Chapter 24: Substitute Sensei

Chapter 24: Substitute Sensei

The third month of the year. It was an ordinary day for Team Tsunade as they rested after doing 2 C-rank missions back-to-back, earning Kai 10 SP.

They began training in the Training Ground 23 like usual. Physical sparring, that is. One thing Kai quickly realized while grinding Mystical Palm Technique was that it couldn't be done on oneself. Mystical Palm Technique, in essence, promotes cellular growth in exchange for physical energy or better known as stamina. But doing this on a healthy body was just a recipe for growth and grind hadn't eroded Kai's mind enough for him to go out of his way and hunt animals crazily before performing the technique on them...

No, he IS that crazy but... he'd been sensing a few odd shinobi every now and then whose chakra signature wasn't from the Senju Clan and these signatures would disappear shortly before a Senju chakra signature rushed towards the area. This place wasn't as safe as it looked like but anyway... looking at Mikoto who wielded her poisoned kunai while attacking him fiercely... he couldn't help but feel elated.

Every step felt a burden of its own. Every dodge left him a little more breathless as the weights on his wrists, ankles, AND torso made it sure that his stamina would decline at a breakneck pace.

He finally went ahead and asked Mito for a special material called chakra metal and had it made into a durable mesh top. Pricey things they are... but Mito was anything but stingy. She, of course, asked everything in detail about what he wanted, and only when she verified that his intentions were purely for more stable training and long-lasting at that since chakra metal could be imbued by seals that can shift the state of the material, she helped him commission a large mesh top. That part was easy.

Mito, however, wanted him to spend time and imbue the seal matrix in it that made the mesh top complement his size or any wearer's size until its maximum size and watched over him while he molded his chakra into another complementing sealing matrix that integrated with the one before to increase the attraction of the mesh shirt along with the gravitational pull, achieving the effect of heightened weight.

Of course, a large part of the reason why Mito even agreed to spend such a large amount was because of his work ethic. He knew that she knew it. Although he would want nothing more than to chill with some babe, age and hormones kept him in check without the need of Gamer Mind and Kai would damn sure make every second with the grind. He needed to be alive to enjoy life and the weak didn't live very long in this part of the country. And after getting rid of Gamer Mind, Kai wasn't logically suicidal either. He loved life!

Sweat drenched his body right now as he almost slipped while Mikoto's paralyzing Kunai avoided his arm. Lucky.

He jumped back... more like a hop as Mikoto grew slightly concerned at his state. He was followed by a trail of sweat and even standing seemed like a heavy exertion to him.

But she kept her pity in check. Kai, of all people, didn't need her pity or worry. He would have found six ways to defeat her by now if he went by the rules HE set. This wasn't just a taijutsu spar. It was a spar. Everything was legal here. A kick to the nuts, poking the eyes, maybe groping... if she was older.

Tsunade and Kushina weren't free either. Done with her Water Weaving Sword, Kushina now sparred regularly with the Princess of Emasculation. Damn, he still shudders at the thought of what happened to the Dan Kato fellow. That was a piece of major news for the week that managed to make people a little scared of the ordinarily warm and pleasant Senjus.

"Fight me for real," Kai frowned, feeling distaste that he even had to ask for it. Mikoto finally hesitated and called out, "Kai-chan... shouldn't you take it a little easy? We just returned from the mission yesterday..." Honestly, Mikoto's nerves were still a little strung. She was gradually getting used to it but it was clear that she needed more time.

Kai frowned. And then blinked in realization as his body fell down unceremoniously.

"Hah... you're right... thanks for the good spar though..."

[Stamina: 3.2/100 (10.1/min)]

"No problem," Mikoto beamed before walking over to him and plopping down herself, watching Kushina run away screaming bloody murder while Tsunade chased after the girl with controlled speed. It was honestly good to see the tomato get bullied for once.

Kai's panting and rough breathing, however, rang louder in Mikoto's ears as she could feel him radiating heat from all the physical exertion which made her wonder for the umpteenth time What drove this boy to such lengths? Besides training, he is lazier than a Nara, well, almost and more chill than a Yamanaka but when he trains, he becomes a perfect Inuzuka.

"Do you know what Tsume is upto these days?" Mikoto inquired with an amused expression as she missed the hyperactive girl that could compete with Kushina.

"Last," he wheezed, "I met... she's about to go to a training retreat with her mother. She said her Academy courses are done and she would graduate next year..."

"Oh," Mikoto smiled, "That's great! I miss her but training is more important."

"Yeah, you're alone on that missing ride about Tsume," Kai scoffed and finally lay back on the ground while Mikoto followed the suit and lay on the ground, too, when she could be grinding and training. Crazy girl.

He silently looked at his physique stat and held great satisfaction for it.

[Physique: 105 111/1000]

He had managed to reach another threshold and it increased his stamina regeneration alongside reducing the stamina cost of physical skills, too.

The first half of their training came to an end as they soon found themselves headed to Konoha Hospital without Tsunade. She had some errands to run which simply meant that a resident shinobi had something to report. Aside from straining themselves physically, they also train in mystical palm technique whenever they are back from the mission and as usual, made their way to the designated spot but...

