The next morning, he slipped out of bed before dawn and headed straight behind the house. The tall cedar tree he'd marked the night before stood waiting for him. He placed his foot against the trunk, focused his chakra in a steady stream—
—then immediately slipped and hit the ground with a thud.
"Tch."
Controlling the exact amount of chakra felt simple in theory, but the reality was brutal. He tried again. And again. And again.
By the time the sun rose high enough for academy class, his forehead was sweaty, his clothes dusty, and the tree's bark carried the marks of someone who had failed… many times.
But he was improving.
Each morning for the next two days, he repeated the same routine: dawn training, academy lessons, then straight back to the cedar tree. Eventually, on the third afternoon, his foot held. Then the other. And before he realized it, he was halfway up the trunk. With a final push, he reached the highest branches.
"Finally."
But he didn't stop there.
He began sword training while standing sideways on the tree. First the wooden practice blade, then switching to faster forms. Swing, step, breathe. He repeated the movements until he could maintain balance without thinking. After a week, he could execute entire Katori sequences while climbing, clinging, or hanging upside down from the branches. He didn't want to learn tree walking—he wanted to master it.
---
On a hot afternoon midway through the month, he decided to visit the famous ramen stand he remembered from the anime. He didn't expect much… mostly curiosity.
But when he arrived, Teuchi wasn't there. Instead, Teuchi's father ran the stall—a broad-shouldered old man with a deep voice and sharp eyes.
"What'll you have, kid?" the old man asked.
He scanned the menu. Pork broth everywhere. And pork meat. He wasn't touching that. Too many risks—parasites, worms, all kinds of things people pretended didn't exist.
"Beef noodles, please."
The old man nodded and prepared the bowl. It tasted better than he expected—simple, clean, warm. He didn't voice his thoughts about pork; no need to look strange. He just ate quietly and left with a satisfied stomach.
---
After class the next day, he stopped by a small weapons shop to buy extra supplies: shuriken, kunai, wire, sealing paper. The swords on display held no interest; he already had plenty at home—training swords, polished blades, and the family's ancestral sword locked away per his grandfather's strict request:
"Do not touch this blade until you truly master the Katori style."
He respected the rule. A chakra weapon deserved that respect.
---
With tree walking fully mastered, he moved on to water walking. That required leaving the village outskirts and heading into the forest, where a quiet lake sat undisturbed. On his first attempt, he stepped onto the surface—
—and immediately sank.
"Of course."
But just like tree walking, he persisted.
Every morning began with lake training, then academy classes, then more training in the evening. Days passed, then weeks. Eventually, he found himself standing on the water without sinking. Then walking. Then moving lightly enough to spar with his wooden sword while maintaining his balance.
A month later, he could perform full sword forms atop the calm lake surface. His footwork became gentler, his chakra distribution smoother, and his breathing synchronized with the rhythm of the water beneath him.
His chakra control had never been better.
He began to notice something new: when he concentrated, he could faintly coat the wooden sword with chakra. Not much—just a thin sheen, barely visible. But enough to feel the blade grow sharper and heavier in his hand.
"I can develop this… slowly."
He would work on that next.
---
One night, as he walked home exhausted but satisfied, another idea surfaced.
Rasengan.
It didn't exist yet—not for many years. The Fourth Hokage hadn't created it. No one had. If he could develop it early… he could trade it for jutsu, or keep it as a personal trump card. Many talented shinobi in the anime never used it, possibly because they weren't taught or found it too chakra-draining.
But as a pure chakra manipulation technique, it would be perfect for pushing his control even further.
He didn't start training it yet—not officially. But the idea settled in the back of his mind like a spark waiting for fuel.
"When the time is right… I'll try to create it."
For now, he focused on mastering what he already had: footsteps on water, blades in hand, and the quiet determination to grow stronger than anyone expected.