"You know what your mother's temperament is like. When you're out on missions, she worries about you at home every single day."
"Ahahaha!" Higashino Jirō scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
After thinking for a moment, Higashino Makoto explained, "How should I put it… it might not be what you're thinking, Father. This perceptive ability isn't something brought about by bloodline inheritance. It's an incidental effect that comes along with a special training method I practice. I'll tell you about it later. I hope you can understand."
"Of course I understand. My son has started to have his own little secrets now."
Higashino Jirō smiled and nodded, then said solemnly, "Makoto, what you did was right. Battles between ninja are battles of information.
"It's correct for ninja to strictly keep their methods confidential. Allowing others to grasp the secrets of one's important ninjutsu is an extremely dangerous thing. I hope you understand this point."
"I've always understood."
"Very good. Then next I'll ask you a question. In a ninja's battle… no, including samurai—even ordinary people as well—if we're talking about combat between people, what do you think is the most important thing?
"Is it ninjutsu? Taijutsu? Genjutsu? Or special secret techniques, or powerful weapons?"
Higashino Makoto thought about it. All of them seemed important, but clearly his father's question had a different answer in mind. In the end, he shook his head. "I don't know."
"It's courage—the courage to overcome fear, hesitation, and the urge to flee on a psychological level; the courage to face life and death and dare to fight.
"Find it. Grasp it. Let your hot blood boil, while at the same time keeping a clear head. Even when facing the most difficult desperate situation, do not give up on searching for even the slightest chance of victory.
"Courage is not impulsiveness. Keeping a clear head is more important than any method."
"I understand. Thank you for your guidance, Father."
Hearing this, Higashino Jirō stopped speaking. Instead, he suddenly threw a straight punch toward Higashino Makoto's forehead—the speed of the attack was not particularly fast.
His body instinctively wanted to lean back to evade, but Higashino Makoto quickly reacted—this was a natural response carried over from his previous life as an ordinary person.
But now, he was a probationary ninja, possessing the supernatural power known as chakra. Even though he was only a little over four years old, with chakra enhancing his body, his reaction speed and strength already far exceeded that of his body from his previous life, when he had been over thirty.
He instantly suppressed the urge to lean back. Instead, taking advantage of his short stature, he lowered his head and bent his waist, driving force through his legs. Rather than retreating, he advanced, dodging the attack while simultaneously throwing a straight punch at Higashino Jirō's abdomen in counterattack.
Higashino Jirō did not evade at all. His advantage lay in his height and long limbs. He bent his knee and raised his leg, ramming his knee toward Higashino Makoto's face, meeting attack with attack.
Even half of his leg was longer than his son's entire arm—he would strike first.
The two sides were almost entangled with each other. The distance was too close, leaving no room to change moves. Higashino Makoto had no choice but to withdraw his punch to defend, crossing his arms rapidly in front of him, only to be knocked flying by his father's knee strike.
Higashino Makoto felt as if he had been hit by a truck. The tremendous force sent him spinning several times through the air. All he could do was desperately maintain his balance, controlling his body to land on his feet.
At the moment he landed, his right hand was coated with chakra as he bent down and firmly grabbed onto the ground.
Even so, that force still sent him sliding two or three meters, leaving behind three straight tracks of churned earth on the ground.
Throughout this process, his eyes were wide open, fixed tightly on his father's next movement.
As expected, the other party rushed over immediately. But as he closed in, a simple Body Flicker Technique caused him to vanish from Higashino Makoto's sight.
"Behind you."
Higashino Makoto could not see him, but he still had sensory perception and naturally detected it. He immediately half-turned and delivered a side kick, his sole colliding directly with Higashino Jirō's fist.
The gap in their strength was obvious, and he was sent flying once again.
Higashino Jirō gave him no chance to catch his breath. Moving at extreme speed, he charged in again, using an appropriate speed and force, coordinating hands and feet as he launched a continuous series of attacks at Higashino Makoto.
Higashino Makoto either dodged or blocked, like a small sapling battered by a violent storm, at constant risk of snapping.
But he kept firmly in mind his father's teaching from just moments ago, striving to maintain a clear head while searching for an opportunity to counterattack.
Very soon, he turned his disadvantage of short stature into an advantage, darting left and right, with his fists and kicks constantly targeting his father's waist and lower body.
This was the vital area he could currently reach with quick attacks.
