One week had passed.
Kaiji, Ren, and Hiroshi maintained a morning routine of Training.
They trained in the mornings, attended the Academy for practice, spars, and class competitions, and practiced Shuriken throwing together after Academy hours.
At first, Ren and Hiroshi were surprised by Kaiji's knowledge of Tree Walking, a Chakra Control exercise the Academy never mentioned and one they were unaware of.
Kaiji offered no direct explanation. He vaguely stated that he had seen a village shinobi practicing it.
They accepted his response, thinking Kaiji himself couldn't have devised such training methods.
Today, like other mornings, they were practicing Tree Walking after their main training session.
Even though Ren and Hiroshi had better inherent chakra control than Kaiji, they still found Tree Walking challenging.
As they practiced individually on different trees, Kaiji and Ren having already come down after a fall and preparing to try again, a voice suddenly spoke from behind them.
"How did you three know about Tree Walking?"
Hiroshi, still up on his tree, lost his balance upon hearing the unexpected voice.
He tumbled down, landing with a cry of "Awwww!"
The three friends turned to see the speaker.
It was Takeshi Sensei.
They respectfully bowed. "Good morning, Sensei," they said.
Takeshi nodded. He repeated his question. "So, how did you know about Tree Walking?"
Ren and Hiroshi both looked towards Kaiji.
Takeshi followed their gaze. "Kaiji?" he asked directly. "Are you the one who knows about Tree Walking?"
Kaiji nodded and quickly gave the same reason he had provided his friends. "I saw a village shinobi practicing it," he explained.
Takeshi heard his response, a hint of doubt crossing his face, but he did not question or press Kaiji further.
Ren then asked Takeshi a question. "Sensei," he began, "why doesn't the Academy teach it? This Tree Walking is way more difficult than Leaf Balancing."
Takeshi Sensei explained. "As you mentioned, Tree Walking is more difficult than Leaf Balancing and other basic Chakra Control exercises," he said. "That is the main reason the Academy doesn't teach it."
He added, "After you become Genin, your Jonin sensei will teach it to you after he or she thinks you are ready for Tree Walking."
He continued, "The Academy has its own rules. Otherwise, if it were up to us instructors, do you really think as Chunin, we only know D-rank Jutsus? We could teach you up to B-rank Jutsus as well, but you are not ready for that level."
Ren and Hiroshi nodded, understanding the logic.
Kaiji also agreed, thinking inwardly, 'Well, that's a plausible reason.'
He knew that many trainees, including himself, were not ready for high-level Jutsus.
He hadn't even been able to master all the D-rank Jutsus taught at the Academy.
Takeshi Sensei added, "I even didn't teach Tree Walking to Kohaku as well, though she is ready for it."
Kaiji hearing this, thinks, 'What a rule-following man. He didn't even teach his daughter anything beyond the Academy's curriculum.'
"Well, carry on," Takeshi Sensei said. "Since you already know about it, then continue. Maybe you all will improve further."
Takeshi was about to leave when Hiroshi spoke up. "Sensei, where were you busy these past few days?"
Takeshi replied, "I had a mission that took me some time."
He explained, "Even as instructors at the Academy, we still have to do missions sometimes."
The three friends nodded. They knew that mission details could not be shared with anyone not involved in the mission.
This was a basic principle taught in the Academy in preparation for when they would become official Genin and start undertaking missions themselves.
Takeshi departed, and the three continued their training.
Afterwards, they went home, washed up, and headed to the Academy.
After the theoretical lessons, Takeshi Sensei arrived and took the class to the desert area on the West side of the Village.
Once everyone reached the location, Takeshi Sensei took out a storage scroll.
He unrolled it, revealing a bundle containing many black, empty scrolls.
He provided one empty black scroll to each trainee.
"Today," Takeshi Sensei announced, "you all are going to compete against each other."
The current time was around 12 PM.
"You have time until three hours from now," he instructed. "Whoever collects more scrolls until that time will win this competition and..."
All the trainees, even Kaiji, looked intently at him as he paused mid-sentence.
Takeshi Sensei continued, "The winner will get to learn one C-rank Jutsu. That would be their choice, which they wish to learn."
"Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, or any other C-rank Jutsu they wish to learn," he clarified.
Upon hearing this, all the trainees murmured among themselves.
Some immediately stated they couldn't win. Others discussed how it would surely be either Renji, Kohaku, or Taichi.
Kaiji, Ren, and Hiroshi looked at each other; they also knew they weren't likely contenders for the win.
Then Ren spoke. "Guys," he said, a competitive glint in his eye, "today we're going to be against each other. I wouldn't hold back, so be prepared."
Takeshi then gave the final command. "Now, start!"
With that, all the trainees scattered, racing off across the desert dunes.