Chapter 3: The Grind Begins 2
"FINAAAAAALLLLLYYY!" Daiki's voice echoed throughout the expanse of training ground sixty-nine.
If anyone passed by at that time, or were just curious about the shouting and came to take look, they would find a young tan and broadly built teenager, soaked to the bone, his dark boxers moulded to his skin standing atop the stream within the training ground, crowing his 'victory to the sky.
Seven days, seven fucking days! A whole entire week of nothing but trying to walk on fucking water.
He loved training and trying to become the next Jesus as much as the next shinobi or kunoichi, but holy shit did it begin to get mind numbing after a time.
He had nothing else better to do, sure, but holy crap again, it was fucking insane, he was going absolutely stir crazy spending all this time playing in the water.
"Fuck I need a break from this crap." Daiki groaned, plopping his ass right down atop the water, he wobbled a bit on the water as he did, but held on.
He so was not in the mood to keep this up any longer.
It was normal for shinobi to train for long, extended period of times, that was for sure. But, he needed some damn variety here.
The only thing keeping him going here, was checking his status every so often and watching as some of his numbers rose up and up.
It was odd how watching numbers go up relaxed him and made him feel good, but he wasn't complaining, it was a balm to this shitty week.
'Being a ninja sucks ass man.' Daiki groaned internally, he should have just joined a civilian school and learned a trade, he would have probably been way happier with his life.
No going back now though, once a ninja, always a ninja and all that nonsense. Plus, he'd totally get squashed by a giant snake come the chunin exams if he was a civilian, that was just how his luck rolled.
He had to clear this downer of a mood, and there was only one thing available for him to do that right now, "Status."
[Name: Daiki Yurei]
[Age: 13]
[Chakra Capacity: 312/1960 (Genin)]
[Strength: 14/500]
[Endurance: 16.6/500]
[Durability: 14/500]
[Agility: 14/500]
[Taijutsu: 25/500]
[Ninjutsu: 20/500]
[Genjutsu: 10/500]
[Bukijutsu: 15/500]
[Chakra Control: 130.4/500]
[Chakra Affinities:]
[Lightning - (N/A): You have no training with this element.]
"That's the stuff." Daiki groaned in relief as he looked over the status screen. God, look at his fucking chakra control!
It had reached over a hundred! That was fucking amazing. A week and a half of training and here he was, more than a fifth of the way to maxing it out.
Though, it was definitely going to slow down from here. He didn't exactly know any other chakra control exercises, hell, none even really came up in the series after water walking from what he remembered.
Beyond Naruto learning Sage Mode and how to balance the Kyuubi's chakra. Was there even any other chakra control exercises even? Ones he could use that is. Or was it something he'd just work on passively like he had before getting this status stuff after he mastered the leaf sticking exercise?
Perhaps if he learned more jutsu or trained his affinity. Not that there were really any good options for that around here, they wouldn't exactly keep instructions for those in the standard library, right?
Either way, beyond that; "My chakra capacity has outright doubled since I started." Daiki's grin grew to blinding proportions…before dimming almost as quickly as it appeared.
Despite doubling it, it was still labelled as genin level. Man, his chakra capacity must have really been trash before. Hell, he guessed it was still trash.
He sighed, his mood was like a yo-yo here. What he'd accomplished here, was treated as big turning point for Naruto, a milestone reached more or less that let him jump massively in strength and fighting ability.
It didn't feel like a big goal or anything to him though, the only congratulations he was getting were the birds chirping in the trees.
"Fuck it, I'm so done here man." Daiki hopped up, dismissing his status screen.
He was heading home to change his boxers, then he was going to do…something. Whatever honestly.
Maybe buy a television so he could laze around his house for a bit and relax. Konoha Crush, screw that noise, he was gonna go loopy at this rate, hell, he'd take a conversation with Iruka-sensei over being alone much longer.
The silence beyond him was stifling.
_________________________________________
Now that he was a Genin, an active shinobi of the Leaf Village and part of the military, he didn't have to settle for the public library.
Instead, he was allowed to access the Konoha Library Archive.
Daiki made his way back through the village, and headed towards the Hokage building, and then passed it. His destination was in fact, built into the Hokage Mountain.
As soon as he entered the general vicinity of it, multiple green vested shinobi came into view, on guard all around the perimeter.
And Daiki was willing to bet his left testicle that there were at least a dozen Anbu Black Ops out of sight that he couldn't detect.
Fuck man, he wished he was a sensor. Sadly, being a sensor-nin was pretty prestigious and a luck of the draw, it was even rarely ever passed down through blood, and appeared at times just randomly.
If he was a natural sensor ninja, he'd probably have got some special attention during the academy.
'The only way I'm getting sensory abilities is if I learn how to harness natural energy.' Daiki huffed annoyance.
Multiples eyes drifted to him as he approached the building built into the side of the mountain, but he only had to point to his headband, before he was ushered on inside.
