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Under the shade of a tree.
Miya Fukada looked at Kanda Rokuro and smiled. "I'm two years older than you, and I'm already familiar with the training here. If you have any questions, you can ask them now!"
Rokuro really wanted to say:
Can you just let me beat you up so I can finish my quest?
But he could only think such things in his head. Outwardly, he pretended to be excited and said, "Then, Brother Fukada, can you teach me how to save stamina during training?"
Hearing this, Fukada smiled knowingly. "Not bad. Being able to realize this proves you really are a genius. The most important thing during training is to ensure your stamina lasts until the very end. Otherwise, if you can't finish the regimen, you'll be punished!"
After saying that, he looked at the other children on the training ground and explained to Rokuro, "Except for you kids in Class 9 who just arrived, the other classes have actually already learned these techniques. I can teach you, but whether you master it depends on your own comprehension. Everyone's body is different, so the techniques required are slightly different too!"
Rokuro wanted to learn energy-saving techniques primarily to mask his abnormal recovery rate.
Of course!
These techniques couldn't completely hide his ability, but hiding a little was better than nothing!
At the very least, he wanted to avoid standing out too much as an anomaly.
Hearing that Fukada was willing to teach, Rokuro quickly said, "Brother Fukada, then please give me some personal guidance!"
Fukada nodded and assumed a punching stance. "Watch closely. We'll start with punching techniques. You newcomers tend to use full force with every punch uncontrollably. Doing that will just leave your shoulders aching after a thousand punches!"
As he spoke, Fukada threw a punch. "Actually, when we punch, using seventy percent of our strength is more than enough. This reduces the pressure on your shoulders so your arms won't be sore after a thousand reps. Now, come over here and try punching; I'll help adjust your posture!"
Fukada taught very seriously.
Rokuro also memorized everything Fukada said.
He stood in front of Fukada, punching continuously, while Fukada constantly corrected him, telling him what he was doing wrong and how to throw a strong punch with the least effort.
They practiced punching.
Then they moved on to kicks and side-steps.
Fukada taught earnestly, and Rokuro listened just as earnestly.
After all, this was experience gained from two or three years of training; Rokuro needed to absorb that knowledge.
His only regret was that when Fukada taught him, he stood relatively far away.
Rokuro couldn't find a chance to "accidentally" fall and give Fukada a hard knock.
Half an hour of training passed.
After explaining all the techniques for punching, kicking, and side-stepping, Fukada smiled and said, "Not bad. I've taught you the techniques. As for how to save even more energy, you'll need to adjust slowly on your own. That kind of micro-adjustment depends on your personal physique and comprehension; I can't teach you that. Now, only the final running training is left!"
Most of the break time was gone.
If he didn't complete the quest soon, Fukada might leave.
Rokuro calculated in his mind for a moment, then hurriedly said to Fukada, "Brother Fukada, do you want to run three hundred meters with me? I feel like training while running makes it easier to understand!"
It was just three hundred meters.
Fukada didn't mind. He nodded and smiled. "Alright, let's talk while running. It's a good opportunity for me to teach you how to adjust your breathing to make running easier..."
Rokuro agreed eagerly.
The two walked to the running track on the training ground, adjusted their postures, and began to jog slowly.
Fukada explained how to control breathing as he ran.
Rokuro's mind, however, was not on running at all. He was looking for an opportunity to make Fukada fall so he could complete the Random Quest and get all the rewards for the day.
After running two hundred meters.
Just as the three-hundred-meter mark was approaching.
Fukada began to speed up, speaking as he ran, "Most people unconsciously speed up when they're about to finish, but that's wrong. Our training isn't just running; there are other things after the run, so we..."
He didn't finish his sentence.
Suddenly, a figure beside him collapsed.
He didn't have time to stop and ran right into it. The collision sent him plunging forward, smashing face-first into the ground with a loud BANG!
"Ouch!"
Fukada cried out in pain as he hit the dirt.
After the initial shock of pain, he scrambled up to look. The thing that had tripped him turned out to be Kanda Rokuro.
It looked like Rokuro had run out of energy and collapsed on the ground, and Fukada had stepped on him in the process.
There was even a footprint on Rokuro's back.
Fukada, who was originally about to explode with anger, saw that he had stepped on Rokuro and felt too embarrassed to get mad. He quickly patted Rokuro and asked, "Are you alright?"
Rokuro scrambled up quickly, rubbed his back, and said with an embarrassed expression, "Brother Fukada, my legs suddenly went soft and I fell. Are you okay?"
While he was apologizing verbally, he was breathing a huge sigh of relief internally.
He had been wondering if simply making Fukada trip would count as "teaching him a lesson."
Only when the System prompt appeared—[Random Quest Complete. Reward: 100 EXP]—did he truly relax.
If this hadn't worked, he would have had to abandon the quest. After all, it wasn't suitable for him to cause real trouble right now. He needed to wait until he was more familiar with this place and until Okamoto wouldn't punish him for minor incidents before he could act out.
Seeing Rokuro rubbing his stepped-on back, Fukada felt even more embarrassed about getting angry. He patted Rokuro and said, "It's fine. Let's end our training here. You're still too young, so it's normal for your stamina to give out. Go back and rest for a bit. Come find me again later if you need anything!"
The quest was complete.
Rokuro didn't want to waste any more breath on Fukada.
He nodded. "Brother Fukada, I'll go rest then. We still have the main run later!"
Fukada glanced at Okamoto in the distance and whispered a reminder, "I can see Instructor Okamoto looks after you. You should train hard and strive to get promoted to the Konoha Orphanage Headquarters as soon as possible!"
Konoha Orphanage Headquarters?
Rokuro was confused; he didn't know what that meant.
But soon!
He understood.
Fukada meant that this place was just one of many orphanages run by Konoha (Root).
No wonder he hadn't seen a single familiar face here.
It turned out they were currently just at a branch orphanage. If he wanted to meet those well-known ninjas, he needed to improve his strength and get transferred to the Headquarters.
Thinking of this.
His expression turned serious.
He felt it was necessary to rapidly increase his strength and get to the Headquarters.
Presumably, that was where he could truly learn Ninjutsu.