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— In Naruto With an Achievement System —
In Naruto With an Achievement System
Chapter 7: Time Passes
The air was crisp and cool, carrying the scent of damp earth as dawn painted the eastern sky in pale shades of grey and pink. I was already at Training Ground Four, moving through my initial stretching routine. The quiet solitude of these early hours was ideal for focusing, for preparing myself mentally for the day's training. Today felt promising – the prospect of practicing kenjutsu basics with Hayate and Yugao was something I was actually looking forward to.
My thoughts were interrupted by movement at the edge of the field. I paused mid-stretch, watching as two figures approached hesitantly: Anko Mitarashi and Kurenai Yuhi. Anko had her arms firmly crossed, digging the toe of her sandal into the dirt and pointedly looking anywhere but at me. Kurenai offered a small, polite smile as they stopped a short distance away.
"Yuuki-san, good morning," Kurenai said, her voice soft in the quiet air. "Apologies for intruding on your training time… Anko and I,"
"H-Hey! I didn’t want to be here or anything!" Anko interrupted abruptly, turning her head away with a sniff, though a slight flush crept up her neck. "Kurenai just dragged me along! And you did say I could come watch your stupid rock training if I wanted! So I came! Got a problem?!" She finished defensively, still avoiding eye contact.
Kurenai sighed almost imperceptibly beside her.
"No problem, I did invite you to come anytime" I replied, keeping my tone neutral as I finished my stretch. "Morning, Yuhi, Mitarashi." Acknowledging them seemed simplest.
Just then, two more figures arrived – Hayate and Yugao, both carrying wrapped bokken identical to the one Midori-sensei had given me. They stopped short upon seeing Anko and Kurenai already there. Surprise flickered across Yugao’s usually composed features, and Hayate’s tired expression tightened slightly. There was a definite, almost tangible moment of tension as the two pairs regarded each other.
"Morning, Yuuki," Hayate greeted me first, his gaze then flicking briefly towards the other two. "...Oh. Mitarashi, Yuhi. Didn't expect to see you two out here this early."
"Decided to get some extra drills in," Anko stated quickly, finally looking up, a hint of her usual defiance returning, though slightly undermined by her earlier flustered denial. "Got a problem with that, Gekko?"
Hayate just sighed quietly. "No problem. Just surprising."
"Anko," Kurenai murmured warningly, placing a subtle hand on Anko's arm.
Before any further barbs could be exchanged, I stepped in, clapping my hands together lightly. "Alright, well, Hayate, Yugao, ready to show me how bad my bokken form is?" I tried to inject some normalcy, redirecting the focus back to the original plan.
Hayate nodded, seemingly grateful for the change of subject. "Let's get warmed up first."
Yugao agreed, already starting her own stretching routine. Anko and Kurenai moved off to a separate area of the training ground, beginning their own warm-ups. Anko shot one last glare over her shoulder before pointedly focusing on her own drills, though I caught her glancing over occasionally as Kurenai patiently corrected her stance.
As Hayate, Yugao, and I started some light taijutsu drills to warm up before picking up the bokken, Hayate spoke, his voice low. "Heard something interesting yesterday… some third-years were talking about it near the archives, sounds like everyone knows now."
"Oh?" Yugao prompted, blocking a simulated strike from Hayate.
"Kakashi Hatake," Hayate said, delivering a light counter-strike that Yugao easily deflected. "He graduated. Officially became a genin yesterday."
I stopped mid-stance. "What? Already? We've only been in the Academy for, what, two months?" That was incredibly fast, even for a canon prodigy. A knot of worry tightened in my stomach. If they were graduating people that quickly... "Wow. That's... really fast. Makes you wonder how quickly they expect us to be ready."
From across the field, Anko, who must have overheard despite the distance, snorted loudly. "Worried, Kagurazaka?" she called out snarkily. "You sure do have a large ego, thinking you're anywhere near ready, especially when you can't even get your shots on the board half the time!"
Kurenai murmured something to Anko, who clamped her mouth shut, though she continued to glare.
I ignored Anko's jab, focusing on Hayate and Yugao. "Seriously though, is that normal? Graduating after just a couple of months?"
Yugao shook her head decisively as she sidestepped another of Hayate's movements. "No. Not at all. Early graduation is done extremely rarely, Yuuki. Even with wartime pressures."
"But... it is wartime, isn't it?" I pressed.
