WAB: Chapter 5

Being back in Konoha was a surreal experience given the two years or so I had spent away. The last time I had been here, things were still very much a festival atmosphere as victory over Oto in the War had literally just happened. Before that, the Village had been at War and thus had been on the other extreme of emotion and behavior, where everything was very strictly controlled and regimented to avoid potential sabotage or spies. To have the last few times I'd been in the village go from one end of the spectrum to the other so quickly, and then to have returned after two years away and find everything had returned to normal was something of a mood whiplash for me.

Fortunately, I had friends in the Village still, even if most of them were still away on extended missions. Lee, in particular, had almost immediately forced me out of my funk by kidnapping me for a training session. He'd seriously upped his game there, or I had been slacking off during my diplomatic posting to Tani, because by the time we had finished training for the day, my everything hurt, and I was huffing and puffing. At that point, I decided a quick trip to the Village's Onsen was in order to soak and soothe the aches of Lee's Intensive Training Regimen.

When I felt human again, after an hour in the Onsen, I picked up a quartet of D-Ranked Missions for some extra pocket change, completing them all in an hour via abusing the Doton: Iwa Bunshin no Jutsu (Earth Release: Rock Clone Technique). With that done, I turned them in and went to Lunch at Yakiniku Q, before moving on to my own training in the afternoon. Heading home at night for dinner with my family before going to bed and waking up to do it all over again tomorrow.

That was pretty much how my next two weeks would play out on a regular basis, though that wasn't to say that was all that happened. There were a few things that I was looking out for, one of which was to say I was keeping an eye out for opportunities to grab various Nature Transformation Exercises. Asuma-Sensei had the Wind Transformation Exercise and was more than willing to part with it if I did him a solid. Apparently, his latest Genin Team was not gelling very well. It seemed that with his previous team having been promoted to Chunin while I'd been in Tanigakure after coming out victorious in the last Chunin Exam held in Kusagakure, Asuma-Sensei was being seen as something of a wizard when it came to training strong Ninja.

Unfortunately, that meant that Lady Tsunade had dumped a problem trio of Genin on him to see how they'd do under his tutelage. Asuma-Sensei had been surprised, but had figured that if the trio was that big of a problem, he could just fail them all at the Genin Test Stage. Unfortunately, they were that bad, but also didn't fail the test.

"It was a fluke they even managed to pass. I've never seen a case of a team being so dysfunctional." Scoffed Asuma-Sensei.

"How dysfunctional are we talking?" I questioned.

"My Nephew, Konohamaru, knew these kids in the Academy. They were a year behind him. Apparently, the Rookie of the Year had a bunch of fan girls in the Academy, with the Top Kunoichi being one of them. He had a major rivalry with the Dead Last, which turned into a mutual dislike. The problem is they're all on my team." Sighed Asuma-Sensei.

That sounded familiar to me. Honestly, it sounded a lot like how things in my Academy Year would have played out if I hadn't intervened to help out Naruto. With my help, he had less to prove than he otherwise would have, allowing his rivalry with Sasuke to mellow somewhat. The team had still imploded when Naruto had gotten a promotion and Sasuke hadn't, but the structural problems hadn't been there from the jump this time. It seemed like Asuma-Sensei's new team hadn't had that sort of intervention, though. History might not repeat, but it sure did seem to rhyme.

"All right, what's your team like as individuals?" I queried.

"The Rookie of the Year was a kid named Senju Akirao. He's a rival of Senju Kaede's for the position of heir to the Senju. Lady Tsunade doesn't have any kids, you see, so the position of heir of the Senju Clan goes to the next most senior line, in this case, Tobirama's Line. Lord Second only had illegitimate offspring, though, which is the line that Kaede comes from. That means that some of the more conservative Senju have been pushing for Akirao, who is descended from Lord First's Paternal Uncle, Senju Shinzokumaru." Informed Asuma Sensei.

"And it's gone to the Kid's Head?" I asked.

"In a big way. It doesn't help that he's something of a Taijutsu and Kenjutsu Prodigy." Concurred Asuma-Sensei.

"And you were hoping I could knock some sense into him? One Taijutsu and Kenjutsu Prodigy to another?" I questioned.

"Something like that." Agreed Asuma-Sensei.

"All right, what about the others?" I queried.

