Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

"Who are these people?"

Yakushi Nonou asked Kirito in a low voice.

She was at least a genin, and having worked in a restaurant, she had seen all sorts of people. She could tell at a glance that these people who followed Kirito in were not simple.

Kirito didn't answer, but simply made the gesture of putting on a mask.

Yakushi Nonou immediately understood and asked anxiously, "What did you do wrong?"

Kirito still didn't answer, but instead handed her a small note he had prepared beforehand, then turned and left Yakushi Gourmet House.

The members of the Anbu had assumed Kirito was coming to have a big meal, and since they were also hungry and wanted to enjoy a good meal there, they were disappointed when Kirito left before they could even sit down. They were cursing under their breath.

There was nothing they could do; their mission was to track and protect Kirito, so they could only reluctantly follow along.

After Kirito and the Anbu left, Yakushi Nonou quickly opened the small note that Kirito had secretly given her, and immediately understood the cause and effect. Then she walked quickly to the two disabled middle-aged men in the corner and respectfully said, "Uncle Yun, Uncle Lei, I need your help."

Juan Yun and Ye Lei were both civilian Jonin of Konoha. They lost one hand due to a battlefield injury and could no longer use ninjutsu by forming hand seals with both hands, becoming disabled ninjas and having no choice but to retire.

The two became disabled ninjas. Due to a lack of life skills, they found it difficult to find satisfactory work. Coupled with their meager pensions, the family struggled to make ends meet until the medicine man, Nonou, hired them, at which point their lives began to improve.

Even though they became disabled ninjas, they still retained their pride as former Jonin. Moreover, even with one hand missing, they still possessed the strength of elite Chunin thanks to their taijutsu, some simple ninjutsu that did not require hand seals, and rich combat experience.

The reason the two accepted the employment of the pharmacist Nonou was because Kirito, a disciple of Mito, stepped in and promised them a reward they couldn't refuse.

“Those people were from the Anbu. Kirito-sama must be in some trouble. Ono, just give the order. We will do our best to help you for Kirito-sama’s sake.”

"Curly Clouds said politely."

Ye Lei nodded in support.

Both of them saw hope in Kirito to become ninjas again, and had already chosen to entrust their lives to him.

Now that their families all work at the pharmacist's restaurant, their worries are gone, and they are naturally at his beck and call.

"Thank you both."

Yakushi Nonou expressed her gratitude, and then told the two of them what Kirito had left on the note.

……

Kirito left Yakushi Gourmet House and headed straight for the Senju clan's residence.

Kirito has been to the Senju clan's territory countless times and is very familiar with the people there.

Compared to two years ago, the Senju clan's territory is much quieter, and many familiar faces are no longer there.

The old folks who followed the First Hokage to establish Konoha have all passed away one after another.

The large base was deserted.

"Squad leader, should we go in? The Senju clan's territory is just ahead."

As the ANBU ninja following Kirito entered the Senju clan's territory, one of the male ANBU ninjas wearing a fox mask asked his class leader a question.

"According to the regulations, the clan territory is managed by the clan's ninjas. Anbu ninjas are not allowed to enter without permission. Besides, that lord is here, so that kid is perfectly safe inside. Let's stay here for now and wait for him to come out."

The ANBU squad leader was silent for a moment, then glanced at a snake-faced female ninja who had suddenly appeared in front of him, and answered.

"what."

Upon hearing this, the other ANBU ninjas readily accepted the order and dispersed to find places to hide.

"Finally, I've gotten rid of these annoying guys, Lady Momoka. Thank you so much."

In the Senju clan's territory, Kirito breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that the Anbu members had stopped following. He then turned around with a smile and spoke to the suddenly appearing Senju Momoka.

"Lord Mito is still resting. You can do whatever you like for now, just don't cause any big commotion."

Senju Momoka said to Kirito with a cold face.

After saying that, she turned to leave, but just before she left, she added, "Come stay here for a while. If you don't want to, go find Yun Shou yourself. He knows what to do. Also, if you have time, help Mito-sama tutor that child."

