“Sensei Mokutsuki, how long did I last this time?” Obito wiped the water off his face, looking at Mokutsuki with anticipation.
He felt like he had been standing on the river for a long time, maybe even an hour.
“This time was perfect; you lasted twenty minutes,” Mokutsuki praised generously.
“What? Only twenty minutes? I thought it was at least half an hour,” Obito said, disappointed.
On the river, he had to constantly maintain chakra output, watch out for Mokutsuki’s water jutsu, observe the river’s waves, and be ready to dodge at any moment. Keeping up in this state felt like an eternity.
“You’ve completed the chakra control training, so now you can start nature transformation training,” Mokutsuki said with a smile.
“Yeah, I’ll get started right away,” Obito said. He had been practising water walking so much that he instinctively walked toward the river before realising what Mokutsuki had said.
“Finally, no more water walking!” Obito cheered, clenching his fist and jumping with joy, only calming down when he noticed Shisui and Guy looking his way.
“I’ve gotten so used to the taste of river water these past days,” Obito couldn’t help but complain.
Walking on water was different from tree climbing. If you lost control while tree climbing, you could just fall off or be caught. Losing control of water meant taking a big gulp of it.
Luckily, this part of the river was clear and clean, without any strange tastes.
“Do you want to practice more?” Mokutsuki joked.
“No, no, no. Just looking at the river makes me want to walk around it,” Obito, having been through the grind, chose not to be stubborn this time.
“Let’s start nature transformation training as soon as possible. The competition is only fourteen days away,” Obito felt the urgency.
There was still a natural transformation to practice and mastery of the Great Fireball Jutsu to deepen.
“Follow my plan, and there will be enough time,” Mokutsuki assured him.
This training was just for a local competition, not preparing to fight someone like Pain. There was no need to overdo the nature transformation.
With his teaching skills and mastery of the Great Fireball Jutsu, it would be straightforward for Mokutsuki to help Obito improve.
With the training task at stake, Mokutsuki had made a detailed plan.
Soon, a clone of Mokutsuki brought over a large wooden barrel. Mokutsuki opened it and took out an egg-sized ice block, handing it to Obito.
“Hold the ice block in your hand and use chakra to transform its nature and melt it,” Mokutsuki explained the first step of nature transformation training.
Nature transformation in a ninja’s training is considered advanced and challenging. Even with sufficient chakra, the power of a jutsu can be limited if the nature transformation is inadequate.
Fire nature transformation training is a bit more dangerous since the burning nature of fire can affect the user.
Initially, Mokutsuki thought of having Obito burn leaves, but if Obito couldn’t instantly turn the leaves to ashes, he might burn his hand.
So Mokutsuki thought of using ice. The low temperature would cause it to melt into water under fire, and Obito’s fire wouldn’t be enough to boil the water.
“So cold,” Obito inhaled sharply, gripping the ice block. It was spring, and the morning sun wasn’t very warm.
“Then quickly release your chakra,” Mokutsuki said, knocking Obito’s head with two fingers.
Obito flinched, then started channeling his chakra to his palm, transforming it and releasing it.
“While transforming, remember the properties of fire: burning and high heat,” Mokutsuki reminded him.
Obito stared at the ice block, nodding, repeating “burning, high heat” in his mind.
Two minutes later, Obito felt water on his palm and his face lit up with joy.
“Sensei, the ice is melting!” Obito said excitedly.
“Why don’t you grab another ice block and hold it for a few minutes?” Mokutsuki suggested.
Curious, Obito threw away the ice and grabbed another block, holding it without using chakra.
He was embarrassed to find that the ice melted almost as quickly as before.
“Human bodies are warm too. Holding an ice block of this size, it will melt pretty fast even without chakra,” Mokutsuki explained, facepalming.
Good thing it wasn’t hot; otherwise, Obito might have thought he was a genius at nature transformation.
“Hehe, I’m just not used to using my hand for jutsu instead of my mouth,” Obito scratched his head in explanation.
“Always remember the properties of fire during nature transformation,” Mokutsuki said, lifting a head-sized ice block and holding it.
Sizzling sounds filled the air as the head-sized ice block turned into white steam, evaporating instantly.
“High heat, burning,” Obito muttered, focusing his chakra in his palm.
By noon, Obito’s hands were numb from the cold, his skin wrinkled and pale from prolonged contact with water.
“Thinking back, the river water wasn’t so bad,” Obito regretted not agreeing to more water walking earlier.
Nature transformation training was even more torturous than water walking.
“Take a break for lunch,” Mokutsuki said, stopping the training and handing out lunchboxes.
“Today’s food smells amazing!” Guy exclaimed, opening his box to a golden glow and an aroma that reached his soul.
“Sensei, this rice is glowing!” Guy was stunned.
“It’s just reflecting the sun. Go ahead and eat,” Mokutsuki smiled.
Guy took a bite, his eyes shining as he quickly shoveled more into his mouth.
“Delicious! Delicious!” Guy had never tasted anything so good.
“You’ve been given Golden Fried Rice, and your disciple is so grateful. Bonus reward: Chakra +100.”
Mokutsuki nodded, pleased with his cooking skill.
“Guy must have had a hard practice today,” Obito said, thinking Guy’s reaction was a bit much. Mokutsuki was a good cook, but this was too much.
“It does smell nice,” Obito admitted, opening his own box to a home-cooked meal.
Obito took a bite, then another, eyes wide in surprise.
“Delicious!” Obito’s eyes widened, a burst of flavours he’d never experienced.
He quickly devoured his food until he hit a spicy pepper.
A burst of intense heat filled his mouth, and Obito felt as if he were standing at the edge of an erupting volcano, the air around him scorching and dry.
(This chapter ends)
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