The weekend passed in the blink of an eye, fleeting as a white horse galloping past a gap in a wall, and the workdays rolled around once again.
"Sigh, having to go to work like this is just so helpless." After two days of rest, Shinichi began to grumble about his job.
Walking along the path to the Ninja Academy, Shinichi greeted students one after another as they called out to him, and he responded with warm enthusiasm.
"Good morning, Teacher Shinichi!"
"Teacher Shinichi, I never expected you to be so popular with the students."
Nishikawa Masako, Shinichi's desk neighbor at the office, looked astonished at his level of popularity.
She had been teaching for over a year now, and not even a handful of students ever took the initiative to greet her. Yet Shinichi had only been teaching for a few days, and he was already this popular. It was hard for her to accept right away.
"Teacher Nishikawa, you should look at it this way: the students must have greeted me because they saw such a stunning beauty sitting right next to me. Otherwise, why would any student take the initiative to greet a teacher?"
"Is that so?"
Nishikawa Masako felt there was something a bit strange about what he said, though she couldn't quite put her finger on the problem. As she pondered this, the two of them unconsciously arrived at the office.
"Teacher Shinichi, Lord Third has already given instructions. Let me know how I can assist you with this matter."
As soon as they stepped into the office, Shinichi saw Section Chief Ishikawa waiting for him. The moment he caught sight of Shinichi, the section chief hurried right over.
"Ah, Section Chief Ishikawa, I'm utterly flattered that you came to see me in person!"
"As for the task entrusted to me by Lord Third, I've already drawn up a detailed plan. Tomorrow morning, I'll bring the written proposal to you. How does that sound?"
Although Shinichi had completely forgotten whatever Sarutobi Hiruzen had told him, when dealing with his direct superior, he naturally had to phrase things a bit differently.
Seeing that Shinichi remained as modest as ever, Ishikawa nodded with satisfaction, patted him on the shoulder, and strode out of the office with his toes pointed outward.
The moment Ishikawa left, the other teachers in the office crowded around, chiming in with questions from every direction.
This truly felt novel to them. Generally speaking, people who voluntarily became teachers at the Ninja Academy were either ninja lacking in talent or those whose combat effectiveness had been severely compromised due to injuries sustained on the battlefield; they only took up teaching to make a living. And yet, here was an ordinary teacher among them who had actually been summoned and given a mission by the supreme leader of the nation. No matter how they looked at it, it seemed unbelievable.
"Ah, about that? It's pure luck on my part. Lord Third randomly drew a teacher to question, and he happened to pick me."
Hearing Shinichi's reply, most of the teachers nodded in sudden enlightenment and went back to their desks.
However, a small minority remained suspicious, such as Nishikawa Masako, who had been mulling it over the entire way. The look she now gave Shinichi lacked its former warmth, as if an inexplicable barrier had suddenly materialized between them.
"Shinichi, since Lord Third chose you, you must make sure to complete this mission properly!"
As a veteran senior, Fujiyama naturally had a few words of advice for a junior he looked upon favorably.
"Don't worry, Senior Fujiyama, I will definitely complete this mission properly," Shinichi said, wearing a confident expression.
"It's good that you have confidence. If you run into any trouble, be sure to speak up!" the Yamanaka teacher chimed in from the side.
"I will, I will. Thank you all for your concern." Seeing the care shown by his fellow office teachers, Shinichi's smile grew even more sincere.
Clang, clang!
Amidst the idle chatter of the office teachers, class time arrived in a flash.
The next period was for Class 3-4. After a week of deliberation, Shinichi had formed a clearer idea of how to guide them moving forward.
"Obito, you actually didn't arrive late this time. Splendid job."
Stepping into the classroom and seeing that everyone in the class was present, Shinichi couldn't help offering a word of praise.
Hearing Shinichi's praise, Obito instinctively scratched the back of his head, a silly, bashful grin spreading across his youthful face.
"Today's lesson will cover the nature transformation of fire-release chakra. According to your student records, the primary chakra awakening for most people in our class is the fire release. So, has anyone already learned a Fire Release ninjutsu?"
After spending some time together, the students in the class were no longer as distant from Shinichi as they used to be, and several hands went up one after another.
From Shinichi's perspective, most of the raised hands belonged to students from the prominent ninja clans. He nodded at the students who raised their hands and officially began the lecture.
Time flew by, and the single period passed in the blink of an eye.