"Yes, but there are still standards," Hayate explained, pausing the drill. "Throwing a completely underdeveloped genin into active duty isn't efficient. They die too easily, waste resources, and damage morale. Kakashi is... an anomaly. Generational talent, son of the White Fang, likely had intense private training since he could walk. It's huge news because it's so rare and so fast."
Yugao nodded agreement. "The most accelerated path you usually see is someone exceptional from Class A, maybe a clan prodigy with years of prior training, graduating a year early. Maybe six months in the most extreme, almost unheard-of cases before now. But two months? That's practically unique to Kakashi."
Relief washed over me, loosening the knot in my stomach. Okay. So Kakashi was just built different, a complete outlier operating under different rules. They weren't about to start shipping off anyone who could manage a stable Bunshin clone. I still had time – time to train, time to get stronger, time to prepare properly.
"Alright," I said, taking a breath and refocusing. "Good to know. Now, about that bokken practice?"
Hayate grinned faintly. "Right. Let's see what Midori-sensei gave you to work with." We moved towards the training posts, leaving Anko and Kurenai to their own devices across the field. The initial tension had faded, replaced by the familiar focus of training.
We moved over to the designated training posts, unwrapping our wooden wakizashi. The weight felt familiar in my hand now, comfortable. Hayate and Yugao took up positions nearby, ready to observe.
"Alright," Hayate said, leaning casually against a post. "Show us the basic stances Midori-sensei gave you in the scroll first. Let's see your form."
I nodded, taking a breath to center myself. I flowed through the fundamental kenjutsu stances: Chūdan-no-kamae, the standard middle guard, blade pointing forward; Gedan-no-kamae, the low guard, blade tip lowered defensively; Jōdan-no-kamae, the high guard, sword raised above the head for a powerful downward strike. I tried to make the transitions smooth, recalling the drills from yesterday, letting the muscle memory from [Train the Slayer] guide my posture, balance, and grip.
Then, I moved onto the basic cuts, executing them against the sturdy wooden post. A clean downward cut, kiriotoshi. An upward diagonal slash, kiriage. A horizontal cut, yokogiri. I focused on putting power into the cut not just from my arms, but rotating my hips and using my legs, just as the ingrained knowledge dictated. The thwack of wood striking wood echoed cleanly with each impact.
I finished the short sequence and looked over at Hayate and Yugao. Their usual calm expressions were replaced with looks of genuine surprise. Yugao’s eyebrows were raised slightly, and Hayate had pushed himself off the training post, looking intently.
"Wow, Yuuki," Yugao said, breaking the silence. "Midori-sensei only gave you that yesterday, right? Your form is… really clean already. Almost textbook."
Hayate nodded slowly in agreement, circling me once, observing my stance. "Yeah, seriously. Balance is good, grip looks right, edge alignment on the cuts is consistent…" He stopped in front of me. "Did you… have you done this before?"
"Just what was in the scroll Sensei gave me," I replied, keeping my tone casual. No need to mention System perks granting instant foundational knowledge. "And just spending hours yesterday swinging."
"Well, damn," Hayate muttered, shaking his head slightly. "Okay, your basics are solid. Scary solid for a beginner." He tapped his own bokken thoughtfully. "Only tiny thing I'd maybe suggest… on the kiriotoshi," he demonstrated slowly, "try rotating your leading hip just a fraction of a second before your arms start the main downward motion. My family's style emphasizes generating power from the core first. Like this…" He executed the subtle movement, and I could see how it added a whip-like effect to the start of the cut.
I tried replicating the hip movement he showed. It felt slightly different but undeniably added a bit more initial acceleration to the cut. "Okay, I see that. Thanks."
"Reading forms and hitting a static post is one thing, though," Hayate continued, a familiar spark returning to his eyes despite his usual tiredness. "Let's see how it flows in practice. Spar?" He gestured towards the open space between the posts.
I felt a flicker of anticipation. This was what I needed – practical application. "Alright. Let's do it."
Yugao stepped back to give us space, acting as referee. Hayate and I faced each other, bokken held ready in chūdan-no-kamae. We bowed briefly, then settled into our stances.
The spar started cautiously. Hayate, clearly the more experienced fighter despite our similar age, probed my defenses with quick, light taps of his bokken against mine, testing my reaction speed and guard. I focused on maintaining my stance, blocking his probes cleanly, relying on the near-perfect forms ingrained in me. I didn’t want to shift attributes, wanting to gauge his base speed and strategy first.
