The first six months of school life continued like this.
After six months, Adachi Genki had to report the class's progress to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
He arrived at the Hokage Office at the appointed time and knocked on the door.
After being permitted to enter, he walked into the room and respectfully said,
“Hokage-sama.”
Hiruzen nodded and asked,
“How is your class doing? Are there any particularly gifted students?”
Genshu replied,
“The progress is going very smoothly. While it’s still too early to draw conclusions, I believe most of these children will become elites among the Chunin, and a few might even become Jonin.”
Genshu continued,
“Senju Teru and Uchiha Rai are the most talented, Hyuga Hodaka and Hyuga Hana are also performing very well, and Shimura Shin is also quite good. The other three children from the three great clans—Senju, Uchiha, and Hyuga—as well as the sole Aburame clan member, are also doing acceptably.”
“Among the commoners, there have also been pleasant surprises. Suzuki Kazemasa from the orphanage is progressing quite quickly. I observed him briefly; he is very diligent and hardworking. He is definitely someone we should cultivate for the future. There is also another civilian child who is performing exceptionally well, Aoki Noryo. The other children are also doing fine.”
“Overall, the talent of this batch of students is higher than the previous one.”
He said enthusiastically, but then sighed and added,
“It’s a pity there’s no one like Itachi in this class.”
Hiruzen nodded and said,
“That’s alright; we can’t expect to have someone like Itachi every year. However, your report still sounds very promising. If we can get a dozen Jonin over the next fifteen years, and the rest are Chunin-level, that would be sufficient, and it would already bring great help to the Village.”
“You’ve done very well; keep it up. Continue to be responsible for training this group into excellent Ninja for our Village.”
Genshu nodded and respectfully said,
“Yes, Hokage-sama.”
Then he exited the room.
After Genshu left, Hiruzen thought,
“It seems we are about to welcome another batch of excellent Ninja. Also, to think we have another diligent orphan. I wonder how his story will unfold.”
Genshu’s praise for Feng Zheng was more than adequate.
Feng Zheng had made significant progress over these six months, even exceeding Genshu’s assessment.
After all, even Genshu didn’t know that Feng Zheng spent most of his time systematically training, even at home.
The most important progress was in Feng Zheng’s ability to shape Chakra using Hand Seals.
His speed finally reached an acceptable level, and he could complete six random Hand Seals consecutively.
He decided it was time to start learning basic Ninjutsu.
In Earth Release transformation, he successfully crushed rocks.
Clay shaping also progressed smoothly.
He could now manipulate clay freely and partially harden it, but not yet completely.
Feng Zheng found that his progress with Earth Release was much slower than with Wind Release.
However, this was understandable, as his Chakra nature was Wind.
Feng Zheng also successfully used his Wind Release to leave deep cuts on stones.
In terms of Taijutsu, he adapted well to the school’s style.
He often sparred with Senju Teru, Hyuga Hodaka, and Uchiha Rai at school and could now rank among the top four.
Senju Teru, in particular, had somewhat become Feng Zheng’s sparring partner.
During matches, he also noticed that his stamina was very high among his classmates.
Only Senju Teru could match his stamina.
He didn't know if this was because his body was trained more, or if his Chakra was also higher than others.
After all, it made sense for Senju Teru, being from the Senju Clan, to have a higher Chakra level.
Shuriken throwing also progressed smoothly.
He could hit the target with all six Shuriken using his right hand, although not all hit the bullseye.
But throwing with his left hand still needed some practice; he could only hit four out of six with his left hand.
He decided to increase his training until he could consistently hit the bullseye with both hands.
Then he could try throwing while running.
In the weekly Shuriken throwing competitions, Feng Zheng had slowly climbed into the top ten.
Perhaps the most surprising thing was that he managed to pop a water balloon about four months after school started.
After that, he moved on to rubber balls, but this proved very difficult for him.
He felt it would take him several years to successfully pop it.
The lessons proceeded in a similar fashion.
The initial enthusiasm had faded, but the competition among students intensified significantly.
A 'proud' Uchiha Rai turned into a 'grumpy' Uchiha Rai.
Although he was excellent, he was clearly not Itachi.
In Shuriken throwing, he was on par with Teru, and others were slowly able to hit the center target with all six Shuriken.
And in Taijutsu, Senju Teru and Hyuga Hodaka were both stronger than him, while Feng Zheng and Hyuga Hana were about the same as him.
Even in class, Hyuga Hana and Senju Teru often surpassed him.
Overall, Senju Teru was clearly better than him, and Hyuga Hana was on the same level as him.
Feng Zheng wondered,
“Can this jealousy unlock the Sharingan? Or does there have to be a major impact, like someone’s death, to unlock it?”
Well, Feng Zheng really hoped he could unlock his Sharingan, and gaining some combat experience by fighting against someone with the Sharingan would certainly be very helpful.
Putting those thoughts aside, Feng Zheng also had his own troubles.
His morning physical training had become monotonous.
He had fully adapted to these exercises and didn't know how to increase the difficulty without increasing the training time.
Well, it was wrong to say he didn't know any methods; he did know one method, which was to add weights.
But he didn't know if restricting his body with weights when he was not yet seven years old would cause any problems.
He had already inquired about the price of weights.
After six months of saving, Feng Zheng had accumulated over 1200 Ryo and was capable of purchasing lighter weights.
After some thought, he decided to consult Genshu.
Unlike other matters, there was nothing to hide about his physical training.
Because he usually performed it in public, anyone paying a little attention would notice it.
So one day, after class, he sought help from Genshu.
He described his problem to his teacher.
Genshu thought for a moment and demonstrated several slightly more difficult exercises for him.
He also helped Feng Zheng devise a new training plan.
Seeing the new plan, Feng Zheng politely thanked his teacher, while thinking to himself,
“Hmm, this is really helpful. I should have asked him sooner! He’s genuinely enthusiastic about helping me. But then again, I believe even this training will become comfortable for me again in a few months.”
So, after thanking him, he asked again,
“Teacher, would it be alright if I added weights to make the exercises a bit harder?”
Genshu was startled by the question and asked seriously,
“Where did you learn about weights?”