Chapter 24 - 24 – Upgrade

Chapter 24 – Upgrade

As the Chūnin responsible for the group, watched Sakura crying to sleep, he felt awkward. Sighing, he chose to ignore her, closing his eyes, he went to sleep.

'She can survive until tomorrow morning.' the Chūnin concluded.

On the other side of the forest.

A boy asked as he pulled his jacket, "Are we just going to sleep under this tree, with nothing else?"

"We should have collected that grass." The girl from the side said with her soft low voice.

"Che, quit complaining. We will get those straws and other things, first thing in the morning." The boy with blue scarf said snappily as he got annoyed. Then closing his eyes shut, the boy tried going to sleep.

Another group.

"Taka-chan, I am hungry."

"Me too."

"Fruits are not enough."

"Sora we will get more food tomorrow. It is already so dark, even if we want….Just…. Just sleep it off tonight."

Another group.

"I want to go home."

"Hey, don't complain like a girl." The boy shouted pressing the timid boy's head.

"What do you mean!? You, big head." the girl who was at the side with rock knife retorted.

"Oi you ugly." the rude boy not wanting to lose also retorted.

The Chūnin observing the group sighed heavily. Massaging his temples, he asked himself, "Am I really supposed to look after them?"

Same thoughts appeared on various Chūnin causing to sigh endlessly.

Hokage tower.

"Most of them will definitely go to Genin corps or join other departments. It would be best for them to go basics all over again, in a more practical way. Some will need a little push, while these….some are only good at theoretical." Hiruzen looked at his crystal ball monitoring the training ground made comments regularly, but the more he spoke, the darker his face became.

Hiruzen turned around facing Iruka, sighing heavily he said, "Do you see, Iruka? How we have failed them, so much lacking, so much…..."

Iruka was standing in front of the desk, silently listening to the Hokage talking. As he kept listening, Iruka felt guilty.

Opening the drawer, Hiruzen gave the file to Iruka.

"Iruka, after this semester ends, implement these plans. Go." Hiruzen gave out a command and waved his hand, signaling Iruka to leave.

[You have slept in a makeshift bed. HP and CP has been restored. Abnormal ailments and negative status have been cured.]

Opening his eyes, Raito could see the brownish roof and smell the wet soil, the blanket covering him was slightly cold. The dry leaves and long grass had covered him, sticking on to his clothes. Raito could see his two teammates facing upward, mouth wide open with drool coming, Naruto and by his side, in a fetal position, sleeping in a cutely way, sticking to Naruto like a glue… no like paper to paper, Hinata.

After observing his surrounding, he opened his status to check the time.

[TIME 5:03]

'Perfect timing again.'

Activating his chakra, water condensed in his hand. Another hand-seal a layer of water was peeled off. Slightly excited Raito used 'Observe' but the result disappointed him once again.

[Pure Water]

Plain Water containing no harmful substance.

Sighing lightly, Raito murmured, "I don't have that 'plus one' that Hinata could make."

Water in his hand, he washed his face, the cold making him shiver. Raito took off his jacket, searching for a place to keep it.

"Of course I could just make a hanger." placing his hand on the side of the cave, he released his chakra making horns appear from the rock. "It's so easy now." Hanging his jacket, he walked out.

Looking back at the two sleepy heads, he thought, 'I have some time left. So, why don't I try and make some things.'

After quite some time, Hinata woke up, rubbing her eyes she looked around. Naruto was sleeping by her side but Raito, who was supposed to be sleeping by Naruto's side, was not there.

Looking outside than Naruto by her side, she decided to wake up Naruto. Shaking him for few moments Hinata successfully managed to wake Naruto up.

Still groggy, Naruto asked, "It's morning already?"

"Mn, it's already morning. Raito-san has already left." Hinata replied as he folded the cloth.

"What!? Raito left." Naruto exaggeratedly searched the small cave before cursing Raito.

As Naruto looked all over, he saw hangers for jacket. Placing his jacket on the hangers, Naruto rushed out. Hinata looked at the hangers and she decided not to.

Outside Raito was holding the stone which was slowly turning into a cup. Hearing the noise at the background, Raito placed the stone down then watched the two coming over. But his gaze lingered on Hinata with a hint of confusion.

Grabbing the twigs, he gave it to Naruto and Hinata. Then Raito gave them the cups made up of stone.

