Naruto: Snow Cold

Fourth day.

"Excellent display of the Fish Spit jutsu, Senju Masato. Next,"

I find it insane that we are expected to know some E-Ranked ninjutsu at this point, but alas, here we are. Do they hold the same expectations for other classes? No, I doubt it. Most of the people here come from clans, so we must be some kind of special batch? Probably.

Uchiha Yuuma stepped up next, casting a nervous glance in my direction. No, more specifically, at Sora. Poor guy must have been traumatized because of that… thing Sora said. I don't want to think about it.

"...I want to use the Pebble Shot jutsu," Yuuma muttered.

"Unusual for an Uchiha, but go ahead," Kenjiro-sensei said, arching an eyebrow but motioning for him to proceed.

Pebble Shot? He doesn't even want to use fire and opts for earth instead? Sora, you absolute monster.

Yuuma proceeded to form the seals, his hands moving with a precision that was almost mechanical. After a few seconds, small rocks rose from the earth, quivering slightly as they hovered in place. Then, with a sharp motion from Yuuma, the pebbles shot forward at a medium speed.

The rocks hit the wooden target in quick succession, leaving small, round dents in its surface. It was pretty good, to tell you the truth. Not flashy but effective.

"Not bad," Kenjiro-sensei remarked with a nod. "Considering this isn't even your main element, you have done well. You may step back now."

Yuuma exhaled a quiet sigh of relief, his shoulders visibly relaxing as he stepped back into line. He avoided eye contact with Sora, who was leaning back with his arms crossed and quietly observing. I nudged him.

"What?" He muttered.

"Nothing." I said, hoping he got the hint.

Anyway, it should be my turn in a bit—

"Next!" Kenjiro-sensei called.

Awesome. I stepped forward from the crowd, a few shurikens in my pouch, ready to demonstrate my skills. Should be easy enough... I'm confident in my mastery over the few techniques I have learned. The pressure on me doesn't help, though.

"What shall you demonstrate, Amai?" He asked, his tone neutral but expectant.

I hesitated for just a moment, then nodded to myself. "I will make use of the Wind Redirection, Pull and Push techniques by applying them in Shurikenjutsu, Kenjiro-sensei."

Kenjiro-sensei raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued. "Excellent choice. Proceed."

I took out a shuriken, and promptly flicked my wrist, sending it spinning high into the air. Naturally, I didn't need hand seals to expel my chakra and control the wind. As I performed Wind Redirection, the shuriken curved diagonally toward the wooden target with a sharp trajectory. It sailed slightly out of reach, but I quickly applied the Wind Push technique, guiding it back on track and adding enough force to make it embed itself deep into the bullseye.

The class murmured softly, but I wasn't done yet.

I stretched out my hand, narrowing my focus as I manipulated the air currents with Wind Pull, channeling more chakra to carefully draw the shuriken back toward me. It wobbled slightly as it reversed direction, the strain of the technique evident in the flickers of wind surrounding it. Finally, the shuriken flew into my grasp, though it took a bit of effort to execute smoothly.

I had control, sure, and I could do these with no hand seals, but... I'm still lacking when it comes to other factors such as power and range.

No matter how well I executed my moves now, I couldn't rely on these techniques as they were in a real fight. They were... good enough for academy demonstrations, but nothing more. I have to either keep practicing these, or learn some actual offensive options.

Kenjiro-sensei stood still for a second, his expression unreadable, before finally composing himself. "Very impressive. Not many manage to perform these jutsu without hand seals, let alone with the level of control you demonstrated."

He paused, scanning the reactions of the class before continuing. "However, don't let this success get to your head. Techniques like these, while useful, need far more refinement to be practical in actual combat. Your fundamentals are strong, Amai, but you'll need to build on them—power, speed, and versatility. Keep it up, alright? Next,"

'No shit sherlock, anyone can figure that out with a glance,' I thought as I stepped back in line. He wasn't wrong, but did he really have to say it like I was clueless? Whatever. At least he acknowledged the effort.

Speaking of improving... I need to learn the Shadow Clone Jutsu as soon as possible. It may not be viable at first due to the chakra cost, but a single clone should be doable, right? If I could pull it off, it would open up so many opportunities to increase training efficiency.

Besides, I've been playing around with my chakra field, passively scanning the students when I entered. Using my seniors as a baseline, I'd have to say that I'm barely Genin level in terms of chakra reserves. And when I say barely, I mean scraping the bottom of the barrel. The lowest of the low when it comes to Genin reserves.

Still, that's pretty damn good for a kid, right? Surely, my reserves will grow more in the future once my body finally decides to hit a growth spurt. At least, I hope so. It's not like I can stay stuck with bottom-tier reserves forever.

I might be daydreaming here, but… wouldn't it be nice to have Kage-level reserves someday? Then again, what even is Kage-level when you think about it? People like Hashirama are Kages, and yet, the menace had enough chakra to basically terraform entire battlefields, and conjure Wood Release techniques so massive, even the Nine Tails would look like a dwarf in front of them.

...Doesn't sound too bad.

I shook my head, mentally scolding myself. Alright, enough fantasizing about chakra reserves! Look in front of you and pay attention!

Just as I refocused, Kenjiro-sensei's voice cut through the quiet murmurs of the class. "By the way, all the girls will start attending Kunoichi classes, starting from today."

Wait, what? My head snapped up at that, and I wasn't the only one. A few of the other girls exchanged confused or wary glances, while the boys seemed more curious than anything else.

Last year, it was just collecting flowers, making bouquets, social etiquette, dancing, and 'disguise techniques'—more like playing dress-up to me. What will it be now?

Kenjiro-sensei clapped his hands, drawing our attention. "I can see some of you are surprised. Allow me to clarify and remind you once more of what they consist. The Kunoichi classes are a tradition meant to prepare young women for the unique roles they may undertake as shinobi. This year, however, we'll be focusing on more advanced topics."

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. Advanced? What's that supposed to mean? Are we going to cook over open fires? Start learning how to sew clothes? You sexist teacher, you!

Hyuuga Yui raised her hand, her brow furrowed in concern, "Sensei, what exactly do you mean by 'advanced topics'? What will we learn, specifically?"

Kenjiro-sensei gave a small nod, as though he had been expecting the question. "Fair question. Last year, you were introduced to the basics—flower arrangement, social etiquette, and basic disguise techniques. This year, however, you'll be taught more practical and advanced skills, such as... Basic herbology, intelligence gathering, infiltration techniques, along with more cultural training."

That actually sounds interesting. Intelligence gathering, though... He doesn't mean... THAT, right? I blushed at the thought.

Kenjiro-sensei continued, oblivious to the turmoil his words had sparked in my mind. "These skills will expand your abilities as Kunoichi and prepare you for the diverse missions you'll face in the future. Whether it's blending into high society, surviving in hostile environments, or gathering crucial information without being detected. You'll learn everything, okay?"

I sighed in relief. Okay, so maybe I overthought that. It's not like they're going to teach that kind of intelligence gathering to a bunch of kids. But then again, it's a world of ninjas, so you never know.

"Now that we've cleared that, let's continue with the ninjutsu evaluation. Next!"

I quietly observed, sitting cross-legged on the ground with my hands resting on my knees. The evaluations were moving along at a decent pace, and I found myself silently grateful that Kenjiro-sensei hadn't bombarded us with theory yet. Everything so far had been practical—chakra control, Ninjutsu, that stuff.

The skills displayed by my classmates were interesting to watch, honestly. The Hatake kid had used the transformation jutsu perfectly, seamlessly turning into a perfect replica of Kenjiro-sensei for a few moments before reverting back to his original form. It wasn't a difficult technique, but the precision with which he'd executed it was impressive.

Sigh.

I have to step it up, don't I?