Kai couldn't help but stop right before the gate as a girl suddenly rushed out before tripping down and falling in front of them. With Kushina and Mikoto just unconsciously used to his lead, they had stopped, too.

'"Are you alright?" Kai inquired as he crouched down alongside the two as the light-brown-haired girl groaned and patted around the ground until Mikoto pushed the round-rimmed glasses towards the girl's hands and she quickly put them on while looking up, "I'm... sorry. I was in a hurry."

Seeing the forehead protector on her head, Kai felt even weirder, "Are you really a kunoichi?"

Sitting up, the girl's emerald eyes grew serious and she replied with an almost sullen grumble, "I am."

"Okay," Mikoto shrugged as she stood up and others followed along. The girl adjusted her glasses while standing up and bowed, "I am Nono Yakushi, pleased to meet you."

"Mikoto Uchiha."

"Kushina Uzumaki."

"Kai."

The trio introduced themselves now that the girl started as she continued with a suspicious expression, "Are you trying to get into the Iryo Nin program? Visiting someone?"

And now Mikoto began to feel weird and frowned, "What's it to you?"

"I'm curious!" The girl exclaimed with a surprisingly happy smile as she adjusted her shoulder-length hair.

"Right... well, see you," Kai wasn't about to waste his grind on even weirder situations much less this. He was THIS close to mastering the Mystical Palm Technique and after that would the Chakra Scalpel technique... and then he would be able to pester Tsunade to teach him that juicy nature transformation!

Heck, he didn't even know what it meant aside from the most common definition from the name itself since jutsus and other stuff aren't openly shared with everyone and a request has to be made to the administration department before it would be processed.

As he left, Mikoto followed quickly, a little irked by the girl and Kushina bowed politely before following her team.

"You did... what?"

Tsunade's eyelids trembled and her amber orbs lit up in fury as Kushina and Mikoto looked at the extremely tiny pure white snake coiled around his index finger.

"Is that..." Tsunade looked at Orochimaru coldly and he chuckled, "Oh, no, of course not. This is the product of my research. I call it the Everlasting Snake. This snake bonds with the chakra signature it's fed after it emerges from the egg. Now, now, it wouldn't do me any good to teach the boy my most prized techniques for free, right?

Fifteen days of genjutsu lessons and two C-ranked Genjutsu techniques beyond the crap allowed for genins. And this special gift that certainly will never die from natural causes because Kai-kun has been a good boy," Orochimaru warmly patted the boy's head, "I will be seeing you around."

Tsunade snorted as Kai snickered, "You're a genjutsu, aren't you?"

His words shook Kushina and Mikoto as they hurriedly fluctuated their chakra and indeed, Orochimaru was no longer in the room.

Kai shrugged at the man's antics. He loved to test Kai almost every minute with something new and then something old.

"Tch... don't you get comfortable with the snake... you're more suited for... slimy slugs."

"Nah, Cinnamon is perfect!" Kai grinned, no longer caring about the arrogant koi who refused to eat from his hand and instead looked at the Cinnamon who refused to leave his finger.

"Aw... it's so cute..." Mikoto puckered her lips as Cinnamon looked around and slithered into Kai's sleeves with a swerving strut.

"Sensei, can we have one? I want one!" Kushina claimed.

"Shove it! No more snail talks. Only slugs rule!"

Meanwhile, Kai was just too happy with his growth these past 15 days. Although the man didn't speak anything about his research, he found Orochimaru's dream admirable. To master every jutsu!

What a Sissy... but chad!

Also, constantly having to endure genjutsu and even sense them, his stats had a major boost!

[Devil's Pit (20/20): The user utilizes the sounds of insects to pull the target into a genjutsu of a pit of poisonous insects. Increase mental stat at every level. Reduce Chakra Consumption by 2 at every level. Current Consumption: 90/sec.]

[Crushing Coil (20/20): The user utilizes the sounds from a snake to pull a target into a genjutsu of a giant snake coiling and crushing the target. Increase mental by 1 at every level. Reduce Chakra Consumption by 2 at every level. Current Consumption: 100/sec.]

[Mental Stat reached a threshold. Markedly improved the function of the mind and spirit energy.] *5

[Increase the willpower and ability to resist genjutsu by 1] *5

[Perception stat reached a threshold. Meta-physical sensing markedly improved.]*2

[Increase the rate of chakra regeneration by 5 times.]*2

[Name: Kai

Age: 5

Title: Tsunade's Apprentice

Gamer Traits: Skill Tree; Sleepless Gamer

Rank: Genin

Hit Points: 100

Stamina: 100/100 (11.1/min)

Chakra: 13993 (3214 3998*250) || (315/min) (90*250%/min)

Physique: 111/1000

Mental: 89 134/1000

Perception: 48 62/1000]

[Skill points: 434]

Now he wondered what kind of crazy skills he could open up by becoming Orochimaru's apprentice because it was clear that while Tsunade had clan backing and all, she was invested in prospering iryo nin. Meanwhile, Orochimaru was the repository of Ninjutsu and Genjutsu!

The fact he could even master 2 C-rank genjutsu was that Orochimaru allowed him to use it on a few lab rats constantly! He was as generous as they came!

***

Shoutout to Robert Andrew, Jose Cintron, and Thong Doan!!

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