Konoha’s White Fang Shines

Chapter 74: Chūnin Exams

"Whoosh—"

A sharply defined break in the water flow appeared before Genma, as if the upper part of the waterfall had been slowed down while the lower part continued its descent at full speed.

This wasn't the top of the waterfall but its lower section—Sturt had managed to halt the waterfall's bottom portion with a single Liquor Bottle Finger technique. The sheer power of the move suggested it was almost at the level of a B-rank ninjutsu.

Though this waterfall wasn't as wide as the one where Naruto trained his Wind Release chakra in the original story, it was still incredibly tall.

Hearing that Sturt was going to teach him this technique made Genma visibly excited.

After all, this was Nin-Taijutsu, and it didn't require any chakra nature affinity! If his future descendants ended up without much talent, they could still rely on such a powerful technique to dominate opponents purely with martial prowess.

Noticing the excitement in Genma's eyes, Sturt smirked.

"Then let's not waste time. Strip down and get into the waterfall to train your Tai Chi forms. Remember—each stance must be executed perfectly, or the training doesn't count."

Genma froze.

This was a waterfall, not some basic weight training!

Simply standing under a waterfall was already difficult, as he had to constantly maintain chakra control to stay on the water's surface while enduring the water's force.

But now he had to practice Tai Chi stances at the same time? That meant he had to not only maintain balance but also ensure each movement was precise.

It was basically a dual-task training method—one relying purely on intuition.

However, he doubted this alone could match Sturt's level of Nin-Taijutsu.

Could this be just the beginner phase?

Genma looked at Sturt with disbelief. Sensing his doubts, Sturt merely said flatly:

"This is just basic training. There's much more ahead."

With that, Sturt vanished, clearly expecting Genma to train by himself.

Remembering the sheer power of that Liquor Bottle Finger technique, Genma clenched his fists and jumped into the waterfall.

"Argh—Gurgle gurgle gurgle—"

The moment he stepped into the waterfall, he felt as if countless high-pressure water jets were pummeling his body. He barely lasted a few seconds before getting knocked into the water.

For the sake of cool, powerful Nin-Taijutsu, Genma quickly climbed back onto the water's surface, took a deep breath, and charged back into the waterfall.

This time, he held out for a little longer.

However, the waterfall's force gave him the illusion that his body was getting heavier, dragging him down into the water again.

Again and again, he repeated the process. By the next day's afternoon, he had finally managed to stand inside the waterfall—but he didn't dare move a muscle.

Even experienced warriors couldn't adapt to training under a waterfall immediately.

While he could now stand beneath it, he still had to step out regularly. The constant water pressure was leaving red marks on his skin.

"Hmph. I think I'm getting the hang of it."

With that, Genma jumped back to shore and created a shadow clone.

Since this was a new type of training, Genma had been careful not to split his attention. He hadn't kept a clone at home studying while training here.

Using clones for training required dividing his chakra, and this training drained a lot of stamina. If he overexerted himself, he'd collapse without even realizing it.

Now that he had a better grasp of his energy consumption, he finally felt safe enough to use shadow clones.

Since chakra could be replenished through food and rest, he decided it was time to take that step.

After eating and taking a short break, he dived back into his training.

There weren't many entertainment options in this world—perhaps some questionable reading material, but even that wasn't particularly captivating to him.

The only thing that truly engaged him was training. Having been mentored by Might Duy, he had long since developed an obsession with self-improvement.

He could slack off, and no one would stop him. Sturt had even secretly monitored him in the past, but he had found Genma to be more diligent than expected.

After seven intense days of training, Genma could finally execute Tai Chi movements beneath the waterfall.

Due to the strong currents, his forms had begun to naturally incorporate redirection and neutralization of force.

However, he still couldn't retain the water on his body, which meant he had yet to fully master Tai Chi's core principles.

—

With the break over, the three teammates gathered at their training ground as usual, waiting for their sensei, Kamigase Yuuji, to arrive.

But they waited…

And waited…

Until noon.

Still, no sign of him.

Frustrated, the three decided to start cooking lunch at the training ground.

Most of the ingredients came from Genma—now that his family had money, he had begun storing supplies in sealing scrolls.

Instead of hoarding weapons like Tenten did in the original story, Genma invested heavily in storage scrolls.

However, he didn't buy them recklessly—only when his chakra capacity increased.

By the time he graduated, he could store and carry up to 20 kilograms of supplies in sealing scrolls without affecting his combat ability.

Twenty kilograms wasn't much, but it was enough to sustain a team for several days.

After graduating and increasing his chakra reserves further, he hadn't yet expanded his storage—he was saving up to buy a larger, high-capacity scroll.

By the time they finished preparing bamboo rice, a delicious aroma filled the training ground.

The weather was nice, so the three sat under a large tree and started eating.

Just as they broke open their bamboo rice, a whirlwind of leaves suddenly appeared before them.

"Oh—Sensei, you're late."

Raitō immediately recognized the arrival as their teacher and grumbled in dissatisfaction.

"Haha, I'm not late, I'm right on time."

Yuuji walked over to them, casually grabbing a bamboo tube without hesitation.

"Whoa, this is pretty loaded… But I don't like sweets. Anyone wanna trade?"

Seeing that his rice had dried fruits, red dates, and nuts, Yuuji frowned and looked at his students.

"I like sweet things. But first, Sensei, you have to explain why you were late!

We've been waiting all morning—it's not like it's warm yet."

Kurenai pouted, rolling her eyes at Yuuji before handing him her own bamboo rice.

"Haha, you're the best, Kurenai. Here, each of you take one of these."

Yuuji exchanged their meals and pulled out three sheets of paper, handing them to Kurenai.

The moment Kurenai glanced at the text, she nearly dropped her bamboo rice in shock.

"Chūnin Exams?!"

Hearing her startled cry, Genma and Raitō immediately grabbed the other two papers.

Seeing their expressions tighten, Yuuji grinned, shoveling some rice into his mouth before teasing:

"Heh, I thought at least one of you would be excited.

What's wrong? Lacking confidence?"

Genma's eye twitched as he exchanged his exam form with his own copy.

"Sensei… You must have known about this for a while."

Yuuji laughed, clearly unbothered.

"Suspicious that our recent missions were preparation for this exam?"

Raitō suddenly realized something.

"Wait—so that's why our missions were so weird!

Sensei, you've been planning this from the start, haven't you?!"

His voice was loud enough to make Genma wince, but at least it confirmed something—Raitō trusted his instincts.

Meanwhile, Kurenai had a different perspective.

"…Wasn't it just because Sensei wanted extra money?"

Yuuji choked.

Coughing violently, he nearly spat out his food.

And with that reaction…

The three of them instantly knew.

Their sensei was definitely in this for the money.

End of Chapter 74