Wednesday, Training Ground #11, Kirigakure.
The high-level meeting of Kirigakure's jonin from a few days ago, unsurprisingly, didn't make its way to the ears of a freshly minted genin like Kagetsu Jin.
Jin continued his daily training routine as usual, grinding for gold coins and sharpening his skills.
Although he had already saved enough coins for a ten-pull, both the newly acquired medical knowledge and the Water Release techniques demanded his full attention and effort.
After some thought, he decided to hold off on drawing until right before the event ended.
Since he was no longer an academy student and didn't have a supervising mentor, he had been coming to this secluded little training ground in Kirigakure after finishing shifts at the hospital each day.
As always, he completed his daily training first. Then, glancing at the time, he decided to spar with Aogin one more round before heading home.
Once boy and frog faced each other in position, Jin gave the signal to begin.
"Aogin, get ready, we're starting!"
Aogin responded with a stern croak.
"(ー`ー) Ribbit~"
Lately, Jin had been improving at an astonishing rate. Even though the little frog trained every day, the power gap between them only widened, much to Aogin's frustration.
At Jin's shout,
"Begin!"
, he flung two shuriken, which carved graceful arcs through the air as they flew toward Aogin.
Unfazed, the little guy tugged two bubbles off his puffy bubble scarf, one in each hand, and hurled them.
The bubbles intercepted the shuriken mid-air with pinpoint accuracy, knocking them down.
This bubble technique was part of Aogin's natural abilities as a Bubble Frog. While its offensive power was rather mild, even if hit, it wouldn't hurt, it was surprisingly effective for defense.
Against the strength of a typical genin, Aogin didn't even need to throw the bubbles. His scarf alone could absorb a direct blow without taking damage.
Seeing his shuriken deflected, Jin didn't lose heart. He quickened his pace to close the distance between them.
Due to his small size, Aogin was always at a disadvantage in terms of raw strength.
After just a few quick exchanges, the little frog changed tactics. He tensed his legs, then burst away using Quick Attack to widen the gap.
Jin watched with a hint of envy but wasn't without his own tricks. While charging forward, he formed hand seals and unleashed a jutsu:
"Water Style: Water Jet Propulsion!"
Twin jets of water blasted from beneath his feet, instantly propelling him forward with explosive force. The water's thrust even lifted his body slightly off the ground.
But he didn't stop there. Jin swiftly formed another set of seals.
"Water Style: Flying Water Shuriken!"
Amazingly, the water streams at his feet reversed course, swirling back toward his hands, where they began to take shape, forming a single, rapidly rotating shuriken made entirely of water.
In an instant, the water shuriken expanded, swelling to a diameter of nearly 30 centimeters.
For comparison, a standard shuriken, designed for portability and ease of use, was typically under 10 centimeters.
Seeing his master wielding a water shuriken almost as big as himself, Aogin's face turned pale.
He leapt into the air and fired a Water Gun from his mouth, using the water's recoil to launch himself backward.
But Jin nimbly sidestepped the water jet, his momentum unbroken.
Even more astonishing, the stream of the Water Gun curved mid-air in a U-shape and flowed directly into the still-expanding water shuriken.
Seeing this, Aogin pushed off a nearby tree trunk and again used Quick Attack. His tiny frame darted through the trees like a flash of blue lightning, narrowly avoiding his master's pursuit.
Watching, Jin smiled. He swung his right arm far back, his entire body drawing taut like a fully-drawn bow, then hurled the water shuriken toward the tree Aogin had just used to launch off.
But the moment the shuriken left his hand, Jin froze.
"Holy crap! Why is it so big?!"
The water shuriken had ballooned to over 60 centimeters in diameter. With a sharp whirr of slicing air and flying water droplets, it zipped forward like a blur, slicing clean through several tree trunks as thick as a man's arms.
Then it hit an empty clearing, and exploded.
The blast tore through the area with devastating force.
