Konoha camp.
The second Taiichi spotted Guy and the others coming, he snapped right back into respectful mode with Tsunade.
At least on the surface. Nobody could tell he'd just been glaring daggers at his teacher.
A man looks out for his sensei's face. That was Taiichi's simple way of seeing it.
Guy skidded to a stop the moment he saw her and dropped into a perfect ninety-degree bow.
"Lady Tsunade, my apologies. I didn't notice you were here."
Tsunade slipped straight back into full battlefield commander mode. She gave a cool nod, offered Guy and the other two a few short words of encouragement, then turned and walked back to her tent without another glance.
"Man, the Sannin really are on another level. Strongest woman in Konoha history and it shows. That presence, that composure… unreal."
Ebisu watched her go, sighing like he'd just witnessed something holy. Taiichi's cheek twitched.
Idiot. You can't judge people by the surface. One day you're gonna get cleaned out and nobody's gonna save you.
"Taiichi, what's the plan? We cleared it with Captain Hizashi. We've got the whole day off just to train with you!"
Guy was already bouncing on his toes, throwing light punches and kicks even while he talked.
"You three eat breakfast yet?"
Taiichi didn't answer the question. He asked his own instead.
Guy's fist froze mid-swing. Behind him, Ebisu and Genma looked ready to cry.
Finally. Someone remembered food. Guy had dragged them out of bed at dawn for training, then straight here. Their stomachs had been screaming for hours.
One look at their faces told Taiichi everything. He jerked his head toward the mess area.
"Come on. Let's eat first. Body's iron, rice is steel. You train on an empty tank and you're just wasting time."
Ebisu and Genma shot each other a look and immediately fell in step. Guy was half a beat behind, but once it clicked he teared up, shouted something about youth, and sprinted to catch them.
"So that's it. Eating's part of youth too. Learned something new today."
The four of them moved fast toward the breakfast line, drawing stares the whole way. Between Taiichi the rising star and Guy the walking oddity, they were impossible to miss.
After they demolished their food, Taiichi led them to his usual training ground.
"First thing—I need to see exactly where each of you stands right now."
He lifted one hand. Three soft pops later, three shadow clones stood beside him.
"You're sparring my clones. Go in like you actually want to kill them. That's the only way I'll get an accurate read."
The three looked hungry for it. Real training under someone like Taiichi didn't come around often. They were going to squeeze every drop out of this.
Especially Ebisu and Genma. They didn't have Guy's closeness with Taiichi or powerful clan elders watching their backs. This chance felt even rarer for them.
The clones split them up and led them in three different directions so nobody would get in anyone else's way.
Taiichi stayed behind with his real body. He wasn't wasting time either. He drew the short blade from his back and started running through his kenjutsu forms, slow and deliberate.
Yesterday's jump in Advanced Meditation to Lv8 had already changed things. He wanted to know what pushing kenjutsu and taijutsu to Lv8 would do.
Not far off, Guy and his shadow clone didn't need instructions. They just started fighting.
Guy opened with a Leaf Whirlwind, a vicious kick aimed low at the clone's legs.
The clone didn't dodge. It raised its own leg to meet the strike, testing Guy's power.
A heavy thud. The clone's eyebrow twitched.
That kick had real weight. Most special jonin who weren't pure taijutsu types wouldn't hit much harder.
They traded a few more blows—fists and kicks—until the clone had a clear picture of Guy's overall strength. Then the real technique exchange began.
That was when Guy's gaps showed. Compared to the clone's years of real combat, Guy's experience was thin. His moves were textbook perfect but lacked personal insight.
For example, the Rising Arm Punch from the Strong Fist style. If he angled it three inches higher it would smash straight into the face for way more damage. Why stick to the standard form?
There were plenty of examples like that. By the end, the clone could see Guy had solid fundamentals and good raw power, but he needed more actual fights to turn what he knew into something that was truly his.
Even so, with that foundation he was already sitting at average chunin level.
On the other side of the clearing, Ebisu and Genma were in a completely different place. These two were classic civilian-born shinobi.
They didn't specialize in taijutsu like Guy, and they didn't know many ninjutsu either. Beyond the academy's Three Basic Techniques, Genma was decent with senbon and shadow clones. Ebisu was only really comfortable with Body Flicker and shadow clones.
They were textbook Konoha genin—impressive for how recently they'd graduated, but still just talented genin.
When the testing wrapped up, the three regrouped with Taiichi. He'd just finished his final kenjutsu form and slid the blade back into its sheath.
He absorbed everything the shadow clones had learned and got straight to business.
"Guy, you're all-in on taijutsu, so today we're not doing anything else. You're sparring my clones. Use every move you know."
He created two more clones. "Two on one. If you don't want to get your ass kicked too badly, you'd better learn to adapt."
Taiichi's tone was teasing, but Guy either didn't catch it or didn't care. His eyes welled up as he shouted about youth and dragged the clones off into the trees.
Watching him go, Taiichi turned to Ebisu and Genma.
"Your situations are trickier. Guy can focus purely on taijutsu. You two need ninjutsu too."
They nodded hard. They knew their limits. They didn't have Guy's single-minded drive, and they didn't need to go all-in on taijutsu. Learning more skills was the smarter path.
