The Current Situation After Three Months

Over the past three months, Naruto had led everyone in daily training. Their physical fitness had improved tremendously, and they had developed the good habit of training on their own.

Even after returning home exhausted every day, none of them slacked off. They all studied their family's secret techniques.

Inuzuka Kiba had already begun learning his family's secret techniques: humans turning into dogs, dogs turning into humans, humans and dogs turning into dogs together, humans and dogs turning into humans together. It truly was a profound field of study.

Aburame Shino had been the first among them to come into contact with his clan's secret techniques. From birth, members of the Aburame Clan were destined to deal with insects. They had to enter into a clan contract, using their own bodies as nests for Kikaichū and controlling the insects in battle.

So from the very first time he met Naruto, Shino had already had many insects living inside him.

Yamanaka Ino not only trained with Naruto, but also studied her family's secret technique after returning home: the Mind Body Switch Technique.

Members of the Yamanaka Clan excelled at controlling their enemies' minds. They could invade and read the memories of the dead, and they also possessed the special ability to transmit information to their companions, along with powerful sensory abilities.

The Mind Body Switch Technique was an important secret technique passed down through their clan for generations.

Moreover, because Ino had a favorable impression of Naruto, she had followed her mother's suggestion and set aside plenty of time to learn flower arrangement. She hoped to show it off in front of Naruto and win his affection. Unfortunately, she was still in the practice stage and had nothing particularly impressive to show for it yet.

As the heir of the Akimichi Clan, Akimichi Choji had naturally already learned the clan's secret techniques, possessing the special ability to convert fat into massive amounts of Chakra. This also meant that Choji's appetite had been growing larger and larger. Even Naruto, without using some special abilities, truly could not out-eat Choji through appetite alone.

However, Naruto could transform food into energy within his body, accelerating its digestion. Naruto's body was incredibly powerful, so naturally, it could store enormous amounts of energy. If they really competed, Naruto could still win. Of course, Naruto would never say that aloud.

After all, eating was Choji's favorite thing. He treated it as his faith in life. He wanted to improve so badly, so Naruto would let him win once.

As for Nara Shikamaru, he had it the easiest among them. He trained with Naruto every day, yet he was also the biggest slacker of the group. Whenever Choji and Shino could no longer keep going, he would always, right on schedule, consciously decide that he was tired too.

What an intelligent flex