thoughts, Keisuke followed behind Master Chūkaku and entered the Fire Temple's training grounds. It was a vast, open-air training field, with training equipment for strengthening the body piled up in various corners.

In the central area, a group of shirtless, muscular, and sweaty bald men were currently gathered, sparring with each other and honing their physical combat skills. With very few exceptions, the vast majority of ninja did not deliberately pursue or train their physical conditioning to the extreme. But Nara Keisuke had to admit, the impact and shock from this scene of assembled muscular men... was truly powerful and potent, powerful and potent indeed!

'As expected, moderate fitness attracts the opposite sex, while excessive fitness attracts the same sex.' Nara Keisuke reflected on himself. If his ninja talents in this life hadn't been mostly allocated to "spiritual energy" and "knowledge acquisition," perhaps he too would have had to walk the path of a pure taijutsu-style, brawny, melee-focused ninja.

'However, taijutsu also relies on talent. The distance between a taijutsu genius and a taijutsu mortal is probably the distance between Rock Lee and Might Duy...'

Under Master Chūkaku's arrangement, a small, muscular, bald monk emerged from the large group of men and came before them.

"This is Chiriku, age 12. He is a novice ninja monk."

After hearing Master Chūkaku's introduction, Nara Keisuke looked at the small, muscular, bald monk opposite him. So it's the Fire Temple monk who can summon a "little Gundam" in the future...

Chiriku also clearly understood why the abbot had called him out and was staring intently at Keisuke. The benefactor across from me looks so thin. He obviously hasn't trained his body much. My muscle strength should exceed his...

Nara Keisuke and Chiriku came to an open area and performed the "Seal of Confrontation" towards each other. This was a basic etiquette required before a sparring match between ninja, with the corresponding "Seal of Reconciliation" for afterwards.

The Seal of Confrontation was formed.

The next moment, Chiriku lowered his right hand, leaned his upper body forward slightly, and with several quick steps, rapidly closed the distance to Keisuke.

'This level of speed... a Genin-level ninja monk?'

With a thought, Nara Keisuke had intended to directly use his [Shadow Secret Techniques]. But considering the [Chakra Crystal] he had obtained that morning, he gave up the idea of ending the fight instantly with his family's secret arts.

In the brief moment Keisuke was thinking, Chiriku had already drawn near. The monk's foot slammed into the ground, and his entire body leaped fiercely into the air. He raised his right leg high, bringing it down like a battle-axe, aiming straight for his opponent's head.

Thud!

With a dull sound, the feedback of his heel hitting a solid object made Chiriku feel a slight sense of joy. But when he looked closely, he didn't see a human body, only a puff of dispersing smoke and a few splintered pieces of wood. What he had just kicked wasn't his opponent, but merely a log that had appeared from nowhere.

E-rank Ninjutsu: [Substitution Technique]!

"When Chiriku leaped into the air, he used the fleeting blind spot to use the [Substitution Technique] and move away from Chiriku's position." Master Chūkaku, who was watching from the side, said in a calm tone. "Shikano-dono, Young Benefactor Nara's combat intuition is very sharp."

As one of the Three Academy Techniques taught at the Ninja Academy, the [Substitution Technique]'s difficulty was only E-rank. It wasn't some "space-time ninjutsu" or a "life-saving divine skill." The essence of the [Substitution Technique] was merely a very low-end misdirection technique to make the opponent mistakenly believe their attack had succeeded.

Chiriku landed heavily on the ground. He stepped on the log and looked straight ahead, just in time to see Nara Keisuke's figure.

[D-rank Ninja Combat Mission Detected!]

[D-rank Mission: Fire Temple Novice Monk]

[Mission Content: Defeat/Kill Novice Monk Chiriku]

[Mission Reward: D-rank Shinobi Secret Scroll]

[Mission Tip: The D-rank combat mission for this target can be completed once per week.]

Nara Keisuke ignored the mission information that popped up on the panel, still maintaining the posture of the Seal of Confrontation he had just formed. His right forearm was raised and held vertically in front of him, with his index and middle fingers extended and held together—this was the "Seal of Confrontation." A basic piece of ninja knowledge: the one-handed Seal of Confrontation was one of the methods for molding chakra.

E-rank Ninjutsu: [Clone Technique]!

Two clones with the same appearance and build as Keisuke appeared around his body. Keisuke stepped forward, and the two clones rushed towards Chiriku's position along with him.

"Is he just using low-level ninjutsu like the Substitution Technique and Clone Technique?" Nara Shikano stroked his beard, unable to hide the smile on his aged face. "I thought Keisuke would directly use the family's secret ninjutsu..."

'It's the ninja's Clone Technique!' Chiriku's pupils contracted slightly, and his gaze instantly shifted downwards. 'The regular Clone Technique isn't hard to distinguish. You just need to observe carefully to know which one is the real body!'

Also an E-rank technique, the "clones" created by the [Clone Technique] were merely illusions. They weren't tangible and naturally didn't even have shadows. By identifying the presence or absence of a shadow, one could distinguish the "main body" from the "clones"!

'The clone on the left has no shadow, the one in the mid—'

Before Chiriku could clearly observe the difference between the three figures, all three Nara Keisukes simultaneously burst forward with agile speed, rushing forward like arrows released from a bow.

[Body Flicker Technique]!

'So fast!'

Before Chiriku could react, Keisuke was already upon him. The clones on the right and in the middle instantly exploded into puffs of smoke and dissipated into the air. The real body on the left timely raised its left hand. Chakra gathered at the chakra points in his left hand and was blasted forward along with the straight punch.

Pow!

Nara Keisuke's left fist solidly struck Chiriku on the jaw. The latter's head snapped to the side from the powerful force. In an instant, Chiriku felt as if a full Buddhist water-and-land ceremony was being held inside his head, with bells, cymbals, and gongs all ringing at once.

The area around the human jaw is rich with vagus nerves. When an attack hits the jaw, the impacted nerves transmit this pressure to the brain's main nerve canal, causing the brain to feel dizzy. As long as a ninja was still human, they couldn't ignore the impact of this neural shock.

But Chiriku seemed to have undergone extremely rigorous anti-strike training at the Fire Temple. This straight left from Keisuke didn't knock him out on the spot; it only made him look a little dazed.

So...

Thwack!

Nara Keisuke made a decisive move and followed up with another punch. This "thwack" made Master Chūkaku's eyelid twitch and Nara Shikano's mouth twitch.

Chiriku fell to the ground. The panel also refreshed with a mission completion notification at this time.

[You have defeated the D-rank Ninja Combat Mission target!]

[You have obtained one D-rank [Shinobi Secret Scroll]!]

'Another D-rank scroll...'

Without much expectation, Keisuke casually opened the [Shinobi Secret Scroll]. 'It can't be another Body Flicker Technique, can it?'

[Opening...]

[Contents of this D-rank Shinobi Secret Scroll: Technique]

[D-rank Technique: Sage Clan Guidance Technique]

[Technique Description: Guide the qi to create harmony, guide the body to create softness. A basic training method passed down in the Fire Temple for a thousand years. Through the use of spiritual energy, it optimizes the body and mind.]

[Technique Effect: Through breathing exercises, enter a state of emptiness and self-forgetfulness, enhancing one's sensory interaction with the outside world.]

[Technique Evaluation: A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality.]

(End of Chapter)

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