Cold on the outside but warm on the inside—that's Senju Momoka's personality, something Kirito already knew.

Upon hearing what Momoka said, he immediately smiled and said to Momoka, who was already walking away quickly, "Yes, Momoka-sama, take care. Please tell Mito-sensei that I will go to find her later."

After Momoka left, Kirito went to an unused training ground in the north of the Senju clan's territory and began to practice his physical skills on his own. First, he put on weights and ran a hundred laps around the entire training ground to warm up.

After Kirito finished his warm-up exercises, a man with the white eyes suddenly appeared on the training ground, dressed in training clothes.

Chapter 38: Piloting a Gundam

"Teacher Shan, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

Upon seeing the man who had rolled his eyes, Kirito immediately stepped forward, bowed, and said with a smile.

Mount Hyuga, a Jonin from the Hyuga branch family, is Kirito's taijutsu teacher.

For the past two years, Kirito has been undergoing physical training under the other party's tutelage, and the physical technique he has been learning is, of course, Gentle Fist.

The fact that Hyugayama could become Kirito's taijutsu teacher is undoubtedly due to a deal between the Senju and Hyuga clans.

The reason is that after Nawaki proposed graduating early, Kirito learned that he had the same resource allocation as Nawaki, so he shamelessly told Mito that he wanted to learn the best taijutsu in Konoha. Then the next day, Hyugayama was sent by the Hyuga clan to teach Kirito Gentle Fist.

In exchange, a female member of the Hyuga clan's main branch became Kirito's junior sister, and came to Mito with Kirito and Nawaki to learn sealing techniques.

"Let's begin."

Hinatayama said coldly.

As he spoke, he activated his Byakugan and adopted a Gentle Fist stance towards Kirito.

Upon seeing this, Kirito immediately adopted the same Gentle Fist starting stance and then unleashed a full-force Gentle Fist attack on Hinatayama.

The two were only practicing the most basic Gentle Fist, with Kirito on offense and Hinatayama on defense.

The two used soft fist techniques, each move simple and unadorned.

However, the speed of their attacks and defenses was frighteningly fast. Ordinary Chunin would not even dare to look down on them. Moreover, their attacks were powerful and heavy, and every time they clashed, they would create sonic booms and bursts of air.

Gradually, both of their hands were covered in blue chakra, and the balance of power between them had shifted.

Under the relentless onslaught of Mount Hinata, Kirito struggled to defend himself, without even a chance to retaliate.

Finally, Kirito was accidentally hit in one of Hyugayama's chakra points, causing an opening in his movements. He was immediately slapped away by Hyugayama, ending the Gentle Fist sparring session.

"Teacher Shan, how much of your Gentle Fist strength did you use this time to fight me?"

Kirito grinned as he stood up from the ground, rubbing his chest where he had just been hit, and asked.

"Fifty percent."

Hinatayama stepped forward, used his Healing Palm Technique to heal Kirito, and coldly replied.

"Still only 50%, it seems my Soft Fist hasn't improved much lately."

Kirito scratched his head in frustration.

"Give up. Although your Gentle Fist foundation is very solid, and your strength and speed are also very good, without the Byakugan and subsequent training methods, you will not be able to unleash the true power of Gentle Fist."

Instead of encouraging him, Hinatayama discouraged him.

"If I can't use it, then I can't use it. Anyway, I won't rely solely on Gentle Fist to fight enemies in the future. However, I will not give up Gentle Fist. Gentle Fist is an excellent taijutsu, and it is very useful for improving my strength. Look, Master Yama, I have successfully opened all the chakra points on my arms."

Kirito shrugged and said nonchalantly.

No sooner had he finished speaking than he demonstrated his latest successful mastery of Gentle Fist to Hinatayama.

The next moment, a surge of chakra seeped out from the chakra chakra points on Kirito's right arm, and then, under his excellent chakra manipulation, a chakra arm guard, made of highly condensed chakra and materialized, appeared on Kirito's arm.