After all, no matter how powerful a ninja was, no one could endure the pain of having their groin smashed.
Hopefully Higashino Megumi would not beat him to death if she ever found out.
As a ninja whose strength ranked among the top even within the chūnin, Higashino Jirō was naturally not someone who could be struck in a vital spot by a child who had only just learned how to fight.
He blocked repeatedly, batting away the little hands reaching for his lower body, while at the same time gradually increasing the speed and force of his counterattacks, forcing his son to adapt to combat as quickly as possible.
The two exchanged blows back and forth within the small training ground, their swift figures unfolding a fierce offensive-defensive battle.
Higashino Makoto knew that his father was helping him adapt to fighting. He himself was also rapidly undergoing a transformation: the habits from his previous life as an ordinary person were slowly fading away, gradually integrating into the combat rhythm of the Naruto world. At the same time, his brain grew uncontrollably excited, and he began to enjoy the pleasure of battle.
A short while later, Higashino Makoto collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily. The stamina he could usually maintain through training for quite some time had been completely exhausted after only a brief fight.
Yet his emotions were unusually high. The massive surge of adrenaline had flushed his small face bright red, and his body trembled slightly.
Standing beside him, Higashino Jirō wore a satisfied expression. "Very good. I didn't expect you to find the feeling so quickly and overcome your body's instinctive reactions so fast."
"That's somewhat beyond my expectations. As expected of my son—perhaps you really do have talent not inferior to Kakashi's."
"But I didn't win, did I? Father, you didn't use the swordsmanship you're best at, nor did you even use ninjutsu. You also kept your strength and speed within what I could endure."
"Fool. How old are you? How many years have you trained? To reach this level in your very first battle is already remarkable."
"But I heard that Kakashi had already defeated two chūnin when he was five years old."
"Who did you hear that from? How come I don't know about it?"
"I heard people in the village talking about it before."
Whether anyone in the village had actually said this, Higashino Makoto did not know. His source of information was the anime he had watched in his previous life, when Kakashi easily dealt with two chūnin who were beating up Might Guy.
"Well, perhaps that's true. After all, he was that man's child. But son, genin, chūnin, jōnin, and kage are merely distinctions of rank. You must never use them as standards to judge a ninja's true level of strength."
"Even among genin, there are those whose strength can rival that of jōnin. And among the chūnin within the village, the disparity in strength is also enormous. After all, the number of jōnin in the village is kept within a certain range under the control of the higher-ups—it's not something you can be promoted to simply because your strength has reached the standard."
"Jōnin are the village's core power-holding class. They have the authority to vote within the jōnin council to decide the Hokage candidate and to influence village policy. At the same time, the proportion of their backgrounds affects the balance between clan ninja and civilian ninja. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"I understand. Who can be promoted to jōnin isn't just a matter of strength—it also involves political considerations."
Higashino Jirō raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.
"Sharp, kid. You really grasp it as soon as it's pointed out. Your father only understood this after you were born."
"You made it so obvious—how could I not understand? That said, Father, why don't you apply for promotion to Special Jōnin?"
"That kind of thing is just a consolation prize. It doesn't mean much to me. Let's not talk about that. Let's discuss something more meaningful. Makoto, lately when you've been training, haven't you felt that it's been too easy?"
"Yes, Father. Even without refining chakra, just relying on physical strength, I can easily complete all the previous training routines."
"But if I increase the training time, it affects my study progress. Do you have any good solution, Father?"
"After a ninja adapts to chakra for a period of time, their physique will be greatly enhanced. That's a normal phenomenon. So that's exactly why I came today."
After saying this, Higashino Jirō walked over to where he had been hiding earlier and brought back a backpack. It looked quite heavy.
After opening it, Higashino Makoto discovered a set of special equipment. He immediately picked it up and put it on, fastening rings around his hands and feet as well.
"Weighted equipment, huh? That's a pretty good method too."
"I prepared this especially for you. The weight should be suitable for your current physique. Most of the slots on it are empty—for the future, as your body grows, you can insert metal blocks with sealing techniques engraved on them. I've placed those in the study."
"Thank you, Father!"
"All right. Continue your training. Pay attention to what your body can endure—don't blindly increase the weight. If you damage your body's foundation, even Lady Tsunade won't be able to help you recover."
"Don't worry. I know my limits."
"I believe you. After all, you've never let us down."
---
I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
---