"I'm telling you two, why so serious? Vacation is called vacation because it's time to take a break. There's only one day left; shouldn't you be focusing on resting?"
At Training Ground 3, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio sat sipping drinks, watching the two figures running across the surface of the river. Shikaku spoke in a lazy, rhythmic drawl. The early autumn afternoon was less sweltering than midsummer, but the air was still heavy enough to induce a persistent drowsiness.
On a day with weather this perfect, Shikaku should have been at home, basking in the cool air of the air conditioner while studying Shogi manuals. Instead, for the past month, his mother had chased him out of the house like clockwork every single day. The reason? Those two "training ground rats," Tatsuma and Minato.
If those two weren't working so hard, the laziness of the other students during the break wouldn't have been so glaringly obvious—and Shikaku wouldn't have been kicked out of his own home in the middle of a heatwave.
Out on the river, the two boys finished a four-hundred-meter dash and came to a halt on the water's surface, steadying their breathing. Hearing Shikaku's complaint, Tatsuma called back, "You know, you don't actually have to come here. You could always go hang out at the tea district."
Shikaku, slumped in a heap like a discarded ragdoll, replied with a weary sigh. "If you can think of the tea district, my mother can too. All three of our clans have properties there. If we even stepped foot on that street, the news would reach her ears in under two hours."
"Ah, the cursed wealth gap," Tatsuma lamented.
He didn't even dare to add an extra egg to his ramen, yet these kids came from families with entire commercial chains.
"Then why don't you just train with us? There's no downside to being stronger," Minato asked earnestly.
Shikaku rolled his eyes. "I already have to go to school on time; you actually want me to put in extra work? Or is our biology just different? Do you two not get covered in stinking sweat and deal with aching muscles after a workout?"
Inoichi and Choza nodded in vigorous agreement. Training was pure torture; they couldn't fathom why Tatsuma and Minato seemed to enjoy it so much.
"Training is grueling, sure," Tatsuma said, a grin splitting his face. "But I'm a man who wants to be a shinobi. That means I have to endure what others can't. It's a guarantee that once I graduate, I'll face dangerous enemies. When that time comes, I'd rather have the power to protect myself than have to beg an enemy for mercy. I'll take the pain of training over that any day."
Tatsuma meant it. To be honest, the physical agony he had endured over the past year was more than he had experienced in his entire thirty-year previous life combined. But since he had chosen the path of a ninja, he had to own the consequences.
Unlike Shikaku and the others, Tatsuma realized the clan heirs actually had fewer choices in some ways. Because their parents were shinobi and the backbone of the village, they were born with expectations pinned to their backs like targets.
Minato chose to enroll because he dreamed of becoming Hokage—even if he didn't fully grasp the price of that dream at five years old, it was still his choice.
But Shikaku and his friends? Their fathers wouldn't ask them what they wanted to be when they grew up; it was simply assumed they would become ninja.
Because of this, Tatsuma never pushed Shikaku to train as hard as he pushed Minato. Shikaku might not have had a choice a year ago, but in five years, things might change. If Shikaku was truly dead-set against it, he could theoretically ride out his time with terrible grades; his father wouldn't actually be cruel enough to throw a truly incompetent son onto a battlefield.
Tatsuma knew Shikaku would eventually become a reliable, legendary shinobi, but for now... there was no point in lecturing him.
Tatsuma and Minato were different. The village was investing educational resources in them. If they didn't become viable ninja, the village took a net loss. To put it bluntly and darkly: even if they were slightly below the graduation threshold when the time came, the village would likely push them through anyway just to have more warm bodies serving as Genin. The shinobi world was simply too unstable to do otherwise.
Shikaku gave a noncommittal shrug. Choza, having finished his bag of chips, asked, "Are you guys ever going to take a break? Let's go grab some afternoon tea."
Tatsuma and Minato shared a look. Tatsuma shook his head. "We'll pass. If you're bored, feel free to head out. If I see Auntie Karin later, I'll tell her you were training with us."
Shikaku looked tempted, but after a moment of consideration, he sighed and declined. "Forget it. I'll wait until I master the Transformation Jutsu before I start sneaking out."
He turned to his two partners. "Inoichi, Choza, no slacking next semester. We need to get that Transformation Jutsu down perfectly, got it?"
Inoichi nodded. Choza, meanwhile, had turned his chip bag inside out and was busy licking the seasoning off the foil. He bobbed his head up and down—it was unclear if he was agreeing or just reaching for a stray crumb.
Five minutes later, Tatsuma and Minato (hair still tied in their training ponytails) were back to racing across the water. The Ino-Shika-Cho trio, having just settled down, were already growing restless again. Choza was having chip withdrawals, Shikaku had a Shogi itch, and Inoichi was actually reduced to trimming the grass with his fingers just for something to do.
Minato, who had finally managed to beat Tatsuma in a sprint, took a breath and looked back at the trio. "Tatsuma, maybe we should call it for today?"
Seeing that Minato's heart wasn't in it anymore, Tatsuma nodded. "Vacation is almost over anyway. One afternoon won't kill us."
Minato started walking toward the shore. "Let's go for that tea."
Shikaku: "?!" Inoichi: "?!" Choza: "!!!"
Before Shikaku or Inoichi could even process the words, Choza had leaped to his feet with a speed that defied his physique. His red hair billowed in the wind as he let out a boisterous, magnanimous shout.
"THE SNACKS ARE ON ME!"
Seeing Choza's sudden burst of generosity, Shikaku and Inoichi scrambled up. The five of them charged out of the training ground. With the sheer aura Choza was radiating, you'd think they were heading out to hunt an S-rank rogue ninja rather than go for tea.
For most people, "afternoon tea" meant a light snack and a drink. For Choza, "afternoon tea" meant eating and drinking until the sun went down.
Tatsuma didn't get home until late that night, feeling so stuffed he couldn't even think about dinner, let alone a nightly workout. He decided to stay in and open his system panel.
Over the past six months, his growth rate had slowed slightly. Minato was no longer a pushover; their win-loss ratio had settled at roughly 7:3. If Minato had a more aggressive, competitive personality, that gap likely would have closed to 6:4.
Still, the "fleecing" had been productive. Tatsuma had successfully pushed his attribute caps to near-Chunin levels.
Sakamoto Tatsuma Status Panel
Core Attributes(Realized Value / Potential Cap → Tier)
STR (Strength): 361 / 945 — Genin
SPD (Speed): 674 / 1854 — Chunin (High)
PHY (Physique): 629 / 1662 — Chunin (High)
INT (Intelligence): 417 / 587 — Genin
NIN (Ninjutsu): 315 / 673 — Genin
GEN (Genjutsu): 99 / 373 — Academy
ENG (Energy): 333 / 764 — Genin
SEA (Seals): 454 / 801 — Genin
Special Talents:
Space-Time: 50%Ninjutsu Development: 40%Ninja Tool Projection (Minato Limited): 60%Perception: 25%