"How did you make this cup?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"Stop questioning and brush your teeth." Seeing that the two were not grabbing the cup Raito shouted. Then in a low voice, he answered, "Just like how I made the cave bigger, I also tried doing….."

"Another jutsu?" Shocked Naruto made a loud cry.

"Now we can make plates and bowls. Isn't that awesome?" Raito explained

Sending the two away, Raito turned to look at the water vats, after which he used 'Water Purification Jutsu'

[Skill water purification has leveled up.]

[Skill water purification has reached level 5.]

[Water Purification Lvl 5 (Active) CP Cost 20]

# Remove any harmful things from the water body.

# Infuse water with energy make water beneficial.

Use>

The jutsu had leveled up and there were new effects. Raito laughed loudly, "I finally did it."

Raito continued gathering water then purifying them. Soon the vats were full and his chakra was near the end. Thinking for a while, Raito closed the lids of the two vats. Then with a jug made up of stone, he scooped the water and splashed it on the wall of the cave.

From far, Naruto spat and gargled. Looking back at Raito, he saw what Raito was doing. Feeling that, what Raito was doing was fun, Naruto joined him. Hinata as she watched the two, smiled and walked around gathering essentials for the day.

Raito and Hinata sat near the firewood, baking the wild potatoes and cleaning the raw vegetables. Looking at this, Raito felt bad, 'Only if I could use my inventory.'

"Raito-san."

"Hm?"

"Umm….uhh….that I-I." being alone with Raito, who had an aura saying a big 'NO' it was hard to talk to him.

Raito sighed, activating his chakra, his voice called out, "Calm down….breathe….breathe in, breath out." Deactivating his chakra, he waited. Seeing Hinata coming out of a daze, Raito asked, "What is it Hinata-san?"

"Ah…. Raito-san, I found bamboo, a distance away and tall grasses near, I was thinking if we could make the cave big enough, with the….your jutsu. We could make a bed with those bamboo and using the grass and the blanket, we can even a pillow." Hinata voiced out her thoughts, with the help of Raito's skill Hinata was not shuttering.

"Oh….let's do that. I will try and make the cave even bigger." Raito said and when he saw Naruto coming, he cleaned the carrot and the potato then threw it towards Naruto.

Biting the carrot, Naruto asked, "This again? If we could have…."

"We have radish, tomato, onion, cuc.u.mber,-"

"Stop, stop. I'll go and catch some fishes. Want to go with me, Hinata?" Naruto gave up asking Raito, if he could use his inventory. Hungry for some meat he decided to go fishing. Going alone would be boring so he decided to ask Hinata. But even after asking Hinata, she looked at a distance following riverside. Naruto wanted to pull Hinata but was stopped by Raito, who gave him a big glare.

"Ino-san, Chōji-san and Shikamaru-san, they are coming. If they are walking with that speed…. It will take them for nearly two hours, no a little more than two hours." Hinata mumbled.

Raito and Naruto looked stunned, Raito was fine but Naruto who was very bad with distance and all, pouted. Feeling the gaze, Hinata looked back to see the two boys, understanding what she did, she tried explaining. "Every member of the clan are taught things like this. Distance measuring, lip reading, multitasking, these type of knowledge is useful when used with Byakugan so most of us had learned these skills."

"Ahh….Cheat, cheat."

"I want to learn too."

Raito and Naruto cried for unfairness. After eating, Naruto and Hinata left Raito alone to gather food and materials.

Raito stretched his body. With a smile, Raito walked forward activating his chakra.

Ino-Shika-Cho

"Ino, apple."

"Thank you, Chōji."

"Shika, how long do you think?" asked Chōji as he took a bite from the apple.

"An hour at the very least…. No, it should take even more time." Shika looked at the sun and then the river that they were walking by and answered.

"We have enough food. It is fine even if we don't find them today." Ino swallowed and said.

"No, we will find them." Shikamaru after pausing for a while added. "We have thirteen groups and we are ninth group, Raito and Sasuke's group will definitely be the last group. According to Hinata from the last year, the first group was the nearest while the last group was at the end."

Shikamaru's eye followed the river which curved in the front and the back. "This river is very long and curvy. A few distance away, there are fruits and vegetables, the animals are also abundant in number. With no carnivorous animals on the training grounds….hehe it's definitely man-made."

