A week passed.
Nothing dramatic.
Just the Academy being the Academy. Theory, some physical drills, and chakra extraction practice for those still lagging behind.
I was way past that level now. So I spent most of the lessons faking mild interest while secretly working on micro-level chakra control.
And the weekend finally rolled around. A holiday after an entire week of hectic schedule.
And what did I decide to do with it?
Train even more.
Yes, what did you expect? Now's not the time to chill around. I need to reach at least chūnin or jōnin level to feel even a semblance of safety.
So weekends, with no lectures and no distractions, made for the best training time.
Since I was free the entire day, I left for the training grounds up above the Hokage faces.
At the edges of the training ground trailed the forests—a perfect place to train and experiment. This area was so vast that no one would bother you at some distant corner.
I stood barefoot on the packed earth and closed my eyes.
Breathe in.
Feel the chakra.
Breathe out.
Guide it.
The control was sharper now. A week of minor practice and constant observation had fine-tuned it further. I no longer needed to reach for it — it sat just beneath the surface like coiled wire, ready to be shaped.
I flexed my arm — not the muscle, but the chakra inside it. Let the flow concentrate along the muscle fibers, reinforcing tension and contraction. A layer of chakra coated my skin like film. Thinner than paper. Perfectly even.
Then I struck the stone block in front of me — just a solid downward punch.
The rock cracked.
Not shattered into dust. Not blown apart like some taijutsu monster — but it cracked, visibly and deeply. A few more punches and I could probably split it entirely.
I nodded to myself. 'Baseline achieved.'
I simply didn't have enough chakra or physical strength yet…
Chakra enhancement worked like a multiplier.
If your base strength is 10, it can make it 100.
But if your base is already 100, it becomes 1000.
So I needed to grow more. But this level of strength was already good among Genin. Hell, a well-timed punch could kill a chūnin.
I tried again — this time adjusting the coating around my fist and elbow, letting the chakra absorb shock while transferring force. More efficient. Less strain. My hand didn't even sting after the strike.
'This is scalable. If I can keep doing this at every joint…'
Then I moved on to threads again. This time, not just from the fingertips — I tried pushing chakra out from my shoulders. Then knees. Then spine. Small extensions of energy, shaped like strands, moving like extra limbs.
It worked.
I could create chakra threads from any point in my body now.
Movement. Direction. Tension. All obeyed perfectly.
It wasn't as awesome as some cheat or kekkei genkai, but this had potential.
Frankly, I've said that so many times I've probably brainwashed myself into believing it.
After a while, I stopped.
I'd burned through maybe 30% of my chakra pool, and I was still breathing normally. No dizziness. No shakiness. I could probably triple the training time safely. That was good to know.
I wiped off sweat, got changed, and decided to treat myself.
Barbecue sounded good.
I was halfway to the shop when I spotted a familiar figure up ahead.
Accompanying her was a woman with flowing red hair who moved like she was always two seconds from giving sagely advice.
The familiar figure had her arms crossed and was clearly ranting about something — her words half-shouts, half-grumbles.
Mito Uzumaki.
And Tsunade.
'Huh.'
I could've crossed the street or hung back — but of course, Tsunade had eyes like a hawk when she wasn't busy pretending not to care.
She turned mid-step, pointed straight at me, and shouted, "Oi! Inaba!"
I sighed internally.
She jogged over and immediately invaded my personal space like we were old friends.
"You heading to the barbecue spot?"
I nodded. "Yeah."
"Perfect. You're sitting with us."
Before I could agree or refuse, she was already waving me forward.
Mito gave me a calm glance. "You don't mind, do you?"
"…Not particularly."
"Great!" Tsunade beamed, dragging me into the orbit of their chaos without a second thought.
The place wasn't packed yet, so we got a booth.
Tsunade immediately slammed a menu down and shouted to the waitress, "Double everything that has beef in it! And extra sauce this time!"
Mito sighed. "You'll regret that, Tsunade."
"Never," Tsunade declared like it was her clan motto.
I sat across from her, keeping my expression neutral while the Senju heiress went off on a tangent about how the training logs at home were too soft now and how she needed something sturdier to punch.
She turned to me mid-rant. "Hey, how hard can you punch now?"
"Hard enough to crack stone," I answered casually.
That got her attention. "Wait, really? You're doing reinforcement already?"
"Light enhancement. Still tuning it."
Tsunade leaned forward, eyes sharp now. "No fair. I'm still working on getting the layer right. It keeps slipping when I try to coat my arms. How'd you even manage to do that yourself?"
Mito raised an eyebrow. "Most students can't even feel their chakra yet, and here you two are talking about muscle-layer coating…"
Tsunade grinned. "Hey, we're not 'most students.' I'm the heiress of the Senju, and Inaba here is the best genius of our class."
She looked at me again. "Hey, you didn't answer. How'd you manage to do it yourself? I can hardly do reinforcement even after learning from Grandma."
"I train hard, I guess… And chakra control comes to me naturally, like moving an arm. Besides, I've read the chakra extraction and control books enough to know their page numbers."
"Hah! Nerd."
I didn't deny it.
The food came in waves — grilled ribs, beef skewers, spicy wings. Tsunade practically inhaled everything in reach, while Mito ate with elegance.
Eventually, between bites, Tsunade jabbed a skewer at me. "You're weird, y'know? Most of the other civvie kids get all quiet around me or start stuttering."
"I'm not interested in politics," I said plainly.
She blinked. "What?"
"Clan ties. Status games. Sucking up. Not my thing."
Tsunade paused.
Then grinned. "You might actually be fun."
Mito smiled slightly behind her teacup. "Dangerous words."
"I stand by them," Tsunade said, then turned back to me. "We should spar sometime. I wanna see how that stone-breaking punch of yours feels."
I shrugged. "Strange choice of words... But sure, we can train together if you want."
She looked way too excited at that answer, ignored my jab entirely, and happily agreed.
By the time we left the restaurant, the sun was low, and I had two new facts to log:
One — Tsunade wasn't nearly as unbearable as I thought. Loud, yeah. Chaotic, definitely. But she was worth being friends with. And I guess I could learn Medical Jutsu from her.
Two — I'd officially earned her interest.
Which meant…
I had to train even harder.
Because if I didn't stay ahead, I'd be left behind.
And I had no intention of being a background character.
Not in this life.