Lee raised his hand. "Hello! I'm Rock Lee! Please give me your guidance, senpai!"
At this time, Lee was still wearing white clothes and had short hair, not the green jumpsuit and bowl-cut hairstyle he would later adopt. His appearance was quite normal.
Yaoyue sized him up, exchanged a look with Kawasaki behind Lee, and then nodded.
He crooked a finger, gesturing for Lee to attack.
Lee pushed off with his foot and quickly advanced.
"Leaf Whirlwind!"
"Leaf Gale!"
"Leaf Great Whirlwind!"
Lee was full of fighting spirit, shouting the name of each technique with every kick.
Although Yaoyue blocked him casually, he couldn't help but nod in approval.
Though Lee was young, his fundamentals were incredibly solid. Every move, every form, was as if it had been tempered a thousand times. It was clear he had put in a great deal of hard work.
No wonder the clan head wanted him to give Lee a few pointers.
After Lee finished two sets of moves, Yaoyue sent him flying off the stage with a single kick.
"Your fundamentals are good. It seems your teacher is a perfect fit for you, and you've been learning diligently. Keep it up; you have a promising future."
Lee got to his feet and bowed to Yaoyue. "Thank you for your guidance, senpai! I will continue to work hard!"
Lee left the stage happily. He usually seemed a bit foolish, and few people ever acknowledged him. But today, this Uchiha senpai had actually praised him.
"I've decided! I'll run an extra hundred laps today! I must redouble my efforts!"
After leaving the stage, Lee set an even greater training load for himself.
Tenten was a little confused. Why hadn't the stronger Neji earned the Uchiha senpai's approval? Lee was clearly weaker, yet he had received affirmation.
The truth was, Tenten didn't understand that for most, a ninja was best as an all-rounder. Without ninjutsu or genjutsu, it was difficult to become a top-tier shinobi.
But "difficult" didn't mean "impossible."
The reason Yaoyue rated Lee so highly was that Lee was walking the path best suited for him. From Lee's fundamentals, it was clear he put in tremendous effort.
Lee wasn't strong now because he was a Strong Fist style user.
Strong Fist users had weak offensive power in their youth and performed poorly. They needed their bodies to develop to a certain point before they could truly display their power.
The early stages of the Strong Fist style were exceptionally difficult; you could barely beat anyone. You were heavily reliant on teammates for missions. In tumultuous times, you might not even get the chance to grow before being overwhelmed by circumstances.
Unless one had absolutely no talent for ninjutsu or genjutsu, choosing the Strong Fist style was a last resort. No one would pick it otherwise.
Might Guy was also a dead-last as a child, but he never gave up, persisting with his training day after day. In the end, he fought Uchiha Madara with the Eight Gates. If not for his stamina running out, even Madara would have been defeated.
Regardless of whether Lee could use ninjutsu or genjutsu, Yaoyue would never look down on him. Those were merely means to an end, not the goal itself. One could still become a master using only taijutsu.
Finally, it was Tenten's turn.
Tenten had originally just been there for the excitement. Urged on by Neji and Lee, she walked onto the field.
Just as Yaoyue was about to ask the clan head for his intentions, a figure flashed past, and Kawasaki was already on the stage.
Kawasaki waved to Yaoyue. "You're tired. You need a rest."
Yaoyue was momentarily stunned, then bowed his head. "Yes, Clan Head."
The Uchiha swapping out opponents made Tenten nervous. The man opposite her was the head of the Uchiha clan, Uchiha Kawasaki.
Seeing Tenten standing frozen like a wooden post, her body unusually stiff, Kawasaki smiled kindly. "Come now, don't be nervous. I just came up to stretch my legs."
Tenten still didn't relax, standing ramrod straight. "Yes, Lord Kawasaki! I am Tenten, please give me your guidance!"
Kawasaki waved his hand, gesturing for her to attack. His decision to come up wasn't on a whim; he felt Tenten was an overlooked genius.
While Might Guy's character was impeccable, he was clearly not the right teacher for Tenten.
Just like now. Tenten used her scrolls to summon and throw a massive barrage of ninja tools. Kawasaki dodged them all with just a few casual steps.
The volume of tools Tenten threw was considerable; her scrolls were like a bag of holding. She had thrown at least the equivalent of what ten genin would carry before she stopped, panting for breath.
Kawasaki glanced back. The field was littered with all sorts of ninja tools, mostly shuriken and kunai. There were also some miscellaneous, unidentifiable weapons.
The current Tenten was truly wealthy. The ninja tools scattered across the ground alone were worth enough to fund an ordinary ninja's missions for a year.
Kawasaki was quite fond of Tenten as a person. Her personality was one of the best among the kunoichi of Konoha. Cheerful, decisive, and independent. She took good care of her teammates, was always ready to help, and knew how to comfort others. Tenten would even lend a hand to complete strangers.
But many people's impression of Tenten was limited to her just throwing ninja tools.
Kawasaki, however, believed that Tenten simply hadn't found the right teacher.
It was true that anyone could summon things from a storage scroll. But to summon them as densely and repeatedly as Tenten did required a certain talent.
It was well known that the Reverse Summoning Technique was typically used by a contracted summon to call upon their contractor. Ordinary ninja generally couldn't summon humans. Only a few talented individuals could do it. There was a girl who was a master of summoning jutsu named Ajisai. She was also the second Animal Path.
However, the current Animal Path was still the first one, a man. Ajisai had not yet died.
Those people were all fervent followers of Konan and Pain. But they had since been disbanded by Konan, their whereabouts unknown.
With Tenten's talent, she could absolutely develop along the lines of the Animal Path.
After all, "shuriken can't kill people" was common sense in the ninja world. The ninja tools she summoned were less practical than just finding a few summoning animals.
Kawasaki walked up to Tenten and said gently, "Come on, let's go down."
Tenten was a bit bewildered but followed Kawasaki off the stage.
Kawasaki waved to the Uchiha clan members at the side. They immediately went up to clean up all the ninja tools. Piles and piles of them were sealed into storage scrolls and handed to Kawasaki.
Kawasaki tossed the scrolls casually to Tenten.
He beckoned to Yaoyue, signaling for him to take the stage again. Yaoyue complied and went up.
After Kawasaki led Tenten away, Neji and Lee gathered around them. Kawasaki had them sit on a bench near the hospital.
"Lord Kawasaki, did I do poorly?"
Neji and Lee had both sparred with an Uchiha clansman. But when it was Tenten's turn, Kawasaki hadn't even offered a single comment. This left Tenten feeling anxious.
Kawasaki shook his head. He didn't answer directly, asking instead, "Tenten, what is your dream?"
Tenten's eyes lit up. "I want to become a great kunoichi, just like Lady Tsunade."