"You mean this training ground was made by someone?" Ino asked as she stopped biting into her juicy apple.

"You should know about the high level elemental jutsu, Ino. With earth and water jutsu it is really easy to create hills and mountain. Bending the river flow or making a new one is really, really easy." Shikamaru said as he looked back at Ino.

"Why wouldn't I know that, it's just that these trees…." Ino voiced out her questions.

"Trees….it's not like there is….no….was no one that could control tree." Shikamaru said then was interrupted by Chōji's shout.

"Look Shika, Ino." Chōji shouted calling the two over.

"It's Naruto, alright." looking at the picture made on the ground, Ino laughed out loud.

Naruto had made a chibi version of himself on the ground with a 'v' sign.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go." Ino clearly in a hurry walked forward.

"We should catch some fishes as presents."

"Mm." Chōji nodded and made a hand-seal.

"Let me help you. If I help you guys, it will be faster." Shikamaru patted Chōji as his shadow started extending.

Shocked Ino and Chōji looked weirdly at Shikamaru before joining him.

[Genius] Nara Shikamaru

IWASAWA-RENJI-SAKURA

"Instructor-san, we would like to quit the ninja program. Let us out." Renji spoke out as he raised his right hand. The scene looked quite comedic and Iwasawa who was by the side giggled.

"Are you sure, young miss?" The men wearing Chūnin jacket appeared suddenly and asked Iwasawa directly.

"Yes." She spoke a word before giving a letter then took out a fan from her hip.

The man kept the letter then looked at Renji and asked once again, "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Then I will escort you out and fill your forms as soon as possible." then his eyes wandered to Sakura, walking in front of her, he asked, "And what about you, Haruno Sakura?"

As she was called out, Sakura shivered. The rations on her hand, she closed them. Under the gaze, she felt small. With a small voice, she replied, "I-I want to stay."

Renji raised his hand once more and asked the instructor, "Instructor-san, we are quitting the ninja program wholly but she is not. She should still be eligible to continue, am I correct?"

The man looked at Iwasawa for confirmation. Then only after she nodded her head he replied, "Okay then. There are two groups gathering at the waterfall. (Pointing at a distance) One more person won't trouble them.

Iwasawa walked forward, nearing Sakura. Sakura felt quite difficult but the man and Renji didn't care much.

Iwasawa caught Sakura and whispered, "Pathetic little girl." Then her eyes turned golden, lasting for a few seconds. Sakura stood there in a daze, her eyes losing their l.u.s.ter.

Grabbing Sakura, the man disappeared.

Iwasawa turned around and looked at Renji. Then she said, "Until he returns, why don't you show me something entertaining."

"Ugh." Renji g.r.o.a.n.e.d and took out a wooden sword strapped on his back then started performing.

….

"Cat."

Looking back at the man wearing a Chūnin jacket, the ANBU looked back and asked in a muffled voice, "Zero. What is it?"

"This girl is joining the group, for now. Her teammate are quitting the ninja program." Pushing Sakura towards the ANBU, he added, "I am going."

Sakura watched the ANBU nervously. The ANBU also after a short while focused on Sakura. Taking out a water bottle he said, "Clean yourself, now."

After a short while, Sakura was again good, except her face was a little pale and there was dark circle under her eyes.

"Follow me." after commanding the ANBU moved forward and Sakura followed him.

Waterfall Area

"Raito." Naruto's loud voice woke Raito from his meditation. Peeking his head from the entrance of the cave, Raito saw his team and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio with them.

Coming out, Raito waved his hand and complained, "You guys are finally here. So slow, it's already past nine."

"He sees us and the first thing he does is complain." Ino huffed, feeling displeased at how Raito called her.

Raito filled the cups made from the stone with purified water from the vats. "Here, drink some water."

They were all surprised it see the everyday items made up of rocks. Shikamaru looked at the cup and found that it was smooth to touch, then he asked, "Raito, Oi what's this? You made this cup and those things too?"

Raito smiled widely and replied, "Yup, I even wrote your names there, see." (Pointing at the lined characters)

"Oh, I found my name." Chōji traced the characters on the rock and shouted.

Ino took a sip suspiciously but after taking a sip, she shouted, "Wow, delicious. Much, much better than what we had to drink."

Chōji patted his c.h.e.s.t and had a relieved expression. Quickly from the back, he brought out a stick where few fishes were hanged and a box, then said, "We brought food."