A whistle left his lips as the door closed behind him, a whistle that echoed quite impressively. The inside of the building was absolutely huge.
All around him he could see huge bookcases as far as the eye could see. The only place without book shelves from what he could tell, was the path laid out to the door, leading to a large round table that could probably seat a good fifty people and a desk behind it.
First things first, he didn't know where anything was in here. So he made his way to the front desk, where a somewhat familiar older girl wearing a white lab coat and with swirly glasses hiding her eyes sat.
If he wasn't mistaken, that was Shiho right? Part of the Konoha Crypto Analytic Squad.
Hmm, odd, why would she be working as a librarian.
'Maybe their lab is in this building, or under it?' he mused. With all the data compiled here in book format, and with how many guards there were and with how close it was to the Hokage's building…
It kind of made sense.
"Hello, can I help you?" she asked when he stopped in front of the desk.
"Hiya," Daiki smiled brightly as he greeted her, "I'm looking for some books or scrolls to help me with my training. Preferably something with jutsu instructions in it or elemental training."
She stared back at him for a moment, lips pursed into a frown, "That won't be possible I'm afraid, while there are a few jutsu instructions scattered about in here, you won't find specific books or scrolls dedicated to teaching them here," the girl replied, "And elemental manipulation is a very advanced form of training, it especially won't be open for just anyone to waltz in and have a look at, it would be simply too easy for a spy to get their hands on."
Daiki clicked his tongue in annoyance, there went the easy route, why could nothing ever be simple for him?
But there was a line in there he could use, wasn't there? Something, was better than nothing after all, "Do you know of any that contain instructions for jutsu like you said?" he asked wonderingly.
He wasn't too picky at all at this point. For an orphan like him with no legacy, there really wasn't any jutsu he could easily get his hands on.
If he could even just get his hands on an incredibly low level elemental jutsu, it would at least give him a feel for it to try and using as a spring board to bounce off from.
"Hmm…" Shiho hummed tapping her chin.
Daiki grimaced, preparing to be told a flat out no, because that was just how his luck rolled, so h-
"I do recall one I think," she nodded suddenly, "I believe the instructions for the Shunshin are written within the taijutsu scroll that helps one learn the Feather Fist style."
"Feather Fist?" Daiki blinked, confused. He'd never heard of that taijutsu style in his life. Granted, he only knew the academy style himself, but he knew of the Strong Fist thanks to his memories of another life, and he of course had overheard talks of clan members taijutsu because of how many had been in his class.
Such as the Hyuuga's Gentle Fist, the Uchiha's Interceptor Style, the Inuzuka's Beast Claw style and such.
"It's a taijutsu style for those leaning towards incredibly fast, precise attacks, best suited for assassin style shinobi," Shiho shrugged lightly, "While it's all but impossible to use the Shunshin freely in combat, it is quite possible to use it for acceleration purposes and it is very handy for escaping from other ninja as long as you are going in a straight line."
The shunshin, huh? Well, it wasn't exactly what he was aiming for, and it wouldn't be the most helpful in combat unless he had a Sharingan or something like Shisui Uchiha to stop the tunnel vision, but it was definitely a start.
"Can you show me where it is?" Daiki asked.
"Certainly, please follow me." Shiho stood from her chair and beckoned him to follow her.
He did so and she led him through the stacks.
She stopped in front of a truly massive book case filled with scrolls and books, "Here we are." she pointed at the top shelves, where a variety of large scrolls were lined up.
He followed her finger and saw one of the scrolls was labelled 'Feather Fist'. Beside it was another one labelled 'Sticky Fist', and then his eyes widened as he caught sight of the next one on the row.
Strong Fist.
Daiki choked, "The Strong Fist is here as well?" he sputtered, wasn't that Gai's own created Taijutsu, made by his father?
"Why would it not be?" Shiho frowned at him, and though he couldn't see her eyes, he assumed she was looking at him in confusion, "The Strong Fist has always been a Konoha taijutsu style, though, it was incomplete for a long while before a man by the name of Maito Dai, the father of one of our famed shinobi, Maito Gai, took it upon himself to complete the style."
Oh, that kind of made sense considering Dai was a career genin and really weak. He wouldn't exactly have the resources to create it all himself now, would he? Still, really fucking impressive what he turned it into.
"Doesn't this include how to open the eight gates?" Daiki gaped at her. Forget jutsu, that was some really fucking dangerous information!
"It does and it does not," Shiho shook her head, "It does contain the information on how to prepare your body for opening the gates, but the information to do so has long since been removed from here, only Gai-san and the Hokage have access to the scrolls on that part of the Strong Fist."
Oh, that was good.
…And not.
Learning how to open up the gates on his own would have been amazing! Even just the first few would make a massive boost in his abilities. And as amazing as Gai and Rock Lee were, they only used the gates to empower their physical abilities.
