Hearing that, Naruto instinctively recalled the painful time he had suffered before and hastily shook his head. "Sensei, let's start learning Nature Transformation instead!"
Hagoromo shook his head. "We're not going to learn it yet. I'm just giving you a basic understanding first."
With that, Hagoromo raised a hand and released a mass of Chakra. As he did, he said:
"Naruto, the Chakra in my hand right now has no elemental nature."
"But once I add the wind nature, I can compress the energy to a high degree and turn it sharp."
As Hagoromo spoke, he manipulated the Chakra in his hand, gradually adding the wind nature to it.
The Chakra, which had been swirling about chaotically, gradually compressed as the wind nature was added, forming something like a blade.
Hum—!
A blade of wind-natured Chakra formed directly in Hagoromo's hand, slicing through the air around it.
"Naruto, what do you think of the Chakra in my hand now?"
Hagoromo asked, looking at Naruto.
"It's dangerous."
Naruto instinctively took a small step back. He wasn't afraid, but the constantly cutting wind blade made him feel that he might get hurt by accident if he got any closer.
"That's right. In fact, this Chakra can already do some damage."
As he spoke, Hagoromo walked over to a rock and swung his raised hand down.
Bang—!
The wind blade in Hagoromo's hand sliced through the rock as easily as if it were tofu.
Gulp—
Naruto couldn't help swallowing as he looked at the rock that had been cut apart.
It can cut through rock like that, and I wanted to use it to chop vegetables?
Naruto felt that the idea he had just had was dangerous.
"Extreme compression gives it a cutting power that can break through anything, allowing it to penetrate a single point. If released, it can also suppress a wide area."
As he spoke, Hagoromo brought his fingers together and jabbed them at the ground, easily poking a small hole.
Then he opened his hand and pressed down sharply.
The Chakra in his hand burst out, and the entire training ground seemed to have been swept over by a powerful wind.
Sand and dust rolled outward across the ground, and the iron fences around them swayed as though they might topple in the wind.
"Did you understand?"
Only then did Hagoromo straighten up and look at Naruto.
Naruto lowered the hands he had used to shield himself from the dust and nodded.
He understood that although Hagoromo hadn't said much, he had been answering the two somewhat absurd questions Naruto had just asked.
Although wind-natured Chakra was mainly associated with cutting and sharpness, that didn't mean it lost its original, overwhelming force.
How it was used depended entirely on the user.
"I understand, Sensei!"
"Good. Tomorrow I'll bring some Chakra Paper to test your Chakra nature."
Hagoromo nodded. When teaching Naruto, sometimes no amount of talking was as quick as showing him a practical demonstration.
It was just that the wildly imaginative ideas Naruto came up with from time to time were a little hard to understand.
"For now, train hard with Shikamaru and the others. A strong body is also a good choice for a ninja."
Hagoromo pointed to Shikamaru and Choji, who were doing frog jumps not far away.
"No problem, Sensei!"
Naruto answered enthusiastically, then ran over to train with Shikamaru and Choji.
Hagoromo also came over to a spot near the group, looking at the sweat already forming on Shikamaru's and Choji's cheeks.
"Building up your body isn't something you can do overnight. I can't give you any special techniques for it, either."
"But developing your physique means you won't be left with only Ninjutsu or Genjutsu as a means of attack."
"After all, Taijutsu is also an essential skill for a ninja."
"With a strong body, you can also get twice the results with half the effort when training in Taijutsu."
Ino, who had already learned Tree Climbing, came over at that moment and raised her hand. "Sensei, but can't Ninjutsu and Genjutsu be used to suppress Taijutsu pretty easily?"
"Who told you that?"
Hagoromo asked Ino with a smile.
"Uh, that's just what I thought," Ino said, scratching her head a little sheepishly.
"Actually, you're right, but unless it's a large-scale Ninjutsu or a type suited to restraining an opponent..."
"Otherwise, a powerful ninja highly skilled in Taijutsu could easily deal with it by breaking through at a single point."
"That's why the Hyuga Clan can use Gentle Fist to stand against the great clans. Besides, Taijutsu isn't limited to Taijutsu alone. There's also Nintaijutsu, which combines it with Ninjutsu."
"As for the Genjutsu you mentioned, unless it's the kind that can be cast instantly, then Genjutsu involving the five senses or visual and auditory cues..."
"What do you think would happen?"
Hearing Hagoromo's words, Ino couldn't help but pause.
From what Sensei Hagoromo had said, it seemed there really wasn't a good way to deal with it. After all, only the Uchiha Clan could cast Genjutsu instantly.
An ordinary ninja might be dealt with at close range before they could even use their technique.
"Sensei, surely there aren't Taijutsu ninja that monstrous, are there?"
Ino was a little uncertain now. After all, as far as she knew, aside from those who used Ninjutsu and Genjutsu...
There were secret technique users like her and Shikamaru. Taijutsu-type ninja were rare.
"Not necessarily. Konoha used to have one, and there's another one now."
In the future... another one will appear.
Hagoromo said that directly in his heart.
After all, Rock Lee's debut really had amazed a lot of people. It was just that later on, everyone else had cheats.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have faded into obscurity like that.
"Before? Now?"
Ino's eyes instantly turned into dots. One would have been strange enough, but there were actually two?
"That's right. The current Jonin Might Guy is a pure Taijutsu-type ninja. The one from before was his father."
"Both of them are truly admirable ninja."
With that, Hagoromo pushed Ino forward. "All right, that's enough chatting. Go train with them."
Ino's expression turned a little bitter as she was pushed forward. She had only started chatting with her teacher because she didn't want to do this training.
Watching his students train with such enthusiasm, Hagoromo couldn't help smiling.
Grow quickly. Only when you've grown stronger can I become stronger.
Not far away, Naruto had already caught up and overtaken the others, leading the way at the front.
Behind him, Shikamaru and Choji watched Naruto, gritted their teeth, and kept going.
"Whoever finishes their training today, I'll treat you to the barbecue restaurant! All the grilled meat you can eat!"
Healthy competition didn't just need bonds to keep it going. Sometimes a little temptation worked too.
Sure enough, Choji's eyes lit up when he heard Hagoromo, and he gathered his strength and charged after Naruto.
He kept chanting, "Meat! Meat! I want meat!"
Shikamaru, who had fallen behind, wore a helpless expression.
But seeing Choji like that, he too gritted his teeth and chased after him.