Chapter 14 — Self-Awareness and Comparison
Life is like a small river — sometimes turbulent with crashing waves, sometimes calm and glassy. But no matter what happens, it always keeps flowing forward.
Three months passed in the blink of an eye. Taichi's life during this time was steady yet fulfilling. Every day, he followed his schedule to the letter, filling his time completely. When school was on break, he'd gather friends for picnics and countryside outings.
One notable highlight: over these months, Taichi not only mastered Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique and Wind Release: Great Breakthrough, but, with the help of Nonō and Tsunade, he also began studying medical ninjutsu and learned his very first healing technique — Healing Jutsu. This unlocked his wind-nature and yang-nature chakra transformations.
Speaking of Tsunade, she had given Taichi quite the surprise. Ever since that time when Taichi invited her over for a home-cooked meal to thank her, Tsunade had been dropping by every few days to "borrow" dinner — sometimes even bringing Shizune along.
She never demanded a special menu; whatever Taichi was eating, she'd eat too, claiming it was "to ensure her business partner's safety," in case someone caused trouble over his newfound stake in the orphanage.
It sounded logical… but let's be honest — she was just freeloading.
Still, this was nothing but good news for Taichi. Tsunade was, after all, one of the Legendary Sannin, the Third Hokage's disciple, and the First Hokage's granddaughter — one of the most influential figures in Konoha. With such a powerful backer, Taichi could act with confidence. And beyond her status, Tsunade herself was a treasure trove of knowledge and skill.
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Name: Matsushita Taichi
Occupation: Ninja Apprentice Lv6 (547/1000)
Talents: Diligence Makes Up for Lack of Talent, Scholar
Age: 6
Constitution: 13
Strength: 15
Agility: 13
Spirit: 20
Chakra: 3000 / 5350
Unused Attribute Points: 9
Unused Skill Points: 9
Nature Transformations:
Fire: Lv2 (64/200)
Wind: Lv2 (35/200)
Yang: Lv2 (12/200)
Skills:
Basic Taijutsu: Lv8 (1053/1400)
Basic Meditation: Lv8 (1148/1400)
Chakra Refinement: Lv8 (1186/1400)
Ninja Tool Throwing: Lv7 (647/1200)
Transformation Jutsu: Lv6 (515/1000)
Clone Jutsu: Lv7 (537/1200)
Substitution Jutsu: Lv6 (853/1000)
Fire Release: Flame Bullet: Lv6 (256/1000)
Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire: Lv6 (836/1000)
Wind Release: Great Breakthrough: Lv6 (648/1000)
Healing Jutsu: Lv6 (873/1000)
Evaluation: On par with — if not surpassing — some veteran genin.
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After these four months, especially since meeting Tsunade, Taichi had gained a far clearer understanding of the power levels at different ninja ranks. No longer relying solely on guesswork, he could now accurately compare his personal strength, his panel data, and the official ninja grading system.
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First, let's talk about physical attributes. For an average person, each stat sits around 10 points. Increasing a stat by 1 doesn't give a flat, linear boost — instead, it raises your current capability by roughly 1.1×.
For example, let's take Strength:
10 points = punching power of about 100 kg.
11 points = about 110 kg.
12 points = around 121 kg.
13 points = roughly 133 kg.
The higher your base stats, the bigger the gains from each additional point. That's why the attribute points Taichi has been saving will become more valuable the further he progresses. Of course, each attribute is just one part of an overall physical profile, so you can't judge someone's strength by a single stat alone.
For most genin and chunin, only Strength and Agility are strictly measured — meet the standard in both, and your physical qualifications pass. But to become a jonin, it's not just about Strength and Agility. A proper jonin must have at least one other core stat — Constitution or Spirit — at 20 or higher.
That's the true weight of the jonin rank, and why the number of chunin and genin far outweighs jonin. Every jonin is a precious asset to the village.
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Chakra growth, unlike attributes, is more complex — and Taichi still hasn't figured out the exact formula. What's clear is that Constitution and Spirit play a decisive role in raising chakra reserves, while Strength and Agility contribute far less. After all, chakra is a blend of physical and spiritual energy.
Taichi is also certain that bloodline limits give a huge boost to chakra capacity. Otherwise, how could someone like Hashirama Senju possess chakra rivaling — or even surpassing — that of a tailed beast?
On Taichi's panel, the first number shows his current stored chakra — the limit determined by his Chakra Refinement Technique level and his body's tolerance. The number in parentheses is the maximum safe amount he can extract in a single day — a reflection of his overall physical stats. Naturally, chakra that recovers slowly on its own isn't included.
Right now, Taichi's maximum stored chakra is 3000, already well above the genin baseline of 2000. His maximum daily extraction is 5350 — exceptional for his age group.
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Next are skills. For Taichi, the most important are Basic Taijutsu and Basic Meditation — both special skills that improve physical stats. Basic Taijutsu level also directly reflects his combat capability:
Lv1–5: foundation building.
Lv6–8: genin-level combat strength.
Lv9–10: chunin-level combat strength.
For other ninjutsu skills, higher levels mean better mastery, faster execution, and lower chakra cost. The raw power of a jutsu depends not only on its inherent rank but also on the user's Nature Transformation level. That's why two shinobi using the same technique can produce vastly different results.
Overall, Taichi's combined abilities are more than enough for a genin. What he currently lacks is theoretical knowledge and live combat experience — things that can only be built over time, not just with a good-looking stat sheet.
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Thinking about this, one jutsu immediately comes to mind — the Shadow Clone Technique, or even the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique. Unlike normal clones, shadow clones return their memories to the user when dispelled, which is the secret behind Naruto Uzumaki's insane learning speed later on.
Unfortunately, when Taichi asked both Nonō and Tsunade about it, they refused. Their reason: he's still too young, and learning such a technique would be too dangerous for him. Forget Multiple Shadow Clones — they wouldn't even teach him the basic Shadow Clone.
Taichi understood they were looking out for him… but it still left him deeply frustrated.
Without shadow clones, he could only rely on the old-fashioned way — patient, steady self-study and training.