From what he knew of them, they also powered up the users chakra as well, meaning their jutsu would be way more powerful as well.
Gai and Lee were horrible at ninjutsu granted. But, in his hands, if he could learn to do so, he could not only enhance his physical ability massively, but also any jutsu he learned to employ!
"So, am I allowed to take these out of the archive?" he asked.
"You are, though because you seem to only be a genin, you have a hard limit on only two pieces of literature." Shiho replied.
Two huh? That meant he could take the Strong Fist and the Feather Fist. If he wanted, he could learn the Shunshin from the Feather Fist scroll and then see about training in the Strong Fist.
Though, maybe just training in the Feather Fist would be a better avenue? The Strong Fist, from what he saw of Gai and Lee, involved a heavy, gruelling regiment of weight training, though they only did it on the legs for some reason.
'If I do it, I'll go all in and go for my arms as well.' Daiki mused. He didn't like the idea of only training one side of his body for fighting, that seemed silly to him.
Still, only two huh? And he didn't really want to focus on too much at one time. He couldn't exactly just pull a Naruto and use shadow clones to learn at an accelerated rate, so spreading his attention between multiple things would be a bad idea.
He already knew how to go about using shadow clones, they were just that simple. He was just absolutely and absurdly wary of attempting them right now with how little chakra he had.
Perhaps when he had as much chakras a chunin he'd attempt it, but as he was right now, he may end up killing himself in the attempt.
'Might be a good idea to axe learning the Strong Fist.' he mused. The conditioning from what he knew, was pretty straight forward.
Though, best to check just in case.
He reached up and grabbed the scroll, before opening it up and pouring over it with a quick glancing read.
'Yeah, pretty much a heavy focus on weight training and general body exercises with a focus on the legs.' he nodded to himself.
The only thing he'd need the scroll for, were the forms and he didn't really need them, better to get his hands on another scroll or something with a possible jutsu in it.
If he wanted to learn how to open the gates, he'd need to ask the Hokage or Gai about it anyway. And he didn't see that going anywhere unless he made a name for himself first.
Oh wait, didn't Kakashi know how to open the gates as well?
'Pfft, I'd have better chances asking Orochimaru to take me on as an apprentice.' Daiki snorted inwardly.
Rolling the scroll back up, he put it back up on the shelf, before grabbing the Feather Fist style scroll.
"Tempting, but I'm more interested in jutsu at the moment," he said to Shiho, "So, do you know any other ones with jutsu in them?"
Shiho shook her head, "I'm afraid not." she dashed his hopes.
Damn.
"Well, that sucks, but the shunshin is a nice consolation prize either way." Daiki shrugged.
And it wasn't like he was totally out of options for learning jutsu either. Beyond the shadow clone jutsu, he did in fact know how to go through some very specific training to learn quite the powerful jutsu, a step by step process even.
The Rasengan.
It would be a bit off an odd jutsu for him to know, perhaps even a bit suspicious, but at the same time, there is nothing to say you couldn't have 're-created' it yourself when trying to make jutsu of your own.
It is a pure chakra manipulation jutsu after all.
The only problem again, is the chakra cost. The Rasengan was an A-rank jutsu and very, very powerful. But also cost an absurd amount of chakra to use, chakra he did not have at the moment.
…If only he was a Jinchuuriki, things would be so much simpler.
Sure, the Akatsuki would be a problem, but they were everybody's problem in the end. He'd rather get strong and have a target on his head, than weak and get ganked like he had before by utter random scrubs.
"Well, thanks for the help." he expressed his gratitude to the older girl, "So, can I check this out now?" he held up the scroll he was holding to her.
"That should be fine," Shiho's lips quirked, "Though, if you are wanting to know jutsu so badly, might I make a few suggestions?"
Daiki blinked, before shrugging, "Sure."
She nodded, "We have a few basic instruction manuals for Fuinjutsu if you want, I can let you check out one of them," the girl said, making his eyes go wide at the mention, "And if you have enough chakra control, I know the hospital will help train any possible medic ninja and learning the Mystical Palm technique is one of the requirements, so if you are able, it would be a quick way to get some instruction on that jutsu even if you have no leanings towards being a medic."
Daiki's mind raced a mile minute. The healing of the Mystical Palm, wouldn't it be able to heal his muscles and allow his physical training go advance even quicker?
But the bigger kicker, was Fuinjutsu!
Fuinjutsu was awesome, amazing even. One of the most basic of basic bitch skills from that art was basically making an inventory!
Something his system didn't seem to provide him. He'd checked.
Quite thoroughly.
…And at even higher heights, one could even seal a bijuu with Fuinjutsu.
And he just so happened to know more or less, where the Sanbi, the three tailed armoured turtle, Isobu should be now.
Daiki grinned widely, "I think I'll take you up on that offer Librarian-chan!"
"C-chan!?" Shiho sputtered in response.