NIHM: Ch. 06

On Little Garden, aside from Dorry and Brogy, Kazuha was faced each day with nothing but a land full of fierce beasts and dense jungle. Training and continuously growing stronger became one of the few forms of entertainment for him.

Every day, besides the fixed time he spent eating with them, he spent all his time training, again and again, endlessly honing himself through hardship. Time seemed to crawl during this grueling training, but as his physical abilities broke past their limits step by step, and his life force reached new heights, he began to feel that time was actually flying by.

Little Garden had a unique geography. The creatures within were still stuck in the Jurassic era. The surrounding environment was rich in nutrients, and food was never in short supply. Occasionally, even Sea Kings would appear nearby, and sometimes creatures even more terrifying than the Lord of the Coast would show up.

But all of these just became additional dishes for the giants to feed Kazuha.

For someone with an ordinary human physique to grow to this level through standard training as a teenager, there was no denying the impact of these factors. Now, with a more refined training method and the island's abundant supply of food and nutrition, his body began to undergo even more precise tempering, step by step.

In the process, his life force also visibly increased at an astonishing rate.

Thanks to proper nutrition and training, his height wasn't stunted, in fact, he quietly grew another half a head taller, now standing over 180 cm. However, his previously muscular and bulky body had slimmed down. His once sharply defined and prominent abs had begun to fade, even to the point of seeming to disappear.

Don't get it wrong, this wasn't a sign of physical decline, instead, it meant that his muscles had become so refined and condensed through training that they had surpassed the state of simple muscle mass, becoming even more solid and compact, just like Luffy.

When he breathed, his body functioned like a bellows, rapidly generating power and circulating nutrients through his system, replenishing what had been depleted through training.

This transformation made him feel increasingly similar to a particular state, Life Return. The ability to rapidly digest and absorb nutrients from food, and store them within the body, and also to rapidly consume stored nutrients when needed.

Life Return was like a turbocharger added to the body's process of absorption and consumption. This ability could only be gained with a certain probability after mastering all six techniques of the Rokushiki.

Yet Kazuha, through the training methods from the Naruto world, seemed to have bypassed Rokushiki entirely and reached the level of Life Return in one leap.

If that's the case, does it mean I now have the qualifications to use the Rokushiki?

Realizing this, he began experimenting with developing the techniques based on his memories of anime from his previous life, alongside his daily training.

With his physical capabilities already meeting the standard, Rokushiki no longer felt like superhuman techniques, just ordinary physical skills for him now. However, the Rokushiki seemed to involve some special training methods, which Kazuha didn't fully understand.

So, he could only rely on the features of each technique, combined with taijutsu, to develop his own version of Rokushiki.

And so, time quietly slipped by as both versions of Kazuha worked hard in their respective worlds.

---

In Konoha, Kazuha soon reached graduation age. Even though he hadn't fully shown his strength, he still graduated as the top student of his class.

It wasn't that he was showing off, it was just that, in this year's class, there were no canon characters. He had perfectly avoided all the monstrous geniuses. However, perhaps due to his special identity, and the fact that no teammates were a good match for him, in the end, during team assignments, he was directly given two "air-dropped" teammates.

They were both clan ninjas.

One was named Yamanaka Fū, and the other Aburame Torune.

At first, he didn't remember who these two were. But the moment he saw Torune's abilities, he suddenly recalled who they were in the original plot.

Weren't these the two ninjas who were still guarding Danzō near the end of his life?

He remembered that during the Fourth Great Ninja War, Fū was even used as a sacrificial pawn to resurrect Torune through Edo Tensei.

Their appearance made him wonder if the Third Hokage had already given up on him, intending to hand him over to Root. If that were the case, he wouldn't mind making Konoha gain one more Uchiha missing-nin. However, when he saw who his jonin instructor was, he sensed there might still be hope.

A black mask, silver hair, a Konoha forehead protector covering one eye like an eyepatch, and a little novel in his hand... his whole demeanor was lazy and dispirited.

"Yo. I'm your jonin instructor. Head to the training ground. We'll do a test. If you fail, get lost and go back where you came from."

It was Kakashi.

His lazy voice was full of indifference, as if the three before him weren't his students, but merely strangers passing by. However, when he looked at Kazuha, there was a slight flicker in his otherwise indifferent eyes.

But only that much.

The other two didn't react much to Kakashi's words either. Their gazes occasionally drifted to Kazuha, with an unreadable and assessing look in their eyes.

At that moment, Kazuha still didn't fully understand the situation.

But soon, he did.

---

On an open space near a Konoha training ground, Kakashi took out two bells, which jingled pleasantly. It looked just like Naruto's later bell test.

But what he said next made Kazuha realize, this test was completely different.

"It's 9:00 sharp now. Timer starts. Your task is to get the bells from me before 10:00. Only those who have a bell will officially graduate and be led by me. Yup, that's it."

Just as he finished speaking, Fū made his move.

Mind Body Switch Technique.

In an instant, Kakashi was directly hit by the jutsu, and Torune immediately closed in, reaching for the bell in a flash. But the moment he touched the bell, he sensed something was off. As he grabbed it, he twisted around and launched a sidekick at Kakashi.

Splash!

Kakashi burst into a splash of water and vanished.

From atop a nearby tree, his lazy voice drifted down. "That was close. You nearly got me."

Although his tone was teasing, his voice still carried that same calm indifference. However, one thing was different, the little book in his hand was gone.

It was clear that although Fū and Torune were technically of graduation age, their combat strength had earned his recognition.

At the very least, it was no longer possible for him to fight while reading.