"Ah." Raito shouted in surprise as he looked at the big fishes and the box. Hurriedly pulling Chōji inside the cave, Raito opened the lid of the box at the cave, where there was another box inside and surrounding the box was water between the two boxes. Placing the fruits and vegetables down, he smiled satisfactorily.

"Say Raito is that still…." from the side Chōji asked with a low voice.

"Ugh….yeah I still can't open it." Raito replied simply.

Outside the cave Shikamaru saw everything around; the stone steps, the water vats, bowls and plates, and asked rather stiffly, "What happened here?"

"Uh, it like….this….. Definitely…..Raito did this everything." Naruto thought of explaining but at the end pointed at Raito.

"Raito-san used the camping jutsu – Earth Pit and Earth Cover at first but later he made all this." Hinata answered but she had not seen Raito do everything, so she couldn't explain much.

"Cups and plates, flower pots and hangers. What the hell is doing?" Shikamaru rubbed his forehead as he looked everywhere. Shikamaru felt like going crazy, looking down he felt that the stone had quite a geometrical shape. His sharp gaze landed on Raito who was coming out of the cave with Chōji.

Without any delay, Shikamaru ran forward and grabbed Raito, "How did you do this all?" Shikamaru pointed at the things around the cave.

"Isn't this simple, I used the camping jutsu." Raito answered simply.

"Are you joking?"

"No, I am not. I am creative."

Dragging everyone, Raito showed them the cave. The earlier sleeping area was now just a walking area. On the right was the water vats and the box, similar to the fridge. And to the left, a rectangular room.

Everyone walked inside, feeling the sides and corners, how smooth they were. There was even a window and a small fireplace.

"The cave got bigger." Naruto said in amazement.

"Is this even possible?" Hinata felt the corners of the room and then looked at the entrance, she remembered that just yesterday, the cave was so small they had to squeeze together, but now….

On the opposite side of the cave, the ANBU watched the students, and let out a deep breath. "Just this morning….from nothing. This boy, Raito did all of this."

Looking at the girl behind, he said, "You will be with them. You will be scored accordingly." grabbing her shoulder the two of them disappeared.

Ino clicked her tongue and looked at Raito, "We need to make bedding."

"Ah bed, Hinata already has plans." Raito replied as he pointed at Hinata, which made Hinata a bit embarrassed as everyone looked at her.

As everyone sat in the circle they made plans for the day, before ending. Ino whispered, "My butts gone cold."

"Then Naruto with his clones will look for food and materials needed later, for now, scout the area. Chōji will start preparing for food, Hinata will look to restore water, Shika and I will make sure to make this place livable."

"Hey what about me?" Ino asked as she didn't hear Raito calling her name.

Looking at a distance, Raito had an ugly expression, "Ino, I think you can get ready. Go, shoo."

"What the…." Ino was about to burst but Raito ignored her.

Raito lazily pointed outside, where there was ANBU and Sakura. Although Sakura was well-groomed, Ino's discerning eyes could see that Sakura was not having a good time, pale face, dark circle under her eyes.

"Kami-sama, Sakura what happened to you?" Ino ran towards Sakura and grabbed her, looking all over. Although she asked Sakura her gaze lingered on the ANBU.

"Renji Abarai and Masami Iwasawa, have…. quitted the ninja program, leaving Sakura with a choice. She chose to continue, thus, she is here." Giving the students a vague answer, the ANBU disappeared.

Raito glared at the cat ANBU silhouette, before ignoring the situation altogether and started discussing with Shikamaru.

Tuck sitting at the ground, Sakura ignored everyone and started crying. Ino gave everyone a signal walking towards Sakura. Understanding the signal, everyone walked back. Ino sat by Sakura silently, patting Sakura's back and using her clan's secret techniques, sending chakra to Sakura's body, calming her down.

A few minutes later, Sakura looked at Ino and said sorrowfully, "Ino, I am truly useless. Iwasawa and Renji, they-they could do everything, but I-I wasn't able to do anything. I am useless."

Pausing for a bit she grabbed herself tighter and said, "I know how to make shelter, but I can't make one. I know how to make fire but I couldn't make one. I even tripped, spoiling the food gathered. I can't do anything right, I am so useless…." Her words were slow and carried hints of self-blame, the more she said the more her hold became tighter.