Hayate feinted a high attack, then quickly transitioned to a low sweep aimed at my forward ankle. Recalling the Ukemi drills, I reacted instantly, hopping back smoothly while keeping my guard up. Seeing his low attack fail, Hayate flowed immediately into an upward diagonal slash. I met it with a parry, the wood clacking sharply, using the angle of my blade to deflect his upward momentum safely away.
My own fundamentals were solid. Blocks were clean, parries effective, basic footwork steady. But Hayate had the edge in experience. He moved with a fluidity that came from countless hours of practice, reading my slight hesitations. He pressed his attack, a series of quick slashes designed to keep me reacting, looking for an opening.
I realized I was being too defensive. Time to apply some pressure. As Hayate launched another horizontal cut, I didn't just block – I parried strongly, using the momentum to create space, and immediately countered with my own yokogiri. Hayate blocked it neatly, but the force seemed to surprise him slightly.
Seeing an opportunity, I flowed into a combination – a downward cut followed immediately by a thrust towards his chest. My movements were fast, perhaps slightly faster than his due to my physical training, but he anticipated the thrust, deflecting it sideways with expert precision. He countered instantly with a quick strike towards my exposed arm.
Here’s where experience mattered. My form was good, my reaction fast, but choosing the right reaction under pressure, predicting the flow of combat – that was still developing. I blocked his counter, but it was slightly clumsy, leaving me marginally off-balance for a split second.
Hayate didn't miss it. He didn't launch a powerful attack, but instead used the tiny opening for a lightning-fast, controlled tap of his bokken against my ribs. It wasn't hard enough to hurt, but it was a clean, undeniable hit.
We both disengaged simultaneously, stepping back, slightly breathless.
Hayate lowered his bokken, a look of impressed surprise on his face. "Damn, Yuuki," he repeated, breathing a little harder now. "Seriously impressive basics. You react fast, and your cuts have weight. You just need more sparring time. Sometimes you hesitate for half a second when an opening appears, or you commit slightly too much to an attack."
Yugao, who had watched intently, nodded agreement from the sidelines. "Your fundamentals are better than almost anyone else starting out. But Hayate's right, reading the flow of a fight, anticipating counters, knowing when to strike – that only comes with practice against live opponents."
I nodded, accepting their assessment. It matched my own feeling. The System gave me the knowledge, training gave me the physique, but the experience, the instinct developed through hundreds of exchanges – that had to be earned. "Yeah, I felt that. Thanks for the spar, Hayate. And for the tips."
"Anytime," Hayate replied, offering a genuine, tired smile this time. "Just… maybe go a little easier next time?" He rubbed his ribs where my earlier counter-slash had been blocked. Even through wood, the strength difference was apparently noticeable.
As Hayate and I finished our spar and discussed the outcome, Kurenai approached, Anko trailing a few steps behind her, arms crossed again.
"That was very impressive, Kagurazaka-san," Kurenai offered, her voice polite and her smile genuine. "Your form with the bokken is quite refined already. You learn quickly."
"Beginner's luck," Anko muttered under her breath, loud enough for us to hear, though she didn't look directly at anyone. Kurenai shot her a brief, warning glance.
"Thanks, Yuhi," I said, wiping sweat from my forehead with my forearm. "Still got a long way to go, though." I leaned on the training post, letting out a slightly exaggerated sigh. "Whew. That took more out of me than I thought. I think I'm done for the morning."
Hayate and Yugao exchanged a quick, knowing look. "Tired?" Hayate deadpanned, raising an eyebrow slightly. "Right. After that spar and maybe twenty minutes of bokken swings." Everyone who trained with me regularly knew my stamina was ridiculously high compared to theirs, thanks mostly to Attribute Distribution supplementing my already intense conditioning. Claiming fatigue was a convenient way to wrap things up.
I just shrugged, offering a tired grin. "Hey, sparring with you takes concentration, Hayate."
Anko snorted softly but didn't make another comment.
"Well," I said, looking around at the group – Hayate and Yugao looking worn out from their normal efforts, Kurenai looking slightly tired as well, Anko looking grumpy but present. "Since we're all wrapping up anyway... Does anyone want to grab some lunch? My treat."
It'd hurt my wallet, but it might help settle things between Anko and our group. I wasn't going to let that one spar bloom into a "rivalry".
The suggestion hung in the air for a moment. Hayate immediately brightened slightly at the prospect of food. Yugao gave a small nod. Kurenai looked towards Anko, who hesitated, scowling, before giving a tiny, almost imperceptible shrug. "Fine," Anko mumbled. "But you're paying."
