On days when nothing major happened, time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it entered the 54th year of Konoha.
During this period, aside from his regular duties with the Hokage Guard Unit, Makoto rarely went out on missions. Most of his days were spent immersed in his own training.
March 9th, evening.
In the luxurious banquet hall of Konoha's hot spring hotel, Tetsuen and Suzune, as a couple, had reserved the entire venue to hold a disciple-acceptance ceremony for their daughter—and to celebrate her birthday at the same time.
This had been agreed upon last year.
Birthdays could be celebrated every year, but a good teacher—if missed—would not be found again.
Among shinobi, there were two sources for sensei-disciple relationships.
One was the standard jonin team leader. If that jonin found that the genin under them had good talent and character, they would teach them with care and formally acknowledge them as their disciple.
This was a step beyond a simple superior-subordinate relationship, and it was the kind of sensei-disciple bond Konoha had always encouraged.
The other type was like Tenten's case—directly apprenticing under Makoto. This kind of formal discipleship carried greater significance than leading a genin team and placed more emphasis on tradition.
No matter which type, shinobi themselves did not care much about ceremonies. As long as both sides acknowledged each other, that was enough.
But Tetsuen and Suzune were not shinobi. To them, this was a major event for their family, and it could not be handled casually—it had to be conducted with proper solemnity.
For that reason, besides inviting the Higashino, Uzuki, and Gekkō families, they also specifically asked Makoto to invite the Fourth Hokage to serve as a witness.
Fortunately, this was Konoha. Even if people paid attention to traditional rituals, there was no need to wear formal ceremonial attire—everyone could dress as usual.
The Hyūga Clan was the exception. Their ceremonies were practically indistinguishable from those of the outside nobility.
At the banquet, under the witness of Minato, Tenten faced the assembled guests without the slightest stage fright. Under her parents' guidance, the little girl carefully completed a full set of traditional apprenticeship rites.
When she finally presented the tea, she could not hold herself back anymore and eagerly asked: "Sensei, when do we start training?"
Although Makoto was only fourteen, he had matured early—and with the soul of a middle-aged man inside him, he naturally exuded the calm, steady presence of a teacher as he sat there.
"Tenten, training is very hard, you know. Are you really that eager?"
"Sensei, Tenten isn't afraid of hardship."
"Very good—full of spirit. Since you're not afraid, we'll start tomorrow morning. I'll come find you. Remember—don't oversleep."
Tenten lifted her chin and promised, "Don't worry, Sensei, I'll get up on time."
The girl's serious expression drew laughter from everyone present.
During the banquet, Higashino Megumi sighed with emotion: "Time really flies… I didn't expect our Makoto to have already become someone else's sensei. Since this is your first time being a sensei, you need to be careful—don't end up teaching Suzune's child the wrong way."
Higashino Jirō, however, was much more at ease: "If it were someone else, I might worry—but since it's Makoto, it's fine. He's been mature like an adult since he was little."
Makoto said nothing. What he thought in his heart was:
This isn't my first time being a teacher. In my previous life, I worked in education for a while—it's just that back then, I wasn't teaching ninjutsu.
Minato looked at the lively Tenten, then quietly leaned toward Makoto and asked: "Makoto, does this child have any special talent?"
"No. She's just an ordinary child."
"Is that so?"
Seeing that Minato still seemed a bit doubtful, Makoto asked in return: "Minato-senpai, can't an ordinary child become my disciple? Must they have special talent to qualify?"
Minato suddenly came to a realization: "Right—yes. Sorry, I was overthinking it."
Even Konoha's "Little Sun," after becoming Hokage, could not help but lose some of the purity he once had when thinking about things.
That was perfectly normal. People could not remain unchanged forever.
...
The next morning, Makoto went out to train as usual.
But this time, there was a little tail following behind him.
With her parents watching over her, Tenten had no chance to oversleep even if she wanted to.
However, she did not look sleepy at all. On the contrary, she was full of excitement, hopping and skipping along the way like a restless little spirit.
The small training ground near the Higashino residence—this was where Makoto had first begun his ninja training. Back then, he had just turned three, even younger than Tenten now.
Ten years had passed in the blink of an eye. The training ground remained the same, but he had already become a renowned powerhouse in the ninja world—and now, as a teacher, he was guiding another child to begin their own ninja path here.
At the start, ninja training was actually quite similar for everyone.
It was nothing more than strengthening the body and mind through basic exercises, preparing for the extraction of chakra later on.
Chakra was the foundation of everything.
Makoto designed a complete training regimen for Tenten, optimized from his own past training methods.
After all, he was male, while Tenten was a girl. She could not simply copy his previous training intensity at the beginning—it had to be adjusted according to her actual condition.
Tenten was very obedient. After Makoto corrected her movements, she consciously followed the planned routine and began training.
Makoto, on the other hand, sat to the side, dividing his attention in two—watching over Tenten while simultaneously sensing the flow of earth-attribute chakra and water-attribute chakra within his body, both brimming with vitality, as they fused and circulated.
He had long realized that Wood Release was special.
It was far from being as simple as merely combining water and earth chakra, nor was it just adding a Yang attribute as a kekkei tōta.
It required a certain hidden mechanism within the body's cells—something that could not be directly perceived.
Chakra originated from the Ōtsutsuki Clan's Divine Tree, which converted natural energy.
And every person in the ninja world, after being immersed in chakra for a thousand years, had already undergone a fundamental transformation.
In theory, this mechanism existed in everyone.
But aside from Senju Hashirama, no one had ever awakened it.
Over such a long time, Makoto had studied Yamato's Wood Release formation process and also examined failed experimental samples obtained from Orochimaru's laboratory.
He had already found some clues.
But how to make this mechanism merge with water and earth chakra to produce Wood Release—that remained an extremely difficult process.
Unlike Ice Release, which he had mastered in just ten days.
...
Soon, Tenten finished her training. The little girl was exhausted, panting heavily, and ran over to Makoto, grabbing her thermos and about to gulp it down.
"Drink slowly. Take small sips—don't rush."
"I understand, Sensei."
This was a nutritional medicinal broth prepared by Makoto, improved from the one his mother, Higashino Megumi, used to make. It replenished the body's needs and accelerated recovery from training fatigue.
Most ninja families with proper inheritance had similar formulas.
If not, one could also buy them at a pharmacy—unless, like Might Duy in the past, one lacked the money and had to devote all resources to their child.
After Tenten finished drinking the broth, Makoto said: "That's enough for today. Go home and study. I've already organized the materials and given them to your mother."
"From now on, she'll tell you what to study each day. Don't slack off. I'll test you tomorrow—if you can't answer, your workload for that day will be doubled."
"Don't worry, Sensei, I'll study seriously."
"Good. You can go back now. We continue tomorrow."
"Goodbye, Sensei!"
From that point on, Makoto began a life of training while also seriously teaching his disciple.
...
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
One morning at the end of March, Makoto was, as usual, guiding Tenten's training while simultaneously attempting to fuse Wood Release.
Suddenly, at a certain moment, he seemed to sense a fleeting entanglement between his cells and the water and earth chakra—a surge of dense life force flashing across his body.
Makoto seized that instant.
He immediately poured all his focus into it, following the lingering traces of that entanglement and striving to reproduce it.
He did not know how much time had passed.
But eventually, he found that hidden mechanism within his cells and merged it together with the vitality-rich water and earth chakra into a single whole.
In that instant, the fusion stabilized.
It began to spread, continuously transforming his body and even his genes.
Just like when he had successfully fused Ice Release before.
...
When Makoto opened his eyes, with a thought, the chakra in his body gathered into his right palm.
Miraculously, it transformed into a small sapling.
As he increased the chakra output, the sapling rapidly grew into a small tree, which he held in his palm.
Wood Release—had been successfully achieved.
After a year and a half of effort, it had finally succeeded today.
...
Tenten had long since finished her training.
She had only noticed that her teacher seemed to have fallen asleep, sitting there motionless.
Was Sensei testing her patience?
Remembering her mother's instructions, she did not dare disturb him. After finishing her medicinal broth, she sat quietly nearby and waited.
Then she saw a magical scene.
A tree had actually grown out of her teacher's hand.
So amazing…
That tree was even emitting a strange aura.
She could not help but say: "It feels so comfortable… my body feels like it's regained its strength again."
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