"You know your chakra natures?"
"Earth," Genma said.
"Wind," Ebisu answered.
Taiichi nodded. "Good. I'll teach each of you one solid technique that matches your nature. The rest of the time we'll spar. Your combat experience is way too thin."
Their faces lit up. For civilian shinobi like them, getting a nature-matched jutsu was already a huge win. They weren't about to complain.
Taiichi created two more shadow clones and sent them off.
For Genma he chose Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall. Genma had plenty of offense but almost no defense. This would help cover that weakness.
For Ebisu he picked Wind Release: Great Breakthrough. It would give him the wide-area attack power he was missing.
Both picked it up fast. Half a day and they had the basics down.
Their jutsu still looked weak, but going from nothing to something was a massive step. Practice would handle the rest.
That still wasn't the most valuable thing they walked away with.
Thinking about their long-term growth, Taiichi shared some of his own rough understanding of Earth and Wind nature transformation and how to keep training it going forward.
That was the real gift.
While the clones taught, Taiichi's own training paid off.
His three advanced skills—taijutsu, meditation, and kenjutsu—had stayed close in level.
After meditation hit Lv8 yesterday, he could feel kenjutsu sitting right on the edge today.
He moved through his forms with total focus, blade flowing like it was part of him. Man and sword as one.
It was a state he'd never reached before. Almost like enlightenment. He sank deeper into it.
Then something shifted. His spirit surged again. That same state from yesterday returned. In his perception, natural energy filled the entire world.
His body below kept moving on muscle memory. The natural energy began interacting with him in strange ways as he swung the blade.
He could feel his body slowly but steadily getting stronger, like the energy was reinforcing his flesh.
It lasted a full quarter of an hour before he slowly came out of it. The blade stilled in his hands. A faint emptiness settled in his chest.
He pushed the reluctance aside and checked his panel.
[Through advanced kenjutsu practice, your comprehension has increased!]
[Advanced Kenjutsu has gained experience +1]
[Congratulations! Advanced Kenjutsu has reached Lv8 (1/9000)]
[Congratulations! Through long-term training, your Constitution has increased by +1]
Just like he expected. Advanced Kenjutsu had hit Lv8.
Each of the three advanced skills got harder the further they went, but the benefits were massive every time.
Especially sensing natural energy again. This time it lasted longer and gave him a clearer picture.
Fire's ferocity and warmth. Wind's agility and sharpness. Water's flow and fury. Earth's weight and embrace. Lightning's edge and frenzy.
Those were the ones he recognized. There were others, but they didn't resonate with him the same way, probably because of his own affinities.
With that fresh insight, Taiichi refocused and threw himself into advanced taijutsu training. By his estimate it would level up in the next day or two. The thought only made him push harder.
Time passed. A full day went by. As the sun dipped low, Guy, Ebisu, and Genma dragged themselves out of the woods one by one, looking wrecked.
Clothes torn, covered in bruises, Guy limping badly.
They stared at each other in surprise. None of them had expected the others to look just as bad.
"Haha, Genma, your face! How'd you get that black eye?" Ebisu laughed, then winced as it pulled at his own injuries.
"You're one to talk. That beggar outfit of yours isn't any better!" Genma adjusted his barely decent clothes and scoffed.
"Youth is full of challenges," Guy said, balancing on one foot. "Today was the most I've learned since graduation. Taiichi, your guidance was incredible."
Ebisu and Genma nodded hard. This kind of targeted training was rare.
Not every jonin was as well-rounded as Taiichi. Hizashi, for example, couldn't teach them strong fist or ninjutsu.
All three looked at Taiichi with open admiration now.
Ignoring the clowns, Taiichi absorbed the memories from his clones.
He had to admit—ninja who left their names in the original story all had something special. Guy was obvious, but even Ebisu and Genma had gone all-out during training. No wasted seconds. No holding back.
"Alright, save the chatter. Opportunities like this will come again. Right now, get over here so I can patch you up."
They cheered and sat in front of him.
Their injuries looked bad but were mostly superficial. With a healer like Taiichi, it took minutes.
Once everyone was healed, the four of them headed back toward camp with light steps.
Only their laughter lingered in the woods.
Days passed like that. Ever since Mist had started raiding villages, the attacks kept coming.
Tsunade had warned the coastal villages, but reality was cruel.
People clung to their homes. Some were too stubborn or too hopeful. Most stayed put.
That meant Konoha's defensive perimeter stretched thin. Coverage got weaker.
Second village wiped out. Third. Every time, Leaf pursuit teams went after the raiders, but they didn't always catch them.
Once Mist tasted success, they got bolder.
They learned that as long as they didn't push too deep inland, moved fast, and avoided Matsushita Taiichi, their hit-and-run raids had a pretty good success rate.
And it wasn't just about supplies anymore.
They realized they could use the villages as bait to ambush the Leaf teams coming to chase them.
When the first pursuit squad got wiped out in a Mist ambush, the whole "protect the villages" mission changed.
Tsunade looked at the jonin gathered below her, voice tight with anger.
"Talk. How the hell do we fix this?"