"The Top Kunoichi is a girl named Funeno Miho. She's got a Shinobi Parent, Funeno Daikoku, who teaches classes on various Bukijutsu Disciplines at the Academy. Miho's mother is a civilian, but she still has enough inborn Chakra Capacity and Chakra Control that, when combined with her Bukijutsu Abilities, means that she narrowly edged out Aburame Reiko for Top Kunoichi. She also has a crush on Akirao that her father has apparently been encouraging her to develop further." Answered Asuma-Sensei.

"There's likely some sort of plan involved there. Having her marry into the Senju Clan for money, maybe?" I asked.

"Who knows? Whatever Funeno's plan is, all I can tell you is that Miho's feelings seem to border on infatuation. To the point that whenever Akirao and the Dead Last get into an argument, she always takes Akirao's side, which winds up only fucking the team dynamic further." Shrugged Asuma-Sensei.

"What about the Dead Last?" I questioned.

"He's a boy named Kanchi. Apparently, he was found by Lady Tsunade's Recruiters in one of the outer districts of Hakage Province in a small fishing village near Doho Lake. Apparently, he's only got one quality folks consider special. He's stubborn, able to take a bunch of hits and keep fighting. The problem is he's also stubborn outside of battles, too. That's something that he hasn't learned to channel productively, and it annoys his teammates." Admitted Asuma-Sensei.

"Right, so how do you want me to handle this? Do you want me to sub in for you for a few weeks?" I queried.

"I don't know if we can get you authorized for that. Maybe. I'll have to check with the Tower." Mused Asuma-Sensei.

"Right. If I do this for you, though, I'll want the Fire Transformation Exercise too." I warned.

"Why? You're a Fire Primary. Isn't that enough?" Asked Asuma-Sensei.

"Because it will give me more control over my Primary Native Element. If it helps, I plan to do the same thing with every element, including Yang and Steel." I offered.

"Smart. Most folks don't put that together until they're at least three years older than you are, after they've already seen what Nature Transformation Exercises can do for them. Just one question, though." Nodded Asuma-Sensei.

"What question?" I questioned.

"Do Nature Transformation Exercises for Yang and Steel Release even exist?" Queried Asuma-Sensei.

"I can vouch that a Yang Release Exercise exists. We have to master it in order to use the Chō Baika no Jutsu (Super Multi-Size Technique), as well as some of our other Clan Jutsu. I don't know if a Steel Release Exercise exists, but if it does, it'll be in the Akimichi Clan Archives." I relayed.

"And if it doesn't?" Asked Asuma-Sensei.

"Then it'll be in the ruins of Kyūden Akimichi or the ruins of the Village of Kōtetsu no Kaigan in Sea Country, and I'll have to head there to look. Either way, I'm committed to this." I shrugged.

"Right. Let's not count our chickens before they hatch, I still need to check with the Tower to see if I can even get you authorized for this." Warned Asuma-Sensei.

"Let me know. If not, we can always do this the old-fashioned way and take them to a training ground to kick them around a bit and see if they gel as a team under fire." I suggested.

"Right. We'll call that Plan B, or maybe Plan K, for Kiri." Snorted Asuma-Sensei.

"Hey, I wouldn't actually kill the kids!" I protested with mock indignation.

"Right. Anyway, I ought to head out, actually. If there's paperwork I need to get done for this to work, it's better that I get it done sooner rather than later." Sighed Asuma-Sensei.

"Keep me in the Loop, Sensei. I'm always happy to help train my Kohai if I need to, especially when there's stuff like the Nature Transformation Exercises on the line." I beamed.

"I'll send a Monkey over. The Old Man finally decided to let me sign the Contract after all these years." Scoffed Asuma-Sensei.

"Oh yeah? I'll be waiting, then." I nodded.

And with that, Asuma-Sensei was gone, heading for the Hokage Tower to try and arrange this little spot of guest-teaching he was having me do for his latest team. In the meantime, I would be getting the Wind and Fire Nature Transformation Exercises from him. I would grab the Lightning Exercise from Ebisu and check the Akimichi Archives for the Steel and Yang Release Exercises. That would have me mastering five elements, which should be more than enough for what's coming. Of course, I also wanted to get the Earth and Water Nature Transformation Exercises, if only so that I could master every element I had access to. The only Shinobi I'd ever heard of to do that was Lord Third, of course, but you could do worse than to emulate to Elemental Prowess of the man they called the Professor.

