While walking towards the Academy, Kaiji made a suggestion. "I've started doing morning training," he said to his friends. "How about you two join me?"
Ren and Hiroshi looked slightly surprised.
"So that's why you improved a little, huh?" Ren asked.
Kaiji waved a hand dismissively. "Nah," he replied. "I only started two days ago."
They nodded. Hiroshi asked, "What kind of training did you do?"
"Basic physical training for strength," Kaiji explained, "and Chakra Control training, For now."
Their again surprise. "What kind of chakra control training?" Ren asked.
"Is it the same as the Academy?" Hiroshi added.
Kaiji shook his head. "It's Tree Walking."
"Tree Walking?" both asked in unison, clearly surprised.
Kaiji chuckled lightly. "Just come with me tomorrow early morning," he said. "You'll see."
He then turned to Hiroshi. "And Hiroshi, you specifically," he teased. "You'll lose fat with training before the graduation exam."
"Hey!" Hiroshi protested. "I'm not that fat!"
Ren and Kaiji chuckled lightly.
"Alright," Ren agreed. "Tomorrow we will join you."
With that, they reached the Academy and headed to their classes.
The morning Academy sessions were as usual, mostly theoretical.
In the afternoon, Kazeo Sensei announced a change in schedule.
"Today, Takeshi Sensei is busy," he informed the class.
"So you will come with me to the training field. We will do Shuriken training today."
While moving towards the Training Field, Kaiji made another observation. He noted the rare appearance of the Third Kazekage.
Satei visited the Academy only when a new batch of trainees joined and again when the Genin Graduation exam was held. Aside from those occasions, his visits were infrequent.
'Well, it's obvious,' Kaiji thought. 'What kind of village leader comes to the Ninja Academy frequently?'
With Kazeo Sensei leading, everyone reached the training field and stood ready. Kazeo provided each student with ten Shuriken.
He pointed towards the targets set up across the field. "Today is not going to be a competition," he explained. "But simply training in Shuriken throwing."
He looked around at the students. "As you know," he reminded them, "practice makes perfect."
Since Kaiji's class was nearing their graduation exam, they had already been taught everything the Academy curriculum covered. However, many still struggled to perfect their skills.
The training field was vast enough to accommodate over 100 people, easily fitting the 68 students.
Kazeo Sensei gave an instruction. "Make sure to use both hands," he said, "not just your dominant hand."
Everyone took their ten Shuriken. They began throwing. Kazeo occasionally walked among them, pointing out mistakes.
As expected from the top students, all their Shuriken hit the target. Except for a few, most even hit the center. Renji, Taichi, and Kohaku were particularly accurate.
The performance of the top students from the bottom was different. Most of their shots didn't even come close to the target.
Out of ten Shuriken, only four of Kaiji's hit the target. Of those four, none struck the center.
Kaiji wasn't particularly surprised by his results, but he sighed inwardly. 'I need to add Shuriken training as well,' he thought.
If he wanted to graduate and be assigned to a 3-man cell squad, he needed to improve in all aspects, not just physical strength and chakra control.
After having lunch at the Academy, the Shuriken throwing training continued until the end of the Academy day.
After classes concluded, Kaiji spoke to Ren and Hiroshi. "I think I should do some more training in Shuriken throwing," he suggested.
Ren and Hiroshi looked at each other. "We'll come too," Ren said.
Hiroshi nodded. "It's not like we're very good at it either."
Kaiji smiled. They approached Kazeo Sensei and asked if they could continue training in Shuriken throwing for a little longer.
"It's a good thing you want to improve," Kazeo said approvingly.
"Very well." He permitted them to use the Academy training field. The three friends trained until 6 PM, with Kazeo Sensei supervising and offering corrections.
Afterwards, they had dinner and engaged in some light chatter before heading back to their homes to sleep.
The next day, Kaiji woke up early again. He freshened up and went towards Ren and Hiroshi's houses.
When Kaiji arrived at Hiroshi's home, he saw Ren was also awake. Ren was coming down from his house on the second floor towards theirs.
Kaiji waved. "You're really enthusiastic for training, huh?" he commented.
Ren didn't say anything, just offered a smile.
They opened the door to Hiroshi's home and found him still asleep.
Ren lightly shook the sleeping Hiroshi. "Wake up, sleepy head," he said.
Hiroshi mumbled in his sleep, "It's still night... why are you bothering my sleep...?"
Kaiji and Ren looked at each other and nodded. Each took out a glass of cold water from a nearby pot.
They threw the water onto Hiroshi's face, forcefully waking him.
Hiroshi abruptly woke up, first glaring, then calling them "You two are worst."
They chuckled. All three of then headed out to begin their morning training.