"Hush, don't say anymore." Ino hugged the crying Sakura.

As Ino consoled Sakura, Raito who was quite a distance away, looked resentfully in a distance. "That ANBU just left her here."

Shikamaru who was by Raito's side called him and asked, "So, what do you want my help with?"

"I have never made a house before so….everything."

"Sob, Sob." Just as the two were discussing, Sakura's crying sounded once more, making Ino distressed and Shikamaru to look at their direction.

[Quest – Cherry Blossom (3)]

Sighing Raito walked towards Sakura with mashed banana in a bowl and water. He crouched down looking at Sakura, gave a look to Shikamaru and Ino.

Focusing on Sakura he called out to her, "Sakura, it is me Raito, calm down, okay. I brought you some food to eat."

Seeing no response he sighed. Then using chakra he called out once again, "Sakura, it is me…. Raito, calm down….stop crying and eat this." Using his skill 'Hypnotic wave', Raito gave her water and the bowl of mashed banana. Making a few hand signals to Shikamaru, Raito waited.

Quickly after, Shikamaru brought a packet of compressed biscuits. Opening one packet Raito handed those biscuit to Sakura.

Making another hand signal to Shikamaru, Raito turned to face Sakura. Shikamaru who was made to run chores, glared at Raito for a moment. But what could he do, except obeying? Grabbing a jug he scooped water and filled Sakura's cup.

After Raito used his skills several times and confirmed that Sakura had calmed down and can be reasoned with. He looked at her and asked, "Sakura tell me, what is the objective of the exam?"

She sniffed once and replied, "Survive for five days."

Raito smiled but quickly hid the smile, "Now I am going to ask you some question and you have to answer me either yes or no. Do you understand?"

"I understand-"

"Just yes or no."

"Yes."

"Good first question then. Do you still want to take this test?"

"Yes."

"Do you want to fail this test?"

"No."

"Do you want to stay in the wild alone?"

"N-No."

"Would you like to join our group?"

"I-that."

Shikamaru shot a look to Ino. Understanding the signal, Ino placed her hand to Sakura's shoulder and gave her an encouraging smile.

Gaining confidence, Sakura looked at Raito and nodded, "Yes."

"But Sakura I cannot let anyone join the group." Raito who had a smile made this sentence.

[Emotion: Sadness….] Sakura eye's dulled and the gleam was lost.

"Don't misunderstand me. For me, anyone who is not willing to contribute to the group destroys the harmony of the group and are not worthy to join the group. If you want to join the group, it's very easy. You just have to help us, in any way you can, but more importantly, you cannot make trouble in the group."

Pausing for his words to sink in, Raito continued, "These are the rules so that we are able to safely pass the remaining four days, pass this survival exam and continue our road to become ninja….Can you do that, Sakura?"

It took quite a while for Sakura to answer. It looked like she was thinking much, much more in her small brain. Her closed eyes suddenly opened and she shouted, "I can do that."

"I promise to help and not create any problem."

"Good. Now clean yourself. We have a long day and a lot of things to do." Saying that Raito walked back towards Shikamaru, his face had a stiff smile which turned back to nothing.

"Sakura-san, Ino-san." Hinata called out with her small cheerful smile.

"Hinata?" Sakura checked the familiar-looking girl and asked. The Hinata she remembered was shy, timid and weak. Although Hinata defeated her last time, she reverted back to being the lovely meek girl she always was. From the very first year, she had seen Hinata being bullied by other students because of her eyes, of her clan, her huge background, and her kindness.

"She has changed a lot, don't you think Sakura." Ino asked turning around, she had a smile big enough to show her happiness.

After looking enough at Hinata, she looked at Ino for quite a while and said, "You have changed too, Ino."

"Mm. I have taken my training seriously Sakura because I want to be a Kunoichi, you know."

There was a pregnant silence before the slightly pale Sakura asked, "W-What about Sasuke-kun?"

"That….I don't know, for now, I only want to focus on becoming Kunoichi first." turning around she asked Sakura, "What about you Sakura, do you want to be a Kunoichi?"

"I…."

"Hey Hinata, that bossy Raito has instructions for us." Ino swiftly changed her topic not wanting to make it awkward. She knew why a girl like Sakura joined the academy perfectly well.

"Ino-san….let's do our best." Hinata replied once again with her smile.