The only question was where to get those exercises from? The largest collection of Earth and Water Affinities in Konoha was the Hyuuga Clan, and that was a problem. Hyuuga Hiashi was not only a political opponent, but also one who seemed to bear my friends and I some sort of personal grudge based on how often our actions had thrown his political machinations out of joint. That ruled out the largest source of those affinities in Konoha for getting the Earth and Water Exercises. While I might be able to mooch the Earth Release Exercise off of my Cousin, that still left the Water Release. I could probably get a copy of the exercise from Kakashi or Lord Third if I absolutely had to, but there was no telling just what hoops they would make me jump through to claim it.

Either way, I supposed there was no sense worrying about what they would make me do to earn it. It would either be doable or not, and no amount of worrying about it would change that. I would just have to take it as it came. For now, though, I would be heading into the Akimichi Clan Archives to try and dig up the Yang Release Exercise. There was no reason I couldn't work on that while I had the time. I headed down into the Archives and came out with a scroll tied off with a white ribbon on one end, denoting a Yang Release Scroll. Opening it, I frowned as I looked at the contents.

Apparently, the first step to mastering Yang Release was to take a leaf and get it to grow after being cut using Yang Chakra. Frowning, I set down to try doing just that, a pile of leaves at my side. This would be my solo training for the foreseeable future. As I picked up one of the leaves from the pile, I focused my Chakra on it, trying to draw the Yang Chakra through me and infuse it into the leaf. Unfortunately, it seemed that in my haste, I'd drawn up far too much Yang Chakra. The leaf, which had been an ordinary Camelia Leaf, gained a weird growth on it that burst with chakra, setting the leaf aflame. I immediately dropped the mutated, burning thing into the dirt and began stomping on it to put the flames out as well as kill it. When it was finally dead and turned to ash, I looked down at the damn thing with a scowl on my face, then I shook my head, scowl leaving my face as I did so.

"It looks like I might be at this for a while." I sighed.

And with that, I sat back down to continue trying the Yang Exercise. It took me a week, but I finally managed to stop setting leaves aflame or mutating them into horrific monstrosities. Nine Days after I had started this procedure, I finally succeeded in the first step of the Yang Exercise, growing the Leaf Larger without mutating it, setting it aflame, or otherwise destroying the leaf. The next step would be doing the same to an animal, which was apparently difficult enough that my father had decided to bring in a Med-Nin for it, just in case something went horribly wrong.

Before I could start training the second stage, though, I received a visitor. Asuma-Sensei had sent a monkey in a tiny jacket to deliver me a message. He passed it off to me, gave me a mocking salute, and unsummoned himself in a puff of smoke. Opening the message revealed that I was all set to take over for Asuma-Sensei as the Sensei for the latest incarnation of Team Ten for a few weeks, and that I was to meet them and Asuma-Sensei at Training Ground Twelve at seven tomorrow morning for team training and introductions.

It looked like the second stage of Yang Transformation Training would have to wait. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we see the next chapter as Choji gets back into the swing of Village Life. His current priorities lie in hunting down nature transformation exercises. He'll do what it takes to get hold of the exercises, including helping Asuma knock some sense into his latest team, who seem to be speedrunning the Classic Team Seven Dynamic to their own self-destruction.

He's hoping that by the time Naruto, Ino, and Shikamaru return, he'll have at least his own native elements of Fire, Lightning, Yang, and Steel Release completed through the first stage of elemental transformation, while maybe having a few of those completed through the second stage or have one of the other transformations completed through the first stage as well. How that goes remains to be seen, especially in regards to Steel Release, of which the Records for the Transformation Exercise may have been hidden away in Sea Country during the period of the Warring Clans, back when the Akimichi still lived there, just before they were forced to migrate.

A note on the Nature Transformations, all the exercises have a basic step and an advanced step. The basic step usually involves a leaf somehow, in keeping with Konoha's Theme of being the Village Hidden in the Leaves and so on. The Advanced Exercise tends to be different, though. For the Yang Exercise, since Yang Release is all about using Chakra to change the physical form, I felt that plant and animal testing would be viable exercises.

At any rate, the next chapter will include Choji's Meetup with the new Team Asuma and his attempts to get them to cut out the petty drama and actually gel as a team.

Stay tuned. . .