Next day, Kazeo walked toward the graveyard, remembering where he had seen him in the series. He searched for a while, and although he found the ninja graveyard, the specific grave wasn't there. After about 20 minutes of searching, he finally located the grave in the Jōnin section, set apart in a more isolated spot and given more space than the others.
'So... the spacing of graves depends on one's strength and contribution when they were alive.'
Beneath the name, two lines were engraved:
"Hero of the Hidden Leaf"
"Strongest Taijutsu User"
Kazeo smiled wryly. 'If he's the strongest Taijutsu user, then where does Might Guy with all gates opened during his battle with Madara even stand? That scene still gives me goosebumps when I remember Madara himself declaring Guy as the strongest Taijutsu user.'
'Hmm… maybe Guy is still weaker than him right now due to their age gap. And we never even saw Chen's full abilities in the series.'
Below the grave lay some fresh flowers and a food packet. 'It's 7:30 a.m. Someone must've already visited—probably his relatives. The flowers and food are still fresh.'
Curious, Kazeo opened the packet to find three onigiri inside.
'Huh… I brought onigiri too, thinking Chen liked them. What should I do now?'
Just as he was pondering, the packet he had picked up was suddenly snatched from his hand. It happened so fast, he didn't even register it. A chill ran down his spine.
He immediately extended his chakra field—and saw a man behind him, casually eating from the packet.
It was Chen.
A tan-skinned man of below-average height, his face weathered with age and wrinkles. He had gray dreadlocks, a missing upper-right tooth, a Manchu mustache, and a short, trimmed beard. He wore a yellow jumpsuit with black stripes, open-toed sandals, a green sweatband, and red square-framed sunglasses.
Kazeo recognized him instantly but quickly shifted his expression to one of confusion—his deception training working perfectly.
"Oi, old man!" Kazeo called out. "Why did you snatch my food packet?"
Chen continued munching. "HAAAH?! You got a screw loose, kid? These sacred onigiri have my name written all over 'em! Anyway, what's a runt like you doing loitering around a graveyard, huh? Looking to dig your own hole?"
Kazeo responded, "No, I came to pay my respects to the grave of the strongest Taijutsu master—Chen."
Chen raised a brow. "Pay respects? Did you or your parents know him?"
Kazeo shook his head sadly. "No... I'm an orphan. But I read about Master Chen in an old scroll I bought from Fujiwara's Weapon Shop down the road. I'm not good at Taijutsu, can't even keep up with my class… so I thought maybe sitting near his grave would inspire me."
He had prepared the story yesterday in advance, just in case he met Chen.
A flicker of pain crossed Chen's eyes—just for a second, before he scoffed, waving him off. "Tch… That Chen fella? Couldn't even teach a squirrel to scratch its nose. Total waste of a ninja suit…You'd be better off chasing butterflies than wasting time here."
Kazeo immediately snapped back, "You shouldn't say such things about the Hero of Konoha. I read that he saved many lives in the Third Great Ninja War and was an incredible teacher too! Also… you were really fast when you snatched that packet. Could you teach me how to move like that?"
Chen snorted. "I don't teach whiny little academy kids. Now scram, before the graveyard ghosts mistake you for one of their own."
"I don't fear ghosts!" Kazeo replied firmly. "Please, teach me, old man."
Chen just shook his head and started walking away. "I already said I don't teach. Don't waste time near that failure's grave."
Kazeo stayed silent and began following him.
After five minutes, Chen finally turned. "Why are you following me, kid? Go away!"
"I'll stop if you teach me. You can even take the onigiri packet I have!"
Chen tried reasoning with him, giving excuses—but Kazeo kept following. Finally, frustrated, Chen grumbled, "Do what you want, ya stubborn mule. I won't teach anyone, you will just waste your time ."
Kazeo said nothing and followed him. Eventually, they reached a small hut built atop a tree with a rope ladder leading up.
Kazeo sat down in front of it and waited the entire day—only standing up to relieve himself or stretch every couple of hours to ease the numbness in his legs. When he got hungry, he took food from his storage scroll. In the afternoon, as his chakra replenished, he created clones to continue training in secret.
As the day turned to night, at around 7:30 p.m., Kazeo yawned, still sitting in seiza position. Eventually, he dozed off sitting upright in discomfort.
Chen, watching from his hut, thought, 'This kid's got perseverance. But I bet he'll be gone tomorrow.'
Next day, Kazeo woke up and saw he was sprawled on the ground. He stood up, but his entire body groaned in protest—his muscles stiff, back sore, and skin itchy from the numerous mosquito bites that peppered him overnight. He rubbed his neck and winced slightly, he had slept there for two reasons: first, it was relatively safe, as no carnivorous animals roamed the graveyard, and second, to show his sincerity.