"Said it was my treat, didn't I?" I replied easily.
We ended up at a small, no-frills ramen stand not far from the Academy grounds – cheap, filling, and fast. Finding a booth large enough for five was slightly awkward, with me, Hayate, and Yugao taking one side, and Anko and Kurenai opposite. Anko immediately focused intently on the menu board above the counter, pointedly ignoring everyone else. Kurenai maintained her polite neutrality, while Hayate looked about ready to fall asleep in his seat.
The initial silence after ordering was thick with unspoken tension. Hayate finally broke it with a yawn. "Man, that Ukemi practice yesterday... I think I'm still feeling it."
"Tell me about it," Yugao agreed quietly, rubbing her shoulder. "I landed wrong on one of the side falls."
"At least you guys can do the rolls," Anko suddenly interjected, poking aggressively at a napkin. "Sensei keeps saying I'm not tucking my chin enough."
Kurenai patted her arm gently. "It just takes practice, Anko. You're getting better."
"Speaking of practice," I jumped in, steering the conversation, "how's everyone doing with the Bunshin homework? Making three stable clones is harder than it looks."
That got them talking. Hayate admitted he could barely manage two that didn't flicker. Yugao said she could get three, but only if she really concentrated and didn't move. Kurenai confessed that while she could make several, keeping them all looking perfectly identical was the tricky part.
"Hah! I can make five!" Anko declared loudly, puffing her chest out slightly.
"Five really blurry ones that vanish if you sneeze?" Hayate retorted dryly, earning a glare from Anko.
"They're getting better!" Anko insisted.
"Maybe try Yugao's tip?" I suggested mildly. "Focusing on a 'core' for each one? It seemed to help me stabilize mine a bit."
Anko just grunted noncommittally but didn't argue.
The food arrived – steaming bowls of simple ramen – and conversation became more sporadic between slurps of noodles. Anko made another crack about my "rock training," which I deflected with a joke about needing ballast. Hayate complained about the length of the history lectures. Yugao quietly offered Kurenai some of her extra narutomaki when Kurenai finished hers quickly. Kurenai, in turn, managed to subtly guide the conversation away whenever Anko seemed about to get too abrasive.
By the time we finished, the initial awkwardness had mostly dissipated, replaced by the shared experience of cheap food and commiseration about Academy life. We weren't exactly one big happy group, the divisions were still there, but we'd managed to coexist for an hour without any major incidents.
As we left the ramen stand, heading our separate ways to our homes to shower and freshen up for the rest of the day, there was a sense of tentative understanding. Anko still shot me a grumpy look, but it lacked the venom of before. Kurenai gave a polite nod. Hayate and Yugao fell into easy step beside me. It was progress, however small.
— In Naruto With an Achievement System —
A year. It felt both incredibly long and startlingly short. Twelve months of the relentless grind – wake, train, Academy, train, sleep, repeat. I stood now, balanced carefully on the surface of the small lake behind the Academy training grounds, the water rippling slightly under the soles of my feet. The moon overhead cast long shadows, the only witness to my late-night practice.
Mastering surface climbing – tree walking – had been laughably easy once I put consistent effort into it, maybe a week of dedicated practice after mastering the basic leaf sticking. Water walking, though? That had been a different beast entirely. I remembered the frustration vividly: the feeling of chakra slipping, the sudden splash as the surface tension broke, emerging soaked and sputtering from the cold water time and time again. It took weeks of falling in, adjusting the constant, precise output needed, but eventually, it clicked. Now, I could walk, even run lightly across the surface, though maintaining it during combat maneuvers would still be challenging. Strangely, neither achievement popped up on the System screen. No "[Surface Climbing Mastered]," no "[Water Walking Adept]." Nothing. It was puzzling.
My physical growth continued at its frankly absurd pace. Having started the Academy at eight, I was now nine years old, but thanks to whatever accelerated development affected kids in this world, I probably looked closer to twelve or thirteen. The rock sack training, now utilizing even heavier, denser stones I had to haul from further up the river, had pushed my base strength and speed far beyond any normal kid my age, even amongst shinobi trainees. Honestly, based on overheard comments and observing active duty shinobi around the village, I reckoned I could probably beat most chunin in a pure physical contest before even touching Attribute Distribution – actual, war-time chunin, not academy instructors or paper-pushers. Fighting more than one simultaneously without AD would still be difficult, requiring tactics and stamina, but the raw physical power was undeniably there. The gains were addictive, a constant positive feedback loop demanding more effort for more reward.