"Alright, students, the rest of the class belongs to me. Next period we'll head to the training grounds, and I'll give you a practical demonstration of what we just discussed."
Hearing Shinichi's words, the students were stunned for a second, and then they erupted in wild joy.
At the Ninja Academy, teachers were not obligated to teach students ninjutsu; most students learned their very first ninjutsu from their assigned jounin commander after graduation. Furthermore, learning ninjutsu depended entirely on the temperament of that leader. If the teacher was nice-tempered, they might teach them some ninjutsu; otherwise, some students would still only know the Three Basic Techniques taught at the academy by the time their squad was disbanded.
What sent the students into a frenzy of joy was precisely Shinichi's attitude. They had only known each other for a few days, yet Shinichi was already treating them this well, so in the future surely... At this thought, the students stepped lighter as they made their way toward the training ground.
Taking advantage of the moment while the students filed out of the classroom toward the training ground, Shinichi checked the reward for this lecture.
[Instructed students on the nature transformation of fire-release chakra, obtained reward: Wind Release: Great Breakthrough.]
"It's Wind Release, what a pleasant surprise!"
Having received no rewards for ninjutsu of other elements for so long, Shinichi had guessed that he might need to cultivate chakra of that specific attribute himself before he could be rewarded with ninjutsu of that element. Getting a small surprise like this now naturally put him in a great mood.
It was much like dropping a ten-yen coin—though it wasn't much, it would still leave you feeling down. But if you happened to find it a few days later in the pocket of another jacket, your mood would naturally be delighted.
After tidying up a bit, Shinichi got to his feet and headed toward the training ground. Upon arrival, he heard the ringing of bells echoing in the air.
"Class is in session, students."
In truth, Shinichi didn't even need to give an intentional reminder; the moment they heard the bell, the students of Class 3-4 had already consciously fallen into formation.
Silently counting the heads in his mind, Shinichi stepped back a few meters away from the students. He knew very well that if these students were to truly understand the mysteries of ninjutsu, a visual demonstration was indispensable.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique."
A massive fireball spewed from Shinichi's mouth, surging toward a large tree not far away.
When it was still some distance from the tree, the giant fireball split into countless smaller fireballs that bypassed the tree, before converging back into a single giant fireball and exploding in midair.
With a thunderous boom, the students standing not far from Shinichi snapped out of their astonishment.
"Teacher Shinichi, Teacher Shinichi, that was way too cool! Can you teach me?"
Regaining his senses, Obito immediately latched onto Shinichi, eager to learn how to perform that trick.
Using Fire Release ninjutsu was normal, but executing it like Shinichi just had—with a large fireball splitting into countless tiny ones, recondensing into a giant fireball, and then exploding in midair—even to them, who had just been introduced to ninjutsu, this was clearly an extremely difficult feat.
"Students in our class who have already learned a Fire Release ninjutsu, line up on the left. Those who haven't, stand on the right."
Ignoring Obito's pestering, Shinichi spoke to the students, who were still in a daze.
Hearing Shinichi's instruction, the students hurried into action. Just as Shinichi had anticipated, only a handful of them had ever learned a Fire Release ninjutsu.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
A figure possessing a 99-percent likeness to Shinichi materialized right before him.
Shinichi nodded at his shadow clone, and the clone led the students who already knew Fire Release off to the side to practice.
Meanwhile, Shinichi turned his gaze toward the students who had yet to learn any Fire Release ninjutsu.
"For those of you who haven't touched upon Fire Release yet, the first thing you must understand is the principle behind ninjutsu."
"Ninjutsu is not merely a crude release of power, but rather the precise control of chakra."
Shinichi spoke slowly, his voice calm and magnetic, carrying a sort of magical quality that compelled the students to listen with rapt attention.
He extended his hand, and a faint blue glow of chakra flickered across his palm.
"Look, this is chakra. It is the source of our power as ninja. And Fire Release ninjutsu is the combination of your own chakra with the fire attribute."
With that, he gave a gentle flick, and a tiny cluster of flames danced upon his palm—not scorching hot, yet full of nimble vitality.
The students widened their eyes, staring curiously at that ball of flame, their eyes filled with yearning and expectation.
"Now, try to sense the chakra within your own bodies."
"Close your eyes, concentrate, and search for that power hidden deep inside," Shinichi guided them patiently.
The students closed their eyes one after another, following Shinichi's instructions. For a moment, the surrounding area grew so quiet that only the sound of gentle breathing could be heard.