Stretching and shaking off the last dregs of sleep, he began walking towards the pond he had located yesterday with the help of his clones. After a short walk, he stood in front of it, gazing at its calm, clear waters.
'Hmm… this was the cleanest and nearest pond I could find. Strange though… a pond this clean in the middle of a graveyard? Maybe he uses it too.' He thought, narrowing his eyes at the surface.
He created a shadow clone and instructed it, "Go to the village and bring back some hot food."
As the clone vanished, Kazeo stripped down and began cleaning himself in the pond, enjoying the refreshing coolness of the water as it washed away the grime of the previous day.
----
Inside the hut, Chen was in deep meditation when he heard Kazeo groaning from outside.
He smiled slightly, 'A night in forest should be enough to drive the kid away.'
A few minutes later, he heard footsteps. Peeking out, he saw Kazeo walking away from the hut and smirked.
'Heh… as I thought, one night was enough to scare him off.' Chen thought and closed his eyes again, returning to his meditation.
Ten minutes later, the smell of food reached him. Curious, he looked outside—only to see Kazeo sitting in cross-legged position, happily slurping ramen and mumbling, "Ichiraku's ramen really is the best even as a takeaway."
Chen's eye twitched. So, he didn't leave… He just went to get ramen? This brat…
Sighing, he returned to his meditation. Whatever, I have more important things to do. I need to focus on creating the technique that I thought of three years ago.
Two weeks passed.
The routine became predictable. Kazeo sat in same position almost the entire day, only getting up once every hour or two for a short break. His clones routinely brought food from the village. When he sat in front of treehouse, his clone trained by attempting to control steel wires with both hands simultaneously.
He observed things too—like how Chen's breakfast was always just a few onigiri, sometimes delivered by his grown-up son or daughter. Yet, Chen never met them directly. For lunch and dinner, he hunted wild animals and gathered fruits or vegetables from the forest. And most of his time was spent meditating in his treehouse, apart from one hour of taijutsu kata practice and one hour of physical exercise every day.
Kazeo tried training alongside him, but he couldn't even lift a quarter of the weight Chen used. Whenever Chen meditated, he sat outside on the ground in seiza. Kazeo rarely spoke to him, except for the occasional request to be taught—which Chen always ignored.
Finally, two more days later, Chen spoke for the first time.
"Tch, you're really getting on my nerves, brat. Let's do this the shinobi way. We fight. If you impress me even a little, maybe I'll consider teaching your sorry behind. Otherwise, you pack up and leave. Got it?"
Kazeo agreed immediately. This was progress, at least. 'He's a bit different from the anime version, but if he's still that strong, it's worth it.'
The fight began. Kazeo ducked under a sweeping roundhouse, only to be caught off-guard by Chen's sudden palm thrust to his solar plexus. Air exploded from his lungs as he stumbled back, barely catching himself with a wind-infused backflip.
He lasted for barely thirty moves before he started using wind and earth-style jutsu. He even threw in kunai, shuriken, and his wire—though he didn't use vibration techniques yet. The entire battle lasted about eighty seconds before Kazeo was flat on the ground, gasping for breath. His chest heaved as he struggled to suck in enough oxygen. The fight had drained him, both mentally and physically.
No matter what technique or trick he used, Chen either dodged or blocked it effortlessly, countering with precise strikes that Kazeo couldn't guard against. And yet, despite all that, Kazeo bore no visible injuries. Chen had only hit pressure points or muscle groups that hurt but didn't leave lasting damage.
Chen stood quietly, analyzing him. Hmm… he's a good seed. Strong body for his age. Stamina's high too. But his taijutsu is basic—academy-level. If he learns a proper technique and continues training like this, he could become a formidable close-range fighter with some guidance.
Still, he hesitated. But am I really ready to teach someone again? Maybe… I could use him to test that new technique I've been developing.
After a few seconds, Chen finally said, "Hmph. You've got guts, I'll give you that. But your body's still green—like unripe bamboo. I'm working on something big, and you'd snap in half if I even tried teaching you now."
Kazeo immediately tried to bargain. "You could at least train me for half an hour a day. I'll keep practicing the rest myself."
Chen still refused. But after some persistent pleading—and perhaps his own desire for a future technique tester—he finally gave in.
"Alright, alright, stop buzzing in my ear like a summer fly. I'll teach you... later. I ain't repeating myself, kid."
He pulled a seal out of his pocket and handed it to Kazeo.
"Here. Slap this seal on if you wanna cry tomorrow."
Kazeo stared at the seal, excitement flickering in his tired eyes. 'Yes… Finally. One step closer.' but he said, "What does this seal do? Wait... are these weight seals?"