Chapter 429: The Cry of the Eagle
Konoha's Training Ground 40, inside that very same small grove where Naruto practiced the Rasengan.
Masahiko stood with his hands behind his back, his feet lightly balancing on a branch as thin as a cicada's wing, hovering at a height of about three meters off the ground.
Ten minutes later.
"Sai, are you finished drawing?"
Not far ahead, a pale-skinned boy with black hair and black eyes nodded gently, turning the unfurled scroll in his hands to show it to Masahiko.
Masahiko raised his eyebrows slightly, gliding down to the ground using 'Lightness Kung Fu' right in front of Sai, carefully sizing up the depiction of himself in the drawing.
"Mm, the draftsmanship is good. It captures about half of my handsomeness." Masahiko pondered for a brief moment, then suddenly frowned: "Can you add some color? Black and white doesn't fully bring out my disposition!"
A smile graced Sai's face: "Senior, I only know how to do ink-wash painting."
Masahiko was startled. He didn't know much about painting; did ink-wash painting mean only using water and ink?
"Then you... next time, scrounge up some colored ink."
Sai was taken aback, then nodded as if enlightened: "Thank you for the guidance, Senior!"
Masahiko was momentarily dazed: "Oh? Oh! You're welcome. Since I am your Jonin instructor right now, offering you guidance on your training is only my duty."
This was the third day since Masahiko had taken over the position of Jonin instructor for Team 11. Aside from Toneri, he had already gained a certain understanding of the other two children's personalities and strength.
Sai, who stood in front of him, possessed the weakest strength but the best temperament. Without Danzo's meddling, he was a gentle and kind boy without any eccentricities. He kept a smile on his face all day, making people feel very comfortable, and he served as the communication hub of the squad.
Toneri possessed the strongest capability, and his personality was decent as well. It was just that aside from the people he cared about, he was slightly cold—perhaps due to the pride of the Otsutsuki clan? As for his strength...
After Masahiko brought him down from the moon, he hadn't given him much attention, nor had he ever guided him in training.
Even so, the 13-year-old Toneri already possessed the strength of a Tokubetsu Jonin, which was roughly on par with Naruto's strength when borrowing the Nine-Tails' chakra. Regrettably, Naruto was a 'three-second boy', so there was still a clear gap between him and Toneri.
Finally, Hoshino Uchiha did not waste Masahiko's attention; she was indeed very interesting.
After close contact, Masahiko could naturally tell that she was indeed a girl. And once her gender was established, that handsome little face could be seen as spirited and heroic. In this way, she was quite easy on the eyes...
Her personality was that of an ordinary girl, somewhat introverted, prone to blushing when shy, and usually quiet and taciturn, with a low presence.
What was interesting was that a girl like this was a through-and-true training fanatic. Of course, she wasn't the eye-searing type like Guy and Lee; rather, she would seize every single minute, second, and opening to train.
When Masahiko first met their class for self-introductions, she was sitting on the steps, but Masahiko could see that her butt was still a hair's breadth away from the steps, not completely making contact.
At first, Masahiko was a bit bewildered, thinking his prestige was so immense that the children didn't dare to 'sit fully' in front of him...
At that time, Masahiko had comforted her, telling her to sit with peace of mind. However, two seconds later, she lifted her butt up again...
Masahiko immediately realized—could it be that she had hemorrhoids? But why didn't she go find Rin earlier? Treating it himself was truly inconvenient, and for the sake of the young girl's face, he didn't even mention it...
It was only later that he gradually discovered this wasn't the case. This was a ruthless individual who integrated training into her daily life...
Although her talent was far inferior to Sasuke's, and she didn't have Masahiko's personal guidance like Naruto did, her training-fanatic personality still kept her strength very close to those two, making her well-deserving of the fourth rank in the class.
In the small grove, Masahiko rolled up the 'handsome man drawing' made by Sai, stuffed it into his sleeve, and turned to look at the other side.
Over there, continuous 'pop, pop, pop' sounds of striking could be heard as Toneri and Hoshino Uchiha engaged in a taijutsu spar.
Toneri practiced the Gentle Fist of the Otsutsuki clan, which was slightly different from the one used by the Hyuga clan's 'branch house', though the difference wasn't massive.
His pale blue eyes also had the effect of seeing through chakra pathways. Therefore, like members of the Hyuga clan, Toneri was most adept at taijutsu. Over these past two days, under Masahiko's instruction, he had been sparring quite a lot with Hoshino Uchiha... making progress together!
Sai's training was different. Sparring and tempering were important, but what mattered more to him was drawing. The more proficient and realistic it was, and the more chakra infused into it, the stronger he would become. Thus, he was more suited for quiet training...
As for D-rank missions, they would have plenty of opportunities to do them in the future. Masahiko was only leading the squad for three months and couldn't waste time on planting trees, planting flowers, and cleaning out waste...
On the other side, the striking sounds suddenly intensified for two blows and came to an abrupt halt. Masahiko was startled and turned his head, finding Hoshino Uchiha collapsed on the ground, having lost her ability to move. Clearly, her chakra pathways had been blocked by Toneri.
Beside her, Toneri took a deep breath, turned to look at Masahiko, and revealed an inquiring gaze.
Masahiko's face darkened: "How many times do I have to remind you? What are you supposed to do after a spar?"
Toneri was startled, hurriedly unblocked Hoshino Uchiha's chakra pathways, helped her up, and the two formed the Seal of Reconciliation.
Only then did Masahiko nod: "You are teammates, and this is a friendly spar; you cannot harm your harmony. Although this Seal of Reconciliation is... childish, it cannot be omitted."
"I understand, Great Elder," Toneri replied with a nod.
Masahiko glanced over at Hoshino Uchiha. The young girl had already stood high up on her tiptoes, condensing chakra at the tips of her toes as she began training her physical balance and lower leg strength...
"This child." Masahiko shook his head helplessly. Hoshino Uchiha, who had entered her training-fanatic mode, clearly hadn't listened to a word he just said. At this point, if he wanted to snap her out of it...
"It's getting late, it's time for us to eat."
Hoshino Uchiha's feet instantly touched the ground, and her eyes stared straight at Masahiko. Perhaps because training every single moment of every single day consumed too much energy, she was also a through-and-true little foodie...
"It's almost noon, my treat..."
"Skree!"
A cloud-piercing eagle cry suddenly rang out. Masahiko was startled and looked up. Subconsciously waving his hand, a wind blade shot out. Feathers scattered across the sky as a majestic eagle fluttered and fell.
Masahiko scratched his head. Having not hunted birds for a long time, his movements were still very proficient: "At noon... shall we roast eagle to eat? I've never actually eaten this thing; is it tasty?"
"Senior, that seems to be the village's messenger eagle..." Sai spoke softly.
Masahiko was startled and reached out to pull the eagle over with telekinesis. Sure enough, a scroll was tied to the eagle's leg, but it had been sliced in half by his wind blade just now...
"Flown in from the Hidden Sand Village, to discuss the Joint Chunin Exams?" Masahiko frowned slightly. Eating this eagle might be a bit too much...
"Forget it." Masahiko sighed. Releasing medical ninjutsu, the eagle quickly regained its vitality.
"This scroll is torn in half, who knows what it says. Obito's IQ is already insufficient anyway, let's not make things hard on him. He should just appreciate his teacher's handsomeness instead." Masahiko raised his eyebrows, tying his own portrait onto it...
"Fly, little eagle."
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