Ryu focuses his chakra, and with a swift, almost invisible movement, the leaf is cleanly sliced in two.
Saya's eyes widened in shock, and she said, "Whoa!"
Ryu did not even need to use two hands because his affinity was so high.
Saya said, "That was amazing! You cut it in a split second!! But you were training in earth affinity after lightning, right? How can your wind affinity be that good?"
Ryu chuckled and replied, "Well, Saya, although I'm currently focusing on earth affinity, my second strongest affinity is actually wind, not earth."
Saya questioned, "What? Then why on Earth are you training Earth affinity so much?"
Ryu replied, "Because I currently need it. There are reasons."
Saya asked, "What reasons?"
Ryu replied, "I need it to develop a special jutsu to help someone, so I skipped wind affinity and trained in earth affinity. But I once tried my hand at wind, and as there are quite a few trees in the backyard filled, I tried cutting leaves and found out that my wind affinity is great."
Everyone nodded in understanding. They knew about his training in medical ninjutsu and knew he wanted to help people. So his excuse was very much believable.
Ryu continued, "But I only cut a dozen leaves when I was bored and did not continue training in wind affinity afterward." And I could only cut leaves and not use any wind jutsu. I still need to complete the wind training if I want to use any wind jutsu; I will do that later."
Saya asked, "A dozen !! That's more than I did all week. What's your affinity CAT score for Wind?
Ryu smiled and said, "That is a secret, but let me tell you… it's higher than your score in fire."
Everyone was in shock after Ryu dropped this bomb. Ryu's secondary affinity was stronger than Saya's primary affinity.
They knew Ryu's primary affinity was lightning and he was also training in earth, and they all knew how good Ryu was in both of them, and now he also beat Saya in wind affinity as well.
Everyone was thinking just how talented Ryu is and how high his primary affinity must be, but they didn't know all his affinities were near about the same.
Ryu broke their amazement and said, "Here's another tip for all of you: try to see your training not just as a chore but as a hobby. Something you enjoy doing. That makes the hard work much easier."
Ryu looked at Kaito and said, "For example, you can mould earth into bricks and form a structure to make it not boring."
Curious Saya asked, "So, what will you be training in next after you're done with Earth affinity?"
Ryu replied, "I'm almost finished with my current goals for Earth affinity. After that, I'll be moving on to water."
Saya said, "Water! not wind ? Just what special jutsu are you trying to create?"
Ryu said, "That is a secret. You should also not tell others your jutsus and keep your cards hidden."
Everyone nodded in understanding. It was in a ninja's job description to keep secrets. The group continued their training, each focused on their own path to becoming a skilled ninja.
After the academy, Ryu came to the Senju training grounds to continue his training in Senju-style taijutsu. Ryu was now done with the 1st stage.
Tsunade remarked, "You completed the first phase of training remarkably quickly."
Ryu replied, "Thanks."
Tsunade asked, "Tell me, did you use your passive healing?"
Ryu replied, "Yes, it really helps me recover faster. When I focus on it, I can recover in minutes. However, it's exhausting to heal this way."
Tsunade asked, "Did you feel pain when you practised in the first stage?"
Ryu replied, "Yes, I did. However, it was accelerated due to my rapid recovery. I must admit that Senju-style taijutsu is very hard and painful. But at the end of it, I was accustomed to the pain."
Tsunade said, "You are surprisingly okay with the idea of pain. I know for a fact that fast recovery doesn't mean you won't feel pain. The brats from Senju clans start complaining when they start the second stage of training."
Ryu replied, "Pain is always there. But suffering is a choice."
Tsunade smiled and replied, "Good, because the next stage will take the pain to the next level."
Ryu thought, "She is smiling. Is it that painful?"
Toshiro was smiling, thinking of the pain ryu was about to experience.
Tsunade explained, "You will break solid material like trees or rocks in this stage."
She added, "I have to remind you that you need to use the chakra impulse and not the muscle force."
Ryu nodded.
"Okay, I will leave you two to it." Tsuande said it, and then she left, flickering away.
Ryu looked at Toshiro and had an idea to benefit from each other's training by suggesting a joint training exercise to accelerate their progress through collaboration.
Ryu said, "Hey Toshiro, do you want to speed up your earth affinity training?"
Toshiro asked, "Do you have another tip?"
Ryu replied, "Something like that."
"Okay, I am interested," Toshiro replied.
Ryu said, "You create an earth pillar using earth manipulation, and I will break it using Senju-style taijutsu?"
Toshiro said, "That is a brilliant idea. It would for both of us."
Ryu smiled, rubbing his nose as he said, "What do you expect from me?"
Toshiro shouted, "Earth Release: Earth Pillar Jutsu!" creating a small rectangular pillar using earth.
Observing Toshiro's behaviour, Ryu thought, "So he is at the stage where one vocalises the jutsu name to better process the chakra in his mind for jutsu execution. But that is not good for actual fights."
Ryu interrupted Toshiro and enquired, "Hey… Why are you shouting your jutsu name?"
Toshiro replied, "Because it helps you visualise and memorise the jutsu."
Ryu explained, "True, but it also gives away your jutsu to opponents. You should not shout like that. Or at least keep your voice down so that only you can hear. You can also slowly train yourself to shout mentally if you start now."
Toshiro nodded, "You are right. I will keep it down a little."
Ryu then said, "Yes, nothing good comes from telling your opponents what you are going to do next. You should keep your hand-seal usage hidden by effectively utilising your environment and blind spots or by executing the hand-seal quickly.
Toshiro said, "Thanks, I will also practise my hand seal for speed execution."
Ryu thought, 'It's a good thing he understood.'
"Where was he in the original story? He is about 5 years older than the main cast, but there was no mention of him. Is this a new timeline, or was he dead in the original timeline? If he died, it must be after he became a genin, as even Danzo wouldn't risk it and try to kill him inside the village, so it must have happened outside the village."
"If I assume it was Danzo, then what reason? Illegal bloodline experiments? Or does he want to eliminate the last few surviving Senju? But for what reason? It will not benefit the village anyway?"
"He tried to kill Kakashi for the Sharingan. He can do anything to stay in power. I should be careful with things happening in the background. I hope there are enough hummingbirds in the future to spy on everyone."
Ryu then started his training and tried punching the earth pillar. Despite cracking, the pillar remained intact.
Toshiro laughed and said, "You didn't think it would be as easy as moving water with chakra impulse, did you?"
Ryu thought, "This takes much more chakra than moving the water. I need to increase the intensity of the chakra impulse."
Despite increasing his chakra output, Ryu failed to shatter the pillar completely in his second attempt, indicating the ongoing difficulty of the task. On the third try, it breaks completely, but not because of the intensity of Ryu's chakra impulse but because it was almost entirely shattered on the first two tries.
Ryu examined his trembling hands and thought, "Now I understand their smiles. My chakra veins feel like they're going to explode any moment. The pain from the first stage pales in comparison to this."
Toshiro said gently, "Take a break and don't rush to try it again so soon."
Ryu nodded and said, " I guess it will take a few more days for me to do it on the first try."
Ryu thought, "Too much chakra was released in an instant, but it was not enough."
Ryu tried again and increased the chakra, but he couldn't.
Ryu thought, "Even after completing the first stage, my chakra pathways are not accustomed to the level of chakra impulse needed to break solid structures."
Ryu tightened his fist and resolved himself. He said, "This is not enough pain to stop me."
He added, "As the saying goes, No pain, no gain."
##PoWeR StOnEs##
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