Facing the stern, muscular man with his arms crossed, silently observing them—Sensei Nishimura, their homeroom teacher—Uchiha Tatsumi remained unfazed.
He cleared his throat and began, his tone measured. "Sensei Nishimura, don't you think cultivating a skilled ninja requires a lot of resources?"
Nishimura didn't respond, his expression unreadable, waiting for Tatsumi to continue.
Pleased with Nishimura's silence, Tatsumi flashed a small smile and pressed on. "What defines a ninja? What are the best combat methods for a ninja, and how do we defeat our enemies most efficiently?"
Nishimura stayed quiet.
"What kind of ninja battle is the least costly, and what strategies ensure the greatest victory? Do you know the answers to these questions?" Tatsumi asked, his voice rising with conviction.
Nishimura remained silent.
Tatsumi nodded, satisfied, and gestured animatedly. "When facing an enemy, what ninjutsu and tactics should we, as ninja, employ? These are critical questions! We can't just figure them out by sitting in the Ninja Academy for a few days."
"Do you understand what I'm saying?" Tatsumi narrowed his eyes, leaning forward slightly.
Nishimura said nothing.
Tatsumi's patience began to wane. "Look, the ultimate goal of a ninja's training at the Academy is to prepare for battle. Fighting drives a ninja's growth. That hasn't changed, whether it was during the Warring States Period or now."
Nishimura didn't budge.
"Of course, I'm not saying I'm some warmonger," Tatsumi added quickly. "Fighting has its downsides, sure. But even if it's messy, we learn from it. That's why we should accept the costs of those lessons and move forward." He paused, then softened his tone. "I've said a lot, Sensei. Can you at least understand where we're coming from?"
Finally, Nishimura spoke. "Uchiha Tatsumi, I hear what you're saying. You're right—battles do help ninjas grow. You're not wrong…"
"But—" Nishimura uncrossed his arms, his voice sharp as he addressed the group. "That's no excuse for destroying the training ground!"
He pointed to the wrecked field. The ground was cratered from impacts, scorched black from fire jutsu, and the once-white boundary wall was charred and crumbling.
"Damn it…" Tatsumi muttered under his breath.
Nishimura's icy words hit hard. After their spar, the group hadn't escaped the scene fast enough. The commotion had drawn Nishimura, who'd caught them red-handed.
"Then, Sensei, hear me out," Rope Tree piped up, undeterred.
"What now, Rope Tree? I don't have time for your nonsense," Nishimura snapped.
"Think about it!" Rope Tree grinned. "Back in the day, my grandfather, the First Hokage, wrecked the landscape at the Valley of the End. Now it's a famous tourist spot in the Land of Fire, raking in tons of cash. Maybe this messed-up training ground could be the next big attraction!"
Nishimura's eyes narrowed. "Boy, that's a dangerous way of thinking."
"Alright, enough," Nishimura said, cutting them off. "You lot will clean this up. I'll request repairs from the Academy—again. And yes, you're all getting punished."
With that, Nishimura turned and left.
Tatsumi, Mizumon, and the others were left to deal with the wrecked training ground. Tatsumi glanced at Mizumon, who looked dejected, and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
"Don't sweat it, Mizumon. Nishimura's just blowing hot air. He's a chunin—probably never seen anything bigger than a street market. Fixing the training ground is no big deal. Worst case, I'll go with you to apologize to him later. As for the punishment…" Tatsumi grinned slyly. "Let's just say I've got connections."
Mizumon nodded, a faint smile returning. Maybe Tatsumi's confidence—or his mysterious "someone above"—was enough to lift his spirits.
"By the way," Tatsumi said, his curiosity piqued, "that toad you summoned… it had chakra rivaling a chunin's. How'd you pull off a summoning like that?"
Mizumon's chakra reserves weren't exceptional for his age. As a civilian-born ninja with no bloodline limit, he relied on skill, not raw power.
Then it clicked. Tatsumi's eyes widened. "Wait—did you crack that sealing scroll?"
Mizumon rubbed the back of his neck, a sheepish grin spreading across his face. He rolled up his sleeves, revealing small sealing scrolls strapped to his forearms. "Yeah, I did."
Tatsumi's interest in sealing techniques had started years ago, sparked by a chance encounter with Uzumaki Mito, the First Hokage's wife and a sealing master. Impressed by Tatsumi's curiosity, she'd taught him basic sealing knowledge and given him a few scrolls to study. Tatsumi had experimented with creating chakra-storage scrolls to use in a pinch, but he'd abandoned the project, finding it too tedious.
To his surprise, Mizumon had taken the idea and run with it.
"You're a damn genius," Tatsumi said, half-laughing, half-in-awe.
Mizumon blushed, scratching his head. "It's not that big a deal. I just tweaked your transcription seals. Right now, the scroll can only store a bit of chakra—say, 1.5 times my normal amount if my chakra's a baseline of 1."
Tatsumi nodded, impressed. "Not bad at all."
"If you're up for it, we could keep researching," Mizumon offered, his eyes lighting up. "The scroll's capacity is limited by the material and seal quality, but with some tweaks, we could store more. It's just standard sealing paper from the ninja shop, so it's cheap to experiment."
"No rush, no rush," Tatsumi said, waving a hand. He was struck by a wave of admiration. Mizumon Ascended to Hokage, the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, had a keen interest in sealing techniques even at such a young age—a trait that would later define his mastery of the Flying Thunder God Technique.
It was humbling to think that Mizumon, once just a sparring partner Tatsumi could easily outmaneuver, was now his equal in sealing knowledge. They'd moved beyond teacher and student to collaborators, exchanging ideas as peers.
Some people, given just a spark of opportunity, could ignite their own brilliance. Mizumon was one of them.
Tatsumi clapped Mizumon on the shoulder, a grin spreading across his face. "I'm gonna go grab some oranges. Stay put, alright? Don't wander off."
Mizumon blinked, confused. "…Huh?"