As soon as Naruto finished speaking, the expression on Sasuke's clone froze. At first, he thought Naruto was deliberately trying to rub salt in his wounds.
But after thinking it over, it didn't really seem like that was Naruto's intention. Soon, Naruto walked back down the tree trunk the same way he'd climbed up. Sasuke's clone seemed to come to a decision, taking two steps forward and asking with a serious face:
"Is this tree-climbing training the same as the walking-on-water technique you used before?"
Naruto's eyes glinted as he replied, "More or less, yeah. But walking on water is a lot harder than climbing trees."
Sasuke's clone nodded thoughtfully, still keeping a straight face. "So what's the point of this training?"
Naruto gave him a curious look. "Your expression doesn't match your question at all. No need to be shy. I'll show you how to practice in a minute. It's not some high-level jutsu or anything."
"But hey—congrats. At least you've learned to pretend like you don't care."
A trace of awkwardness flickered across Sasuke's clone's face.
He had wanted to ask about the training method the moment Naruto walked up the tree, but he was worried he'd come off as too eager and end up getting looked down on. In the end, all he could do was blurt out something awkward.
Naruto didn't bother addressing his pride issues. He simply pointed to his foot and said, "This exercise is pretty straightforward. The key is focusing your chakra into the soles of your feet and using it to stick to the tree trunk."
"Seriously? That simple?"
Sasuke's clone looked skeptical.
Naruto chuckled. "Yep, it's really that simple. But don't expect to be as good as me right away—it takes practice."
"Now, let me answer your earlier question: what's the point of all this?"
Sasuke's clone froze again. At this point, he felt Naruto didn't even need to explain anymore—once he succeeded in training, he'd find out on his own.
But Naruto continued anyway. "Right now, your chakra control is pretty rough. You can't mold or regulate it properly. That leads to chakra being wasted whenever you use jutsu, and the techniques themselves end up weaker. This training is designed to help you gain fine control over your chakra."
"For example, once you master this, you'll be able to make more Shadow Clones, and your Sharingan will stay active for longer."
Sasuke's clone's expression lit up with excitement.
He already knew that training with Shadow Clones would feed the experience back to the original body. If he could increase the number of clones, wouldn't that speed up his progress?
Just thinking about Naruto's dozens of Shadow Clones training in the forest got him all fired up—but with Naruto standing right there, he was a little too embarrassed to start right away.
Noticing the shift in his mood, Naruto said, "Alright then, I'll leave you to it."
He turned and began walking out of the forest—only to be stopped after two steps.
"Can you help me summon another clone?" Sasuke's clone asked suddenly. "I want to have him go practice water-walking at the Nanga River."
Naruto turned back and gave him a meaningful look. "Sounds like you're feeling confident. But let me remind you: water-walking and tree-climbing require different levels of control."
"As you saw, a tree is solid and stationary. When climbing, you only need to maintain a steady chakra flow to stick to it."
"But water-walking is a bit more complex. It requires you to constantly release chakra through your feet in just the right amount to keep yourself from sinking. Since water is always moving, you'll need to constantly adjust the chakra output."
Sasuke's clone frowned. That meant he couldn't train both at the same time. Well, having another clone continue the tree-climbing would still be useful.
But why did Naruto give him that weird look?
He was sure Naruto had just given him that "are you an idiot?" expression again. Did he do something wrong? But he hadn't even started yet.
Where did he mess up?
Sasuke's clone couldn't figure it out. By then, Naruto was already gone, and he had no chance to ask.
Not long after, another clone appeared before him.
Over at the Ninja Academy, class had just ended. Shikamaru yawned and slowly wandered over to Naruto in the corner—though he didn't know it was just one of Naruto's clones.
"Hey Naruto, did the Hokage approve your early graduation request?"
"No," Naruto replied calmly. "The Hokage said it's peacetime, so there's no need for early graduation. Plus, he said there's no available jōnin instructor to guide me right now. The previous graduating class already got assigned, and I can't just be slotted in."
"Didn't you already expect that answer?"
Shikamaru leaned back against the wall, arms crossed behind his head, and sighed. "My dad and I did visit the Hokage's office that day, but he only asked me a few things about how you've been doing. After that, he ignored me. Even my dad didn't know how it turned out."
"Honestly, I was kind of hoping the Hokage wouldn't approve your request."
Naruto narrowed his eyes. "What are you afraid of?"
Shikamaru's expression turned serious. "After my dad and I got home, we discussed it. If your application had been approved, the Hokage might've made me apply for early graduation too."
Naruto gave him a strange look. "What's so bad about graduating early? Don't you find school boring? And even if you did graduate, it's not like we'd necessarily be put on the same team."
"Yeah, but still…" Shikamaru shook his head. "My dad just had me finish writing up a report on everything you've done lately. It's probably already been submitted to the Hokage's office. You know he's had a long-term assignment lined up for me for a while now."
"School might be boring, but at least it's easy. Once we graduate, we'll have to start running missions with a jōnin sensei. That kind of troublesome life isn't what I want."
Naruto smiled. "You really are an honest friend."
Soon, it was time for lunch break.
Back in the grove, in the mirror dimension, Naruto was locked in a fierce battle with the Third Hokage when he got a warning from Kurama.
Thwack-thwack-thwack!
Snapping out of it, he heard the sharp sound of kunai launching from a crossbow. Sasuke, who had taken a hit to the chest and tanked it with his armor, was crouched on a stone platform. Only two Shadow Clones remained nearby, practicing shuriken-throwing techniques at the target range.
"Damn it!"
Sasuke growled in frustration and jumped off the platform, ready to climb back up again.
Using his sensory ability, Naruto quickly figured out that Sasuke had sent the other five clones deep into the forest to train tree-climbing.
Understanding the situation, Naruto felt it was time for Sasuke to confront an important truth.
Poof-poof-poof!
He dispelled his own Shadow Clones.
Sasuke, in the middle of loading another kunai, looked over in confusion. He didn't understand why Naruto had just released his clones.
"Aren't you going to eat? Your school clone barely used any chakra in class, but your current ones are nearly maxed out. They're about to hit their limit."
Only then did Sasuke realize what was going on. Without thinking, he immediately dispelled all of his clones—and instantly clutched his head, collapsing to the ground with a thud.
Naruto created another Shadow Clone to stay behind, then his real body used the Transformation Jutsu and quietly slipped away.
Half an hour later, Sasuke groggily woke up. After a while, he staggered to his feet, clutching his head and leaning against the stone platform.
"Ow… my head…"
The Naruto clone nearby said casually, "Now you know how many bowls of rice you can really handle."
To be continued...
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