Academy jutsu had progressed steadily. Making Bunshin clones was easy now – five, six stable illusions weren't an issue when I practiced alone, though in class I still kept it to a more 'talented' two or three. My Henge was practically flawless, capable of mimicking intricate details, useful for those occasional playful moments like transforming into Hayate to borrow notes from Yugao (her deadpan "Your cough sounds fake today, Hayate-Henge" was memorable). We’d also learned the Kawarimi no Jutsu, the Substitution Technique. That one was all about timing and perception – spotting the attack, forming the seal, swapping with a nearby object just before impact. Practicing that with Hayate and Yugao, trying to catch each other off guard with thrown pebbles or sudden movements, had been helpful, though my enhanced hearing often gave me an unfair advantage I tried not to overuse. Again, in class demonstrations, I kept my substitutions competent but not suspiciously instantaneous.
Taijutsu was where the most noticeable practical improvement had happened, thanks largely to the others. The grudging truce with Anko had evolved into a fierce, regular sparring rivalry. Her relentless aggression forced me to constantly refine my defenses, my counters, my footwork. Initially, I'd often used Attribute shifts to counter her speed or power. But as the months passed and my base physique surged, I found I needed it less and less against her. Now, I usually won relying solely on my significantly improved strength, speed, and the taijutsu skills honed through endless repetition and their sparring pointers. Attribute Distribution became a tool held in reserve. Kurenai sometimes joined in, her clever feints keeping me sharp. Sparring Yugao was a blur of speed, while Hayate’s tactical, thought-out style of attacking demanded thought. “Damn it, Kagurazaka! How are you still getting faster?!” Anko’s frustrated shout after a particularly swift defeat echoed in my memory. My fundamentals were solid thanks to the System, but fighting them provided the experience. Still no achievements for beating Kurenai or Ibiki in class spars though. The System's logic remained frustratingly opaque.
My bokken practice was a daily ritual. The forms were second nature now, the wooden wakizashi feeling like an extension of my arm. Sparring Hayate with bokken was the real test; his family's style was subtle and efficient, exposing flaws in my application despite my solid fundamentals. Midori-sensei had acknowledged my progress – “Your discipline with the blade is commendable, Yuuki,” she’d said after observing a practice session. “But forms are not fighting. Patience. True mastery requires more than repetition.” She still hadn’t signed off on a real wakizashi. Patience, apparently, was another lesson I needed to learn.
And then, about a month ago, the news finally, officially broke: Konoha was at war. The Third Shinobi World War had been formally declared. No one was truly surprised; the tension had been palpable for months, the whispers of border skirmishes constant, the increased presence of ANBU and jonin on the streets impossible to ignore. Academy drills intensified slightly, the mood became more somber, but the core curriculum didn't change drastically. Whispers about early graduation resurfaced, but Kakashi remained the sole, glaring example. The message was clear: war or no war, the village wasn't scraping the bottom of the barrel just yet. We still had time.
I finally completed a full circuit around the edge of the lake's surface without losing concentration, the water barely disturbed beneath my feet. I stopped, breathing steadily, looking up at the familiar stone faces carved into the cliff overlooking the village, bathed now in the silvery moonlight. A year down. Stronger, faster, more skilled. But the declaration of war hung heavy in the air, a constant reminder of the real stakes, the real dangers waiting just beyond the Academy walls. The grind continued. It had to.
End of Chapter.
— In Naruto With an Achievement System —
Well, I'm getting tired of writing just the Academy. One thing, that I need to apologise for is that I fucked up the timeline. I had the Academy start way too early, for now retroactively consider that Yuuki started the Academy when he was 8 rather than 6. At the end of this chapter, Yuuki is 9 - while the normal graduation time is 11, they'll graduate in a few months because Konohakagure gets hits hard in the war early on - or that's going to be my justification because I really, really need to write something new with this. I will otherwise scream.
Another reason for the early graduation will be - Yuuki will simply become too strong for the story to have any stakes.
Another quick question - would you guys like to start me providing chapter EPUBs, PDFs, DOCX, etc. In case reading isn't nice here.
Thank you for your support here on Patreon. I'll be unfortunately busy for the next two weeks with Exams, but I'll try to get a chapter weekly out either for Borrowed Scars or this.