Dirt flew, the grass and low shrubs around the clearing were shredded by the blast wave and high-velocity droplets. The entire scene became a chaotic mess.
Even as the cause of all this, Jin couldn't help but click his tongue in disbelief.
Since he'd been focused on chasing Aogin, he hadn't realized just how large the shuriken had grown. He could only guess by feel that it had taken nearly all his remaining chakra.
He obviously hadn't planned to aim something like that directly at Aogin.
Jin had waited until Aogin had completely dodged before throwing it toward the empty field.
He just hadn't expected it to be that ridiculously powerful.
Completely spent, he collapsed onto the grass with a thud. Just then, Aogin popped up beside him with a grumpy expression.
"Haha, Aogin, this round goes to you, I'm out of chakra."
Jin looked at Aogin's face and tried to reach out to pat his head in comfort.
"(`へ´) Ribbit!"
But Aogin turned away in a huff, dodging the pat.
"Alright, alright, my bad."
"I just had a random idea at the start to use the water from Water Jet Propulsion for the shuriken. I didn't expect it to be so destructive."
Seeing his little frog so upset, Jin quickly pressed his hands together and bowed his head in a sincere apology.
Maybe recalling how even his Water Gun got absorbed into the attack, Aogin didn't stay angry for long.
He hopped off to retrieve the two shuriken that had been thrown earlier.
Jin lay back on the grass, gazing up at the sun through the thick mist of the training ground.
'You know, a peaceful life like this wouldn't be so bad.'
Just as he was getting lost in that thought, a shadow loomed over him, blocking the sun.
"Hey! You! Are you the one who was recklessly blasting jutsu in the training ground just now?!"
The newcomer stood with the sun at their back, so Jin didn't recognize them right away. But the voice sounded oddly familiar.
Still wary, Jin sprang to his feet.
To his surprise, it was someone he'd met once before, Terumi Mei.
The black-haired boy brushed the grass off his clothes and stood up awkwardly, while the short-haired, reddish-brown girl stood with her hands on her hips, clearly furious.
"You again?! Last time it was blocking the hospital entrance, and now you're randomly throwing around jutsu in a training ground! Do you even check if other people are around?!"
"Sorry. I've been coming here for a few days now and haven't seen anyone. I wasn't paying attention."
Jin wasn't interested in picking fights with some brat, so he didn't bother arguing with her tone.
Seeing how apologetic he was, Mei looked a bit embarrassed, but stubbornly continued.
"I'm a full-fledged ninja, okay?! I've just been on missions lately. Before that, I was the one training here!"
Then she noticed the new armband insignia on Jin's arm, the symbol of a Kirigakure ninja.
"You're a genin from the village? Why haven't I heard of you before? You weren't even wearing a forehead protector the last time we met!"
Three questions fired in rapid succession left Jin speechless.
Are we that close?
He didn't mind building a good relationship with the future Fifth Mizukage, but Mei sure was full of herself as a kid.
Still, whatever, most brats were.
"I just became a medical ninja a few days ago. It's normal that you haven't heard of me."
Sensing that if he didn't stop her, she'd keep bombarding him with questions, he picked up Aogin, who'd returned with the two shuriken, and placed him on his shoulder, ready to leave.
Seeing that he was about to walk away, Mei couldn't help asking one last thing.
"That jutsu you used didn't look like something a medical ninja should be doing. What's your name?"
"Medical ninjas are still ninjas. We're not just medics in lab coats. And besides, shouldn't you give your name first before asking someone else's?"
"I'm Terumi Mei! The woman who's going to become the Mizukage someday!"
It was clear she had that line prepared, she probably repeated it to herself countless times.
Jin had already taken a few steps away by then. Without looking back, he simply raised a hand in farewell.
"I'm Kagetsu Jin. And someday...? Someday I'll be a man who lives to a ripe old age."
Watching his silhouette slowly fade into the mist, Terumi Mei pouted.
"Hmph. I thought he was someone amazing. Turns out he's completely unambitious!"