"Ding ~"

This chakra arm guard was very rough and not exquisite at all, but Kirito held a kunai and stabbed it hard, but he couldn't break through the guard and it even made a metallic clanging sound.

Then, he punched the ground hard.

With a loud "bang".

A large crater covered with cracks appeared instantly in the ground.

"It has good defensive capabilities and also enhances strength. Unfortunately, my current chakra condensation method is only so-so, and I cannot form a more solid chakra block. Therefore, the enhancement of defensive capabilities and strength will be further improved."

Kirito looked at Hyugayama, whose face showed a slight look of shock, and smiled smugly.

By practicing Gentle Fist, he opened up all the chakra points in his body, and then used his excellent chakra condensation method to materialize the chakra, ultimately completing the creation of a chakra armor that covered his entire body with amazing defensive power and excellent enhancement to strength and speed.

This is the direction Kirito will take in developing Gentle Fist after learning it. The inspiration, of course, comes from the Uchiha's Susanoo. His ultimate goal is naturally to pilot a Gundam.

Unlike the Uchiha clan members who rely on the power of their Mangekyou Sharingan to pilot Gundams, which would blind them if overused, he only needs to meet the following conditions to pilot a Gundam: opening all the chakra points in his body, having enough chakra, having excellent chakra condensation methods, and having excellent chakra control.

Hinatayama was very surprised and ashamed when he heard Kirito say that.

What's surprising is that Kirito's control over chakra and his development of Gentle Fist have reached such a level. What's shameful is that Kirito so openly revealed the new Gentle Fist techniques he developed, while he never told Kirito about the various training methods for Gentle Fist.

Of course, it wasn't that he was unwilling to tell Kirito the advanced knowledge of Gentle Fist, but rather that he wasn't qualified.

Only members of the main family are qualified to teach Kirito the subsequent training methods of soft fist techniques such as Bagua Thirty-Two Palms, Sixty-Four Palms, One Body Strike, and Bagua Empty Palm. As a member of a branch family, he could not directly teach Kirito these techniques, even though Kirito had already figured some of them out on his own.

After two years of getting along, Hinatayama was very satisfied with his adopted disciple's talent. Even without the Byakugan, the disciple had excellent eyesight, was exceptionally intelligent, and had outstanding learning ability.

Teach him the basic combos of Soft Fist once, and he learns them once, closes his eyes to recall them, and the second time he can do them quite well.

Two years have passed, and under his watchful eye, Kirito has laid an incredibly solid foundation in Gentle Fist. Now, he has reached a point where further improvement is difficult, and he has no choice but to develop new Gentle Fist techniques on his own.

In terms of the fundamentals of Gentle Fist, Hyugayama believed that none of the younger members of the Hyuga clan could compare to Kirito, not even the main family heir whom he was also teaching.

An outsider has mastered Gentle Fist better than the heir of the Hyuga clan's main family, and surpassed him in just two years. Now, he has independently developed new applications of Gentle Fist. This talent cannot be described as genius; "monstrous" is more appropriate.

"If he were a member of the main branch of the Hyuga clan, the Hyuga clan would definitely rise to prominence in Konoha."

Hinatayama felt a deep sense of regret.

But he quickly abandoned this foolish idea.

If Kirito were a member of the main family, he would never have been able to create such a new style of Gentle Fist; he would have been trapped by the main family's stubborn and conservative mindset long ago.

"Don't bring out such crude things again. This is not how you use Soft Fist. Today's training ends here."

Hinatayama continued coldly.

As someone who had separated from the family, he couldn't control his own destiny, so he could only use this method to avoid and protect Kirito's kindness.

Kirito should avoid getting too close to this branch family member, as it might cause misunderstandings among the main family members.

"Yes, yes, I understand, Professor Yama. Here, this is for you. But this isn't for you, it's for Karen. Please give it to her when you get back. She showed me my class notes from the classes I missed today. This is a thank-you gift. There are some snacks inside, you can have some. Oh, and let me tell you, Karen was amazing in the combat class today. She beat Nawaki without even using Gentle Fist."