That day, Feng Zheng was again the last to arrive in the classroom.
He only came in a few minutes before eight in the morning.
He smiled, looking at everyone, and thought to himself.
“Look at you kids, coming so early just to sit in the front row.”
He walked over, sat alone on the back-row bench, and took a stone from his pocket, placing it on the desk.
Genshu arrived promptly at eight and began the lesson.
The first hour was clearly a lecture.
He spoke about the history of the village, the pride a Konoha Ninja should have, and so on.
Feng Zheng classified such lessons as “brainwashing classes.”
Feng Zheng observed the classroom.
Two Nara Clan children were half-asleep.
The Akimichi Clan members were probably thinking about food.
The three Inuzuka Clan members were likely focused on their dogs.
One of the two Uchiha Clan members was inexplicably smug.
And the two Kurama Clan girls were chatting about something.
Everyone else was listening attentively.
The smug-looking guy was Uchiha Rai.
It seemed he wanted to follow in Itachi’s footsteps, as he was boasting that last year’s top student was from the Uchiha Clan, and was only seven yesterday.
Apparently, these two from the Uchiha Clan should both already be able to perform the Fireball Jutsu.
Feng Zheng finally stopped looking around.
While Genshu was writing on the blackboard, Feng Zheng held the stone in his left hand, placed his hand under the desk, and began to cultivate Earth Release Chakra.
As he guided his Chakra, his full attention was on Genshu.
He watched to see if he would notice and react.
However, Genshu’s expression showed no obvious change.
Feng Zheng thought to himself.
“Good luck. He’s not a natural Sensor Ninja. Or he’s ignoring me for some reason, though that’s highly unlikely. Either way, both scenarios are favorable to me.”
The lecture lasted an hour.
Although Feng Zheng paid some attention, most of his focus was on cultivating Earth Release Chakra.
After the “brainwashing class” ended, Genshu began to explain Chakra to everyone.
Then he started shaping Chakra with Hand Seals.
Feng Zheng stopped his Earth Release training and began to listen attentively.
However, the children from various clans were distracted.
They had already learned Hand Seals before entering the academy.
In that class, Genshu taught everyone three Hand Seals and had them practice.
He closely monitored everyone.
After the lecture, he announced that over the next three days, he would teach them the remaining Hand Seals.
Afterward, they stopped for lunch, followed by another history lesson.
Senju Teru and Hyuga Hana answered many questions posed by Genshu during this class.
Feng Zheng, meanwhile, pretended to listen intently in class, but was actually secretly training.
The week passed in a similar fashion.
Genshu taught all 12 basic Hand Seals, as well as the Hand Seals for the Clone Technique.
He emphasized the importance of learning Hand Seals correctly, which Feng Zheng recognized as similar to notes he had read in scrolls before, and urged everyone to practice diligently at home.
In addition, Genshu also introduced the Leaf Concentration exercise.
During regular lectures, Feng Zheng continuously practiced Earth Release Chakra.
But if he felt bored, he would use Wind Release Chakra to split stones instead of Earth Release to crush them.
In the second week, Genshu began Shuriken throwing lessons.
He first assessed everyone's skill level through a competition among the students.
He also called upon some other teachers to assist him with this activity.
Most of the clan children performed well.
The best scores were tied for first place by Uchiha Rai and Senju Teru.
Another Uchiha, an Aburame, and a Shimura also ranked in the top five.
Feng Zheng was startled by Shimura Shin's serious attitude.
He thought to himself.
“Danzo Shimura must have already provided similar training programs for his clan’s children.”
Although Feng Zheng had previously practiced with homemade wooden Shuriken, he only reached a barely acceptable level.
For beginners, the difference in weight itself reduced the impact of early training.
Out of six throws, he only hit the target board once.
And that one time was near the edge, not the center.
He ranked 21st in the competition.
Afterward, Genshu met with each student one-on-one to offer advice.
When it was Feng Zheng’s turn, he said.
“You still need to put a lot of effort into this. First, start with your throwing motion; once your motion is correct, you will improve quickly.”
Feng Zheng nodded and let Genshu help correct his posture.
Then he imitated the way Genshu demonstrated throwing a Shuriken. After Genshu corrected him a few more times.
Only after he was satisfied with his throwing motion did Genshu move on to the next student.
Feng Zheng took this training very seriously and practiced extensively.
After that day, a portion of his time after classes was dedicated to Shuriken throwing practice.
He trained every day at the academy's practice grounds.
Back home, he practiced Hand Seals, shaping clay, and Meditation.
Last week, he had tried to sense his surroundings but failed. So that was put off for later.
A new thing Feng Zheng started doing during this time was practicing Wall Walking instead of Leaf Concentration.
This was a substitute training for Tree Climbing.
Feng Zheng noticed that since walls are uniformly flat, walking on a wall should be easier than walking on a tree.
But for now, this should be enough.
He had arranged all the mats on the floor perfectly so that he wouldn't get hurt even if he fell hundreds of times!
It took him a few days to learn how to walk on walls.
By the end of the second week, he was able to complete Wall Walking without falling.
He could both walk on walls and stand on the ceiling.
The main problem Feng Zheng faced here was a shortage of Chakra.
However, with daily cultivation, he found that his physical stamina was also continuously improving.
But he wasn't clear how much of this was due to better Chakra control and how much was due to an increase in Chakra reserves.
After trying to analyze it, he gave up.
He comforted himself by saying it didn't matter because he was improving anyway.
During all those falls, he also learned how to flip his body in the air and land in the correct posture.
---
After the first month of school, Genshu taught everyone the academy's basic Taijutsu.
The Taijutsu curriculum included a large number of forms and techniques, making it a comprehensive Taijutsu style covering various areas.
But this also meant it didn't specialize in any one aspect.
However, for now, Feng Zheng didn't care about these details.
This Taijutsu style was clearly much better than anything he could do in Taijutsu.
He was surprised and thought to himself.
“I didn’t expect the basic style itself to be so complex, covering all aspects.”
This made Feng Zheng curious about how good the Senju Clan's Taijutsu and Uchiha Clan's Taijutsu styles really were.
But the Hyuga Clan's Taijutsu was clearly superior to theirs.
Feng Zheng felt it was better to master the academy's Taijutsu style first. Then he would consider learning other more advanced Taijutsu.
This would take a lot of time, but fortunately, he had plenty of time.
After that day, Taijutsu training was also added to his morning exercises.
Taijutsu training at the academy lasted for over a month, just to familiarize students with all the Taijutsu styles.
Feng Zheng noticed that the Senju, Uchiha, Hyuga, and Inuzuka Clans did not learn the academy's Taijutsu style.
After Taijutsu class, students at the academy were required to spar against each other weekly.
Based on their performance and technique, Genshu would give them tips or ask them to practice a certain form.
Even these Taijutsu matches were arranged as tournaments.
Feng Zheng performed better in this aspect, ranking eighth in the first competition.
Although his Taijutsu style was not yet very good, his physical strength benefited him.
He wasn't too surprised by this.
Although these students were all very talented, some even stronger than him.
But no six-year-old would put in as much time into training as he did.
Those who did were rare exceptions, such as Teacher Guy.
Even Lee only started working this hard after becoming a Genin.
Hyuga Hodaka took first place in the first Taijutsu tournament.
He was followed by Senju Teru, Hyuga Hana, Uchiha Rai, and a third Hyuga.
Shimura Shin ranked sixth, followed by one of the other two Senju Clan members, who ranked seventh.
Feng Zheng thought to himself.
“This is still very promising. Unlike them, I haven't received any formal training yet.”
Feng Zheng was full of confidence at this time.
He felt that as long as he trained further, he should grow faster than these guys.
He was now moving in the right direction, self-motivated to keep going.
Genshu began to hold weekly Taijutsu tournaments and Shuriken throwing tournaments for the class.
Feng Zheng found that the other four classes did not have such competitions arranged.
In fact, during an encounter with Daisuke, Feng Zheng learned that they hadn't even had Taijutsu classes yet, and were still learning Shuriken throwing and how to correctly perform Hand Seals.
He was thinking.
Konoha's management is truly serious about developing this class.
As far as he knew, they had done the same last year.
Although they were very lucky to have Itachi in last year's class.
If they had similar expectations for this year, they would be very disappointed.
Then again, Feng Zheng felt they shouldn't often expect a genius like Itachi to appear.
Ending his thoughts, Feng Zheng looked to the future, somewhat excited about his continuous improvement.