…
The days that followed became extremely routine for Kazama Shin.
Every morning, he woke up on time, trained for an hour, extracted chakra—
Then headed to the Ninja Academy.
After school, he continued his own training.
…
At the Academy, the early lessons focused entirely on foundational theory.
There was no combat training yet.
But that suited Shin just fine.
What he lacked wasn't strength—
It was basic ninja knowledge.
If it were combat training, he wouldn't even need to attend the Academy.
Right now, his main goal was to fully understand the fundamentals of this world.
Things like:
Ninja codes and signals,
Identification of common medicines and poisons,
The meanings behind village communication signs,
And many other practical details.
After all—
This was a real world.
Not everything could be taken for granted like in an anime.
…
And just like that—
A year passed in the blink of an eye.
One evening, after finishing another dull day at the Academy,
Kazama Shin, dressed in a black training outfit, arrived at his usual training ground—a forest.
In this one year, he had changed significantly.
His body had grown taller,
The childishness on his face had nearly disappeared,
And his handsome features now carried a faint, warm smile—
Like a beam of sunlight.
—
But his greatest change—
Was in his strength.
Asura's bloodline allowed him to extract chakra with incredible ease.
After all, Senju Hashirama, with his Sage Body, possessed chakra reserves comparable to a tailed beast.
That alone showed just how terrifying such a physique was.
And Shin—
Had inherited Asura's bloodline.
Even though his Sage Body was still in its early stage,
After a year of training, his chakra reserves had already far surpassed that of a Jonin—
Even reaching more than ten times that of an average one.
His progress in ninjutsu couldn't match his explosive chakra growth.
He had copied many techniques, but most were low- to mid-level jutsu.
High-level techniques were rare—
After all, he had no way to come into contact with those elite figures.
Still, many of those lower-tier techniques were quite effective when used properly.
More importantly, every copied technique was instantly mastered, enriching his foundation.
Even if they weren't extraordinary—
They were still useful.
As for taijutsu—
It had become his second greatest improvement after chakra.
Because of Asura's bloodline, Shin noticed something remarkable:
Whenever he pushed himself to exhaustion, when his body was completely drained—
A surge of energy would emerge from within,
Gradually nourishing him,
Allowing him to recover at an accelerated rate.
Even minor injuries and strains would slowly heal on their own.
All of this—
Filled him with excitement.
"Before, I had to worry about my body being too young to handle intense training…"
"But now…"
A faint smile formed on his lips.
"I don't have to hold back anymore."
He lifted his leg and kicked forward.
Whoosh!
Crack!
Boom!
A sharp gust of wind followed the motion—
And the tree in front of him snapped cleanly in half.
Feeling the power in his body, Shin couldn't help but smile.
Back when he realized he could train without restraint—
He had pushed himself relentlessly.
And as a result, his taijutsu had improved tremendously.
Now, although his physique appeared lean and well-proportioned—
Without exaggerated muscles—
Beneath his clothes was a tightly coiled body filled with explosive strength.
…
"Recently… the conflict between the Uchiha Clan and the villagers has been escalating…"
"And the Uchiha genius—Uchiha Shisui—was recalled from a mission…"
Kazama Shin frowned slightly as he recalled the rumors he had heard over the past few days.
Calculating the timeline—
"That means…"
He let out a quiet sigh, leaving his words unfinished.
But deep down—
He already knew the answer.