"Sigh!"
Hiruzen sighed, took out his pipe, lit it, and smoked moodily.
He expected Ryohei to pull himself together.
It would be beneficial both to himself and to Konoha.
Unfortunately, things went contrary to his wishes.
Ryohei bumped into the tender sprouts of Konoha and seemed to have been touched by something, but in the end, he still did not find the hope to live again.
Suddenly, Hiruzen caught a glimpse of the situation outside from the corner of his eye.
Ryohei stopped his footsteps at the corner at the end of the street on the left side of the academy, and his gaze turned towards the Ninth Training Ground inside.
Because the distance was too far, he could not clearly see Ryohei's expression.
Also due to buildings blocking the view, he could not see the situation in the Ninth Training Ground.
But that place and this time...
Could it be...
Hiruzen's heart stirred, and he immediately looked at the crystal ball on his desk.
On it, the scene of the Ninth Training Ground was reflected.
A child was training hard inside, while Ryohei stood quietly by the roadside watching, and a trace of ripples appeared in his dead-silent eyes.
There was surprise, there was reminiscence.
Because, although he was a child, the level he displayed in his training was not in the slightest inferior to an official ninja.
Shuriken, swordsmanship, taijutsu, the Three Basic Jutsu... He could be said to be proficient in various basic things; ordinary teenagers and youths could not reach this level.
Seeing this child, Hiruzen could not help but feel gratified as well.
...
The newcomers in Root were also like this!
Ryohei remembered past memories.
The training in Root was extremely cruel, it was a Gu-raising style of cultivation.
Out of a group of people, ultimately only one person could survive.
If one could not quickly master killing skills, one could not stand out from the rest.
Many people, at an age when they were still children, had already mastered skills and experience comparable to professional ninjas.
Compared to them, although this child had higher skill purity, his method of usage appeared somewhat immature.
But there was no helping this.
In times of peace, students did not need to graduate that early; this is how it is when one has no actual combat experience.
Unknowingly, the sun set in the west.
Half of the sun sank below the horizon, and the dim sky darkened.
The child also packed up his ninja tools and left with flying colors.
Flying colors?
Ryohei opened his mouth.
He clearly underwent high-intensity training for an entire afternoon, yet he was not tired at all. Does this guy have a special constitution?
He looked at the back disappearing gradually over the horizon, deep in thought, and then walked away as if nothing had happened.
It was just that, a little bit of something else was added to those dead-silent eyes.
Hokage Building.
Hiruzen was deep in thought.
After a long while, he took a deep breath, and then slowly exhaled.
The extinguished pipe rekindled with firelight.
...
The next day.
Ryohei wandered around Konoha as he did yesterday.
After wandering for a day, the time reached evening.
Whether it was a coincidence or some kind of expectation in his heart, Ryohei ultimately stopped in front of the Hokage Building again.
The school dismissal bell, the noise of children.
That innocence full of youthful vigor made that dead-silent heart faintly show signs of beating.
Finally, the children all left.
The beating heart returned to dead silence once more.
Ryohei was preparing to leave, but when passing by the Ninth Training Ground, he saw the child he saw yesterday again.
He was still training, still displaying a high level.
But compared to yesterday, there was not the slightest progress.
He stopped to watch until the sun sank below the horizon, and only followed to leave after the child left.
He also did not know what kind of mood he was holding while watching.
Perhaps, it was just purely to pass the time!
Then, the third day, the fourth day, the fifth day...
For a full half month, Ryohei repeated his previous life trajectory, wandering blindly around Konoha every day, finally passing by the Hokage Building, passing by the Ninja Academy, encountering the children dismissed from school, and then watching by the roadside when passing the Ninth Training Ground.
On the evening of this day, Ryohei passed by the Ninth Training Ground once again.
But that child was not training; instead, he was sitting cross-legged on the lawn, pondering hard over something.
He must have encountered a difficulty in his training!
Ryohei thought in his heart.
Yet he had no intention of going up to help.
During this period, this brat also frequently encountered problems regarding training, but he ultimately solved them all himself.
This is a genius.
But it exceeded Ryohei's expectations.
This time, until the sun went down, he still hadn't figured out the key to the problem.
The child stood up, shook his head in distress, and then left.
In the middle, the two brushed past each other.
"Did you encounter any problems in your training?"
Somehow, Ryohei opened his mouth to ask.
After asking, he himself was also stunned.
He did not know why he opened his mouth; he just saw the brat stumped by a training problem, so he wanted to help out in passing.
Hearing the voice, the child stopped his footsteps and looked back at him with surprise.
"You are?"
Ryohei turned around, squeezing out a trace of a smile on his indifferent face.
However, perhaps because he hadn't smiled for a long time, smiling now looked uglier than crying.
"Do not look at Uncle's appearance; actually, I am also a very formidable ninja. If you encountered any problems, tell Uncle, maybe I can give you some good advice."
"Really?" The child sized him up suspiciously.
"Really." Ryohei nodded affirmatively.
The child looked at him in silence.
After a long while, he spoke: "Forget it, a stranger who secretly watches me train suddenly says he wants to give me advice, no matter how you look at it, it's suspicious."
After saying that, the child scurried away.
Ryohei was stunned; he did not expect his good intentions to be rejected.
"Hey, Uncle."
The child's voice startled Ryohei.
He looked up; on the horizon, under the afterglow of the setting sun, the brat was waving at him.
"No matter what, thank you."
After saying that, he ran off again.
This brat.
Ryohei laughed crossly, very naturally, much better-looking than the smile he forced out earlier.
...
The next evening, Ryohei came here again.
The brat was still pondering hard, and even until the sun completely set, he had not figured it out.
Ryohei did not take the initiative to offer advice again.
The two brushed past each other by the roadside.
"Good evening, suspicious Uncle." The brat greeted him.
It was just that the tone was not very cute.
But Ryohei was not angry; instead, a trace of warmth rose in his heart.
The third day, the fourth day, the fifth day...
Half a month passed.
Ryohei would come to the roadside of the Ninth Training Ground every evening.
And the child still hadn't figured out his training problem.
On this day, the two brushed past each other once again.
The brat also greeted him in a not very friendly manner again.
Ryohei originally thought it was another ordinary day passing by, and was preparing to leave.
Suddenly, the brat's voice sounded from behind.
"Are you really a very formidable ninja?"
Finally could not hold back anymore, huh.
A trace of a smile outlined the corners of Ryohei's mouth. He turned to look at him, "Not that formidable really, just a Jonin."
"Really?" The brat was still somewhat doubtful.
Ryohei was not angry either. After all, he had been lifeless during the previous period, which didn't exactly earn a child's trust.
He nodded sincerely, "Really."
"Then can you solve my problem?"
"Not necessarily, but I can give some advice."
The brat hesitated for a moment and asked, "...Recently, no matter how I train, I do not feel any progress. Do you have a way to make me continue to progress?"
"Haha... I thought it was some kind of problem, so it was this!"
Ryohei laughed heartily, "You have trained to the extreme on the path of basics!"
"Ah?" The child did not quite understand.
"If you want to continue progressing, it is actually very simple. Either immediately graduate and become an official ninja, accumulate experience in missions, and your strength will naturally become stronger, or learn ninjutsu belonging to a ninja's rank."
"Brat, you might not have realized it yet, but your current self has already surpassed the level of a ninja student. The things in the academy can no longer improve your strength."