After boasting about his own merits like a melon seller praising her own goods, Hayato Ren looked at Nohara Rin's adoring face and continued asking:
"Can you climb trees?"
Hearing this, Nohara Rin blinked her big eyes, seemingly not quite understanding the question.
After staring at each other for a while, Nohara Rin seemed to have realized something.
She quickly walked to a large tree nearby, then using both hands and feet, climbed up to the branches at an astonishing speed.
Clearly, Nohara Rin had completely misunderstood what Hayato Ren meant.
However, looking at Nohara Rin's hopeful face, Hayato Ren still showed a satisfied smile.
"Very good. Come down quickly, I'll teach you a new way to climb trees now."
Nohara Rin jumped down from the treetop with a clean, precise movement, landing safely.
"Do you know there are four methods of climbing trees?"
Nohara Rin cooperatively shook her head.
"What I'm going to teach you is climbing trees using Chakra. Chakra is truly a miraculous thing."
After saying this, Hayato Ren began teaching on the spot. He walked directly from the ground onto the tree trunk like Spider-Man.
It was as if there were suction cups on his soles, firmly attaching his body to the tree trunk.
This scene successfully earned Hayato Ren a look of reverence from Nohara Rin.
"This is a training method for Chakra control. Only by outputting just the right amount of Chakra can you walk on trees as if on flat ground like me."
After saying this, Hayato Ren took several more steps upward.
"If you output too much Chakra, your feet will be firmly stuck, preventing you from climbing further."
A tearing sound came from under Hayato Ren's feet as a large piece of bark was ripped off.
"If you output too little Chakra, your body will simply fall down."
After saying this, Hayato Ren's feet seemed to lose their suction, and he directly fell from the tree.
After a somersault, Hayato Ren landed safely.
Hayato Ren stepped forward and patted Nohara Rin's head, saying:
"Did you learn it? Go give it a try."
Nohara Rin nodded with partial understanding - this method of climbing trees was completely new to her.
This was knowledge not taught at the Ninja Academy.
Meanwhile, Konan and Yuhi Kurenai had long completed their tree climbing and water walking training.
This was the difference between ninja from ordinary families and those from prominent clans.
Nohara Rin carefully placed her foot on the tree trunk, then slowly channeled Chakra to the sole of her foot.
To her surprise, she discovered that her foot had formed some kind of peculiar connection with the tree trunk.
So she placed her other foot on the tree trunk in the same manner.
Thus, both her feet successfully adhered to the tree trunk.
Her body now formed a parallel relationship with the ground.
This strange sensation brought a delighted smile to Nohara Rin's face.
However, her happiness didn't last long before it faded away.
At this moment, her feet seemed glued in place, completely unable to move.
After repeated attempts to free her feet proved futile, Nohara Rin could only turn to Hayato Ren with a pitiful expression and plead for help.
"Teacher, save me! I can't seem to move."
Hayato Ren shook his head, walked over to Nohara Rin, and said with mild exasperation:
"Try reducing your Chakra output a little."
Hearing this, Rin immediately complied.
Her feet were indeed no longer stuck to the tree trunk, but under the pull of gravity, her body plummeted straight toward the ground.
Fortunately, the height wasn't particularly great. Rin merely landed hard on her bottom, with only the hem of her clothes getting slightly dirty.
Hayato Ren gently tapped Rin's head.
"I said to reduce your Chakra a little, not withdraw it completely. Alright, keep practicing."
Upon hearing this, a trace of fear appeared on Rin's face.
Falling from a low height was one thing, but if she were to climb higher and then fall, wouldn't her delicate limbs be shattered to pieces?
As if sensing Rin's concerns, Hayato Ren comforted her:
"Don't be afraid. I'll catch you from below."
"Then you must catch me, Teacher. Don't let your mind wander elsewhere."
Rin reminded him uneasily before resuming her tree-climbing practice.
...
Golden sunlight bathed the entire land as the sun prepared to hand over its shift to the moon.
After a full day of practice, Nohara Rin had finally mastered the technique of tree climbing.
Now, moving along tree trunks felt as effortless as walking on flat ground.
The nearby trees, however, had suffered—their trunks were riddled with holes of various sizes.
If trees could speak, they would surely protest this unfair treatment.
"Teacher, did you see that? I did it!"
Standing atop a large tree, Nohara Rin waved excitedly at Hayato Ren.
Hayato Ren responded with a bright smile.
Through teaching Rin, Hayato Ren had discovered some of the joys of being an instructor.
When he had taught Konan previously, her extraordinary talent meant he hadn't experienced much satisfaction from teaching.
But a student like Rin, who fell between ordinary and genius, suited him perfectly.
She wasn't like ordinary ninjas who remained unteachable no matter how much effort was expended, nor was she like prodigies who grasped everything instantly, rendering the teacher redundant.
Just then, in her excitement, Rin suddenly felt completely drained.
Consequently, she fell straight from the tree.
Likely, the day of continuous practice had successfully depleted all the Chakra in her body.
Though falling from over twenty meters high, Rin showed no trace of fear on her face.
She believed, as he had countless times before, that Hayato Ren would catch her.
Sure enough, a warm embrace replaced the cold, hard ground.
In Hayato Ren's arms, Rin offered a slightly bashful smile and whispered:
"Thank you, Teacher."
At that moment, a sharp, prickling sensation suddenly pierced through her back.
So she quickly rose from Hayato Ren's embrace and looked around, trying to see who would look at her with such a gaze.
Strangely enough, after Nohara Rin left Hayato Ren's embrace, that subtle feeling of being watched suddenly disappeared.
Rin reached up and touched the back of her head, thinking to herself.
[Was that just an illusion...]