Youngsters Striving on Their Own

"Dōmeki-senpai!!!"

When Naruto Uzumaki was caught in the act by an acquaintance who was boasting about surpassing his predecessor, even he blushed for a moment. But the next moment, he immediately pointed at Dōmeki and loudly announced his vow to surpass his senior.

Unlike Jiraiya's secret admiration, Dōmeki looked at Naruto, who was always optimistic and full of fighting spirit, and felt a little disappointed.

It is unknown whether this boy, burdened with the destiny of the child, has had his mind influenced and distorted by the so-called Chakra of Asura.

After all, even the most optimistic and kind person cannot suppress the dark side so completely and irrationally. Based on this, if it were Dōmeki himself, he would most likely also embark on the path known as Uzumaki Menma.

"Jiraiya-sensei, please teach me the Summoning Technique of Mount Myōboku!"

Naruto Uzumaki bowed earnestly to his teacher, Jiraiya, who solemnly asked him to record his name in the contract scroll of Mount Myōboku.

The so-called Summoning Technique is merely a C-rank Ninjutsu in terms of difficulty, but its nature as Space-Time Ninjutsu is quite wondrous, as exemplified by the Second Hokage who mastered the Summoning Technique.

From being able to summon contracted beasts, to summoning various ninja tools, puppets, and even humans, it was eventually developed by a certain white-haired sea-style ninja to the point of summoning the dead!

Dōmeki also combined the Ryūchi Cave clan's Earth Summoning Technique and Super Electromagnetic Release to develop Ninjutsu similar to the Flying Thunder God Technique— Lightning Serpent Escape!

However, Summoning Technique are greatly limited by the ninja's own Chakra reserves and the strength of the summoned beasts they can access.

From simply trained crows, cats, and dogs, to animals with Chakra and special abilities that rival human intelligence, the most elite are powerful clans such as the Three Great Sage Regions and the Enma clan.

Summoning Technique is also a great way for most ninjas with a particularly strong attribute to cooperate with their partners. Kakashi Hatake's ability to raise Eight Ninja Hounds already makes him one of the best among summoning beasts.

Under the Dōmeki, who was perched on Gamachu's head Jiraiya, and Naruto, full of confidence, slowly formed the hand seals for the Summoning Technique!

"Hai-Xu-You-Shen-Wei, Ninja Art Summoning Technique!"

As Naruto bit his finger and slammed it hard on the ground, the incantation for the Summoning Technique spread out on the ground.

Immediately, white smoke filled the air, and what appeared was a lively tadpole!

Watching the tiny, yellowish-brown tadpoles hopping around with eyes the size of rice beans, Jiraiya felt a bead of cold sweat trickle down his forehead, and his eyes twitched incessantly!

A newborn child is summoned; won't it get beaten up by the Toad of Mount Myōboku?

"Wow? I think this tadpole will probably become a shameful Summoning Technique along with Naruto in just a few years!"

Dōmeki immediately applauded Naruto's brilliant performance. If he remembered correctly, this tadpole was probably Gamakichi later became Toad!

During the Fourth Shinobi World War, the handsome Toad could hold his own against the Ten-Tails' clones was a true companion to Naruto and his younger brother Gamatatsu, growing up from tadpoles.

"Fool!"

Jiraiya tapped Naruto on the head, feeling despair at having such a stupid disciple. Minato had successfully summoned the Toad of Mount Myōboku on his first try, this inheritance was completely off track!

"Summoning Technique... Summoning Technique... Summoning Technique..."

Following Jiraiya's instructions, Naruto Uzumaki continuously gathered Chakra, which also allowed Dōmeki to fully understand the diversity of the tadpoles of Mount Myōboku.

As dusk approached, Jiraiya cover his forehead in despair.

"You have absolutely no talent!"

"No, there's still progress!" Dōmeki lifted a tadpole by its hind leg and showed it to Naruto with a smile.

"Hahaha, I really am a genius!"

Naruto stood smugly in front Jiraiya, hands on his hips, looking utterly ridiculous and infuriating. And what's more, he seemed vaguely familiar...?

"Wait a minute, I think that's exactly what I looked like back then!"

Jiraiya rubbed his forehead. No, he absolutely refused to believe that Naruto was like him when he was a child!

"This is completely impossible!" Jiraiya realized that he had completely underestimated the difficulty of teaching Naruto. As the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Naruto possessed two different Chakra, and Naruto weak Chakra control made using Summoning Technique even more difficult.

"I need to think of a way!" Jiraiya thought to himself.

Naruto, utterly exhausted, collapsed to the ground. "Dōmeki-senpai, you should also know Summoning Technique, right?"

After receiving a positive answer from Dōmeki, Naruto muttered a complaint, "Is the Summoning Technique really that difficult, or is Jiraiya-sensei's teaching just that bad?"

Dōmeki recalled that on his first summoning of Manda, he beat the raging creature that was clamoring to eat him half to death. From then on, Manda never responded to his summoning easily, to the point that the Summoning Technique had completely lost its meaning.

The red-haired boy nodded firmly, "Summoning Technique is indeed very difficult!"

Jiraiya's forehead veins bulged immediately as he roared at Naruto.

"I have a shortcut here. Naruto, are you prepared to risk your life to complete your training?"

Naruto immediately nodded in agreement, "Of course!"

"Then let's go eat some barbecue first!" Jiraiya a sinister smile. "And how about this boy comes along too?"

"What does eating barbecue have to do with risking your life?" Naruto was speechless.

"Of course, it's so you won't have any regrets before you die, Naruto! Don't you want to have a big meal before you die?" Jiraiya retorted seriously. "My next plans include soaking in a hot spring and confessing to the girl I like!"

"Confess?" Naruto's face turned bright red.

Jiraiya then turned his gaze to Dōmeki; this boy seemed quite interesting!

"Eh, is this really okay? My appetite is a little bit big!" Dōmeki smiled shyly.

"It's okay!" Jiraiya his mind, "Naruto will pay anyway!"

Just as Jiraiya invited Dōmeki to a brutal feast filled with blood and tears (Naruto), another intense training session continued on the other side of Konoha.

After Kakashi realized that Sasuke's Chakra nature was very similar to his own, Kakashi decided to teach his disciple the A-rank Lightning Release Ninjutsu that he had developed on his own.

"Given the dangerous nature of this Ninjutsu, Sasuke, you could lose an arm or even your life at any moment if you fail!"

Are you truly prepared to learn?

With a thousand birds chirping, a surge of lightning gathered in Kakashi Hatake's right hand as he solemnly gazed at Sasuke Uchiha, whose face was filled with longing.

The extreme speed and destructive power generated by physical activation!

"This is it!"

Listening to Kakashi explain the unique aspects of this Ninjutsu, Sasuke roared in his heart, "With this, even Dōmeki-senpai might not be without a fighting chance!"

Sasuke nodded slowly, earnestly swearing to Kakashi, "I will use this Ninjutsu to win the Chunin Ninja Exams!"

Kakashi looked at his disciple, who was full of determination, but he couldn't bring himself to say the warning, "That Dōmeki also knows this technique."

In Konoha, apart from a few people who didn't care at all, the young ninjas were all sweating it out in intense training!