"Ah, a workaholic." Ino immediately labeled Hinata, sighing sorrowfully then stuck with Sakura for comfort.

Outside the training grounds

Iruka looked at the boy and girl, then asked, "Where is Sakura?"

"Iruka-sensei, we are quitting the ninja program, directly. As for Sakura, she has decided to continue the exam. So please understand." Renji said plainly.

"You two at this time, such troublesome. Couldn't you have don't it after the exams?" Iruka complained but quickly jolted down all the information on the clipboard.

Sighing he called the Chūnin at the side, giving him the clipboard and some instruction, before running towards the Hokage tower with the three in tow.

Waterfall

"Shika, I want to make a bath." Raito who was following Shikamaru's instruction to make the cave better suddenly voice his thoughts.

"Sure….EH!?". Stunned Shikamaru who was drawing lines with the help of charcoal looked at Raito as if looking at an idiot.

"Yeah two big one and about heating the water, we can use the heated stones or even use a smaller tub to boil the water." Raito explained Shikamaru about his plans.

Seeing that Raito was ignoring everything else, he sighed, "Troublesome, acting on your wishes…. Oi Raito do you even have chakra left?"

"Oh….I'll recover in a bit."

Giving annoyed look, Shikamaru went out.

'Meditate.'

[HP and CP recovery by 2 per second.]

Chakra Sense activated.

Fast thinking activated.

[Chakra consumption decreased by 50% in a meditative state.]

'Hey, it's getting clearer, it must be because of 'clarity'.' Wandering around Raito saw Shikamaru. Naruto with Chōji, Sakura, Hinata, and Ino cutting bamboos and weaving grasses to make ropes.

[Chakra Sense Lvl 54 (Active/Passive) CP Cost 25 per minute]

'It's leveling up slowly now.'

[Earth Chakra Control Lvl 18 (active)]

[Earth affinity 25]

….

Raito stood with Shikamaru, both of them had dug two areas, just big enough for it to easily fit six or seven people. There were two dug area, with stones on the edges and even more stones on the side.

"Hey, Shika it's easier when you help." Raito said honestly as he wiped his sweat.

"Earth (Doton)"

The ground slowly loosed a layer, pressing below and making the soil hard below. Slowly the earth got pressed down making a somewhat of a circle shape.

Shikamaru jumped inside and using a stick drew a circle, which was just enough for people to sit inside the pit. Jumping out, he watched and got inside, changed some. "Do it." Feeling satisfied with it Shikamaru shouted.

Raito once again activated his chakra and the earth was pressed down. The earth is harder than before.

With constantly moving stones, Raito gained an increase in STR stat, but later with Shikamaru's advice he changed the rocks into round shaped, making the transportation much easier. The stones were finally moved into the pit.

Under Raito's will the hard rock became soft, the irregular shape became thick fluid-like, covering the pit surface, making it as flat as possible. "Done."

"This still amazes me….even now I feel like I am dreaming." Shikamaru watched and said in amazement. Then making himself active he shouted, "This part should have gaps….beads like in this place….here, here."

"Shouldn't this be a little bigger?"

"I feel like that too."

"Hey, we didn't make a shower area."

"You want a shower. Get lost."

"If only I had a brush and ink, I could make a temperature regulating seal."

…

"Finally finished."

"It's not bad at all."

"No, it looks good."

The bath was attached to the cliff. The divider extending from the cliff dividing the two baths. Each had two circular pits, one big and another small. Near to the smaller pits, there was area for heating the stones. Directly opposite the heating area was the bath area, which had a large vat holding water and a long jug. The bath was again encircled by rock columns.

The ANBU on the opposite side looked blankly at the students and sighed heavily, "If I didn't know, I would assume they were on the vacation." Quickly unsealing a camera he took a picture.

Back to Raito's group, Shikamaru and Raito took a bite from the apple and rested.

"What if this 'inventory' never comes back?" As Raito filled the bath with purified water and herb mixed he heard Shikamaru questioning.

"I'll use storage seals." Raito answered calmly.

"That 'inventory' is like a big storage seal but you don't have to use chakra for it?' Shikamaru asked as if remembering.

"Yeah"

"What about-"

"Shika."

After a long pause, Shikamaru replied, "I understand." and no longer asked.

"Oi! We are back." Naruto shouted, with him, Chōji and girls followed. Naruto and Chōji carried a lot of bamboo sticks, ropes, and the grasses.

Behind, the girls came, tiredness covering their face. Hinata and Ino were relatively fine when comparing to Sakura. Their hairs were not so clean. Even their clothes had some muddy patches and dirt stains. All in all, they were in bad shape when comparing to their academy self.

"So tired, if only I could take a bath."

"I miss the hot springs."

"..."

By how Sakura was freely talking and had a smile on her face, Raito deduced that she had returned to being her usual, normal self but his gamer's ability stated that she was still sad. Finding the things too complex and even more, the situation was about a girl that he didn't like very much, Raito decided to put the matter to the side.

"Oi!! Everyone." Raito waved gaining attention.

"Ne, ne, Raito look we make the bed now. With this rope and bamboo, we can make the bed." Naruto placed the bamboo, ropes, and foods inside the cave.

"I am going to make fish." Chōji announced and grabbed the fishes. When it came to food, Chōji had endless energy to make and eat food.

"Wait! Chōji." Running inside, Raito brought out a knife made up of stone and gave it to Chōji.

"A stone knife!?" Chōji held the knife and felt its weight. With a frown, he said, "Quite heavy….not very sharp….but still usable."

"….yeah but it's still better than using a kunai or not using anything." Raito mumbled.

[Stone Knife]

A knife made up of stone, using basic control to change stone to into a knife. Incomparable to a real knife.

Made by – Yoshizawa Raito

Special Characteristic - Made by chakra manipulation

Durability – 40/40

Uses>

Flaws>

"Raito, you made this?" Ino went inside the rock column and saw the bath area. She was shocked for a long time before calling Raito.

"Yeah, awesome right? I wanted to train my elemental control, so I made this." Raito replied proudly as he watched Naruto, Hinata, Ino and Sakura's awed faces.

"Isn't element control for high level Chūnin?" Shikamaru asked.

"Hehe." Laughing Raito explained, "It's all about chakra control, I read it from the book that Hokage-Jiji gave me." Pausing it for a bit he used 'Chakra Sense' to look at Shikamaru, seeing that he still had those eyes, Raito added, "It was not an ordinary book but books directly from Hokage-sama's library vault contained the notes regarding the training regimen of an earth elemental control."

"I did hear from my old man that Hokage-sama was a primary fire elemental but later on when he decided to touch everything, his first choice was earth elemental." Shikamaru explained.

"Then the book that I got must be…." Raito exclaimed but waited for a moment.

"Yeah, most probably his enlightenment, experiments and results." Shikamaru added his thoughts.

"Earth transforming into a shelter, a house. It already at the level of high Chūnin." Hinata while at the back said softly making it hard for anyone to hear.

Raito felt satisfied as he watched the awed faces of everyone. Failing to find Chōji among the crowd, he saw that Chōji was going to chop the fish. In reflex, he shouted, "STOP!!"

Making a nasal sound, Chōji stopped and looked at the origin of the sound. In confusion, Chōji asked, "What happened Raito?"

"Chōji, you were going to make a big mistake."

Looking down he saw the fish, looking back he said, "But I marked at the right place."

"That's not it. We are going to take a bath first, then eat. You should read more, Chōji. It's clearly said that…." Raito went into explanation mode making the group's head dizzy.

…

"The bath water is hot and ready."

"Herbs are ready."

Heaving out a heavy sigh, Raito quickly weaved a set of hand seals, mostly relating to 'control' and 'earth' and activated his chakra. Placing a rock near the heated vats, Raito changed it to a pipe and for strengthening the pipe he used more rocks to be compressed into the pipe.

"I hope it would be okay." then Raito made the connecting part of the pipe and the vat to open, making the water gush out freely. The durability of the pipe decreased by quite a lot but it was within a manageable range. Checking the durability of the vats, its durability had also decreased by quite a lot.

The water soon filled the tub and again making a pipe added the cold water to maintain acceptable temperate. After finishing one side, Raito did the same on the other side.

"Bath in the middle of the training ground, it's like we are on a vacation." Ino said as she played with water.

"It's because of Raito-san." Hinata who was at a corner said.

"Yeah, he can do so much." Ino said softly. The looking at the divider she shouted, "Raito, thanks."

"What, what did you say, Ino? I didn't hear you." Raito from the other side replied back feigning that he didn't hear anything.

Ino then didn't say anything after that but she was fuming a bit.

Walking out of the bath, Raito stretched a bit and used chakra to remove excess water from himself. Feeling dissatisfied he said, "I want a jutsu to help me with all this."

"You want to fully rely on jutsu? Maybe that's possible." Shikamaru who was still in the bath said.

"Nope, there must be someone lazy enough who has made it." wearing the jacket and outer pants he turned to Chōji and said, "I'll go around and get some banana. I feel like I have seen them not far from here. Kitchen utensils are inside on the right, kay?"

"Okay, Raito. But if you find some wild chicken and boars, note their location." Chōji said as he started getting out.

"Okay." Agreeing to Chōji Raito walked out directly running towards the opposite side.

Walking around, he looked left and right, slowly surveying the area. Trees, trees and more trees, everything around was only tree and nothing else. Using the skill 'Observe', Raito finally found what he was looking for.

[???]

'Hehe got you.'

"Hey ANBU-san, come out. I know you are there. Come out or I will start attacking." Hearing nothing and seeing that the ANBU was not responding to his threat, Raito weaved through a set of hand seals and activated his chakra. "Earth Release – Rock Fist."

Rocks appeared covering Raito's hand, the rock had a black color with shiny hue. "Sigh it looks like I have to really do it."

Walking in front of a tree, he punched through, making a hole in the tree. "See that ANBU-san, next I will hit where you are hiding."

Walking in front of the tree that had questions, Raito raised his hand, ready to strike. But his hand was caught, making him unable to move. The cat mask-wearing ANBU grabbed Raito's hand, sighing lightly, he asked, "What do you want?"

Angrily retracting his hand, he asked, "Why is Sakura here?"

"Because her team members have quit-"

"No, I am just asking why is she here and not anywhere else? Why do you have to bring her here?"

Looking at the boy in front of him, the ANBU sighed, "There was no reason."

Turning around Raito walked off huffing and puffing. Using chakra to reinforce his body, he quickly disappeared from the area.

The ANBU after sensing that Raito had gone quite a distance made a hand seal and activated his chakra. Slowly from his shoulder wood came froth to collecting at the side, making a similar looking wooden puppet, colors slowly filled the wooden pocket and the clone gained consciousness. Nodding at each other, one integrated with the tree and the other one followed Raito's direction.

The video ended and Raito woke up from his meditation. Looking around he saw that there was no one he could see, he jumped off from the stone and walked forward, ignoring everything else.

"Is he a Senju? Only the first Hokage had Wood release, even his brother, the Second Hokage, didn't have wood release. Then maybe brother or cousin of the Sannin, Senju Tsunade." Raito thought inwardly coming to various conclusions but by the end, the WIS stat didn't increase by a single point. Meaning that whatever theories he had made were false.

….

"Everyone fish is ready, set the table."

Two bananas, a bowl of mixed vegetable, a baked sweet potato and fish, berries and nuts. One plate had all this things.

Sitting on the chair made up of rock, everyone clapped hands and prayed for the food, "Thank you for the food."

Everyone ate fast, even the girls, from morning beside fruits they had not eaten anything much.

Burping Naruto and Chōji happily patted their stomach. Throwing the chopsticks at the fireplace, everyone rinsed their plates.

"Oi Shika did you guys learned about tree climbing chakra control exercise?" Raito asked as Ino and Shika would need more chakra control as compared to others.

"Yeah for the coming jutsus, we need more control so…."

"So how are you faring?" Raito asked in interest as he cut the bamboo in half, making two semi-circles.

"Just so-so, I only learned it a day before coming." Shikamaru replied as he poked holes in them.

"So you know something about it?"

"Yeah, you could say that." Raising his eyebrows, Shikamaru stared at Raito and asked, "Why are you asking so much?"

"We will be learning tree climbing tomorrow." Raito said as he placed the bamboo on the cave floor.

"It's just perfect." Placing the makeshift bed Raito made it so that the bamboo was attached firmly to the ground.

Jumping to the corner and fighting for the spot with Chōji, Raito announced, "My corner."

"Than this place is mine." Chōji with Raito by the side announced loudly. Sighing Shikamaru could only join, taking the place by Chōji's side.

The room turned dim and everyone was gathered in the cave, inside the room. Naruto could only be the border, Ino seeing the chance, she pushed Hinata to the border, then Ino and Sakura went to another corner.