Another day passed quickly. Akihiro was once again at the Academy, chatting with his cssmates when the teacher arrived.

  The css began normally. The first lesson was about basic theory, followed by a physical training session. In the st css, they reviewed the hand seals, and this time Akihiro did much better than in his first attempt.

  Months flew by, and Akihiro mastered the hand seals with acceptable skill. Although he wasn’t an expert and still struggled to perform multiple seals, he was slightly above average in the css, which was enough for him.

  Now that all the students had mastered the hand seals to an acceptable degree, they were ready to learn ninjutsu. With palpable excitement in the air, the students prepared for their first css in this discipline. Akihiro felt a mix of nerves and enthusiasm; finally, after so many years, he was going to learn ninjutsu.

  The teacher, noticing the anticipation in the atmosphere, smiled and began to expin the basics.

  —To use ninjutsu, we first need to understand the importance of concentration and precision in the hand seals —he said while drawing the theory behind a simple jutsu on the board— Each seal has a meaning and a purpose. The correct execution of each one is essential for the jutsu to work.

  The teacher asked them to organize into groups to practice a basic jutsu: the Bunshin no Jutsu, or Clone Technique. Akihiro felt both excited and disappointed. He had always dreamed of creating clones of himself, but he would have preferred to learn the advanced version, the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. However, he knew he shouldn’t rush, so he set aside his wishes and focused on practicing.

  Despite his efforts, he couldn’t create clones at all. His clones were even more pathetic than Naruto’s first attempts. He thought it wouldn’t be complicated, but the reality turned out to be harsher than he expected.

  Not giving up, he continued practicing. After a few hours, they moved on to the Henge no Jutsu, or Transformation Technique, but the results were no better than with the cloning jutsu. The rest of the day consisted of a free css, where they could choose to practice either the Transformation Jutsu or the Clone Technique. Akihiro chose the tter, as he found it more generally useful.

  When he returned home, he asked his mother for advice, who was a retired Genin and had knowledge of low-level jutsus. Although her advice provided him with some ideas, it didn’t help him make a significant leap in his technique. It seemed that progress depended more on his understanding of the jutsu than on following a step-by-step process.

  Over time, and after half a month of practice, he made significant progress with the cloning jutsu. He could now create a clone more effective than Naruto’s, although it still wasn’t at a truly useful level. In contrast, the transformation jutsu had barely progressed; he couldn’t even maintain the illusion for more than a few seconds. It was clear that he didn’t have much talent for that part, so he decided to focus on the Clone Jutsu and ter master the Transformation Jutsu.

  With practice, both his mastery of the hand seals and his chakra control reached a new level. The amount of chakra he used in the cloning jutsu decreased significantly, allowing him to practice for longer periods. Additionally, his chakra reserves increased considerably thanks to the training.

  Although his overall strength was far below that of his cssmates, if we only considered ninjutsu, chakra reserves, and chakra control, he would be at the upper tier of the css. This wasn’t surprising, considering that they all came from civilian families and those from cns didn’t have kekkei genkai or were well-known.

  Firstly, as Kusagakure was a smaller vilge, it didn’t have families with kekkei genkai. So far, he had only heard of one family with kekkei genkai that had few remaining members. Supposedly, this family possessed a special kekkei genkai, but there wasn’t much public information about it, so he didn’t have concrete details.

  He wasn’t particurly interested in finding out either; after all, it wouldn’t help him become stronger, even if he knew. So he preferred to focus on improving his techniques, his control, and increasing his chakra reserves. Only by doing so would he have a chance to survive in this world.