A week quickly passed, things gradually calmed down and, in the darkness, the Uchiha were hunting searching for Obito. Their searches had turned up nothing, no notable mention of such a person but they had a hint 'Akatsuki'.
8 years old Kudo had started with his second nature, he chose lightning nature to complement his water nature.
Water nature was highly versatile in attack, defense and support but its attacks were not deadly. Water enhanced with lightning could kill an enemy if not render them immobile.
Along with catching up on his lessons he had browsed the academy library for more Jutsus. For lighting nature, he found; Chasing serpent(D), lightning clone(D), Electric shock(D), Lighting net (D)…
From the list of jutsus he chose chasing serpent and electric shock, chasing serpent was excellent for battling in areas with abundant water and electric shock could be used without water sources nearby.
Tuesday,
Iruka stood before the class, "Today we are going over shinobi specializations." His words foreign to some and to other their eyes brightened.
"The 3 basics expertise of a shinobi are taijutsu, ninjutsu and genjutsu. Most shinobi are excellent in only 2 and subpar in the other, most are subpar in genjutsu. To become an exceptional shinobi, you must have good mastery over these 3 areas."
Most of the students nodded, through a series of exams they had identified their weaknesses and for some they had even though of only focussing on two.
"In your 3rd year we started with the basic 3 jutsus. This year, tree walking to refine your chakra control and more taijutsu training." Some students winced at those words.
"In your 5th, you will start genjutsu training, even if you are not exceptional at genjutsu you must at least be able to break out of one or else you will die without knowing how."
Gulps rang out in the room, "Shinobi have 4 main specializations, while they don't increase shinobi strength they can increase survivability. The 4 being; sensors, medical ninja, fuinjutsu and kenjutsu. The 4 can turn a shinobi into a world class shinobi. For example, Hatake Sakumo the white fang of the leaf was skilled at kenjutsu, pairing it with ninjutsu he was a renown across the shinobi world as stronger than the Sannin."
Kudo's ears perked up at the mention of Hatake Sakumo, he was interested in Kenjutsu(swordsmanship), 'The Hatake clan huh?' His former teacher was a shinobi from the Hatake clan. As a civilian shinobi without deep clan resources and a kekkei genkai, how his future depended on 100% on his efforts.
His father had left behind a sizable inheritance but being a shinobi, he could blow through it in a few years if he as not careful plus there was still his mother to care for.
"Kenjutsu, the art of swords like kunai is used in close combat exchanges. Medical ninjutsu, you can heal your friends and fellow shinobi but that doesn't mean you are weaker, Lady Tsunade the best medical ninja is a Sannin.
Fuinjutsu, you can use seals to transport, set up defensive barrier and trap your opponents…"
'Seals…That could be useful for defending the house.' Another useful bit of info, Kudo still remembered when his parents were almost killed in their own house. Knowing he would be going on long missions, his mother would be left alone with no one to protect her. He did not trust the village one bit.
"Being a sensor, you can sense enemies and avoid ambushes, sensors and medical ninjas are highly needed in squads." Iruka paused, 'ANOTHER ONE!' Kudo felt like his head was about to explode. Kenjutsu, Fuinjutsu and Sensor, he saw the benefits of all three but his time was only so much.
Between his ninjutsu practice, taijutsu and shuriken practice, he was already training for about 5 hours after school. School knocked off at 2pm, 3pm to 6pm was shuriken and ninjutsu practice. Taijutsu was 8pm to 10 pm.
'I don't need to do all of them at the same time.' He though trying to plan it out, 'As a genin having a strong foundation in taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu, shuriken throwing and kunai fighting is a must. Plus, my missions will be short, I can start kenjutsu practice when I become a chunin. I will start with fuinjutsu after I become a genin. I will start with sensor training next year between my 5th and 6th year.'
One reason he did not plan for this year was that they were going to start learning taijutsu forms, being the academy taijutsu style in full. In their 2nd and 3rd years they were introduced to the basic forms.
As the days went by Kudo became increasingly intense in his training something his mother noticed as she had to apply bandages more often but her words fell on deaf ears.
His training teacher was now Ito Uchiha who was still jonin while Sasaki and Ichirou had become elite jonins at 32 and 29 respectively. The Tanehiko household didn't have such a pull but the Uchiha clan and Blue Dragon group had pulled moves especially given that Kudo was a talent currently rivalling Sasuke.
Ito felt left behind but his request for vacation had left him looking after Kudo's training but it was minor so he accepted. Before Kudo returned from the academy and during weekends he could train at intense as he wanted.
Ito's guidance was what allowed Kudo's shuriken throwing to advance by leaps, now he could target over 100m and the movement of his shuriken was now more sophisticated but nowhere near Ito's shuriken jutsu who claimed it was beneath Itachi.
Kudo came to realize the Uchiha were monsters in human skin but that only highlighted how impressive Tobirama and Hashirama were for fighting and overcoming the Uchiha.
Kudo's target was Tobirama, every quality about him screamed shinobi. His intellect, mastery of jutsu, policy and leadership were something Kudo sought to surpass but unlike him he resigned to the darkness if that was what it took to have his revenge.
In the Tanehiko household,
'I better tell lord Fugaku about this.' Ito stood in awe at the hatred Kudo exhibited and he couldn't help but wonder what if he was an Uchiha, as someone used to hatred, he could see clearly despite Kudo's attempts at hiding it. The deep loathing swirling in his eyes.