I, Konoha's Sage of Life

"Taijutsu and Water Release are my current strengths."

"Even though I've gained basic Genjutsu and improved my chakra control, Genjutsu isn't my forte. My next step should be to focus more on Earth Release…"

Kyoichi silently planned his next moves.

The Genjutsu reward was an unexpected bonus, but it wasn't enough to factor into his long-term plans. Earth Release, on the other hand, was crucial.

Water Release was powerful but came with geographical limitations. Mastering Earth Release was a more versatile and practical choice.

Of course… there was another important reason:

To qualify as a Jōnin, mastering two elemental releases was a basic requirement. Otherwise, no matter how much merit Kyoichi accumulated, he would only qualify as a Special Jōnin.

In a place like Konoha, merely being a Special Jōnin was far from sufficient to secure a foothold.

Kyoichi stood at the door of his family home.

The Kanda household was spacious, but there weren't many family members left. His parents had died during the Second Shinobi World War, and his grandmother had passed away years ago.

Still, there were some "treasures" left inside—specifically, scrolls left behind by his grandmother.

The Senju Clan was generous. Whenever one of their members married into an outside family, they would bring gifts as a dowry. The scrolls were what Kyoichi's grandmother brought from the Senju Clan.

In his previous life, Kyoichi hadn't paid much attention to them.

But now… he thought those scrolls might hold something useful.

Carefully, he began searching through them.

Sure enough!

One of the scrolls contained unique content: handwritten notes on Kenjutsu by none other than Tobirama Senju. Though the notes weren't comprehensive, they outlined a systematic approach to swordsmanship.

"Kenjutsu of the Konoha Style!"

Kyoichi couldn't help but marvel.

His grandmother's decision to choose these notes over ninjutsu scrolls was truly wise.

If a descendant had the aptitude, they could derive a full swordsmanship technique from these notes. Unfortunately, his father didn't seem to have that aptitude, and his understanding of Kenjutsu had remained superficial. By the time it reached Kyoichi, the art had fallen out of practice entirely.

Kyoichi pondered for a moment before carefully setting the scroll aside.

He planned to study it thoroughly tonight.

Looking through the rest of the books, he found they were mostly historical accounts of the family, not combat techniques. Surprisingly, these history books were the ones most frequently read by his grandmother.

After taking a brief rest, Kyoichi stepped into the courtyard.

He formed a hand seal.

"Training is best done personally," he muttered. "But when it comes to Kenjutsu, I'll leave it to you."

He smirked.

The shadow clone sighed.

Of course… being summoned as a shadow clone meant no chance of slacking off.

"Let's get to it, then."

---

The next morning…

Kyoichi arrived at the academy feeling refreshed and invigorated.

For the first time, he truly appreciated the strength of the Senju bloodline.

It wasn't just his constitution—his recovery speed was astonishing. Despite the intense training he and his clone had undergone the day before, a single night of rest left him as good as new.

Obito, however, was another story.

Kyoichi nearly laughed when he saw him enter the classroom.

Obito arrived just in time, panting heavily. Clearly, he had run all the way here, exhausting most of his chakra in the process.

"Sensei, I… I'm not late!"

Obito wheezed, desperate to prove his punctuality. He had sprinted the entire way, fearing the consequences of being late.

"I mentioned yesterday—you're up first to demonstrate the combined use of Transformation Jutsu and Clone Jutsu."

Kyoichi smiled pleasantly as he stood at the podium.

"Ah?"

Obito froze. His face turned stiff, and then crumbled.

He'd completely forgotten about that.

This was a disaster of his own making…

Maybe if he hadn't gone out for ramen with Rin yesterday, he could've avoided this.

Taking a deep breath, he mustered his courage and walked to the front of the class.

Quickly forming seals, he attempted the jutsu.

Obito's chakra control was better than Naruto's, thanks to the lack of interference from the Nine-Tails. Still… his chakra control left much to be desired.

Moments later…

A poorly-formed Kyoichi clone appeared, slumped awkwardly on the ground.

"It's spot-on."

Kyoichi couldn't help but laugh inwardly.

Obito grimaced.

He wasn't embarrassed—he'd long since accepted his lack of skill—but he was worried about being punished again by Kyoichi.

"Your chakra reserves are decent, and you've shown potential in ninjutsu and shurikenjutsu. But taijutsu and chakra control are your weaknesses. You need to work hard on those areas, or you'll be a liability on the battlefield."

Kyoichi's tone was firm yet encouraging.

Obito immediately bowed. "Thank you, Sensei!"

In the past, his teachers would simply shake their heads at him.

But Kyoichi… he didn't dismiss or ridicule him. Instead, he offered genuine advice. This alone wiped away much of Obito's self-doubt.

"Focus on tree climbing and water walking. Practice them well."

"Tree climbing? Water walking?"

Many students in the class looked puzzled, including Iruka.

As civilians, they had little knowledge of such techniques before being assigned a personal mentor.

"You channel chakra to your feet to climb trees and walk on water," Kyoichi explained.

"Oh, I think my father mentioned that once."

"Have you practiced it?" Obito asked.

"No. I could do it without practice."

Kurenai replied nonchalantly.

"Ugh…"

Obito groaned inwardly. Talented people were so annoying.

"Sensei, could you explain more about it?"

"Of course."

Kyoichi patiently outlined the principles behind the techniques.

Tree climbing and water walking weren't classified techniques, but without proper instruction, they were difficult to learn. By teaching them, he hoped to give civilian students a better chance of survival on the battlefield.

Of course…

The Hokage might have preferred these lessons to wait until after the students were assigned to teams.

But this was wartime. How many Jōnin actually had the time to teach their students?

"You should practice regularly. Alright, next person…"

One by one, the students demonstrated their skills.

Unlike Obito, most of them had decent chakra control. The combined use of Transformation and Clone Jutsu wasn't difficult for them. Kyoichi even increased the challenge by asking them to create multiple clones, which Obito managed to do, albeit with a few deformed ones.

By the end of class, Kyoichi was quite pleased.

"Easy day!"

He was starting to enjoy teaching.

Ninja children were far easier to manage than rowdy kids from his past life. Even the "troublemakers" only ever caused minor issues like tardiness or skipping class.

Back in his office, Kyoichi glanced at the system interface.

[Task Completed: "Teaching Transformation and Clone Jutsu Integration," "Tree Climbing," and "Water Walking."]

[Rating: Excellent.]

[Reward: Chakra Perception.]

"Chakra Perception?"

Curious, Kyoichi chose to claim the reward.

Immediately, he pressed his fingers to the ground, sending out a wave of chakra.

Moments later, the environment around him was vividly mapped out in his mind.

"Just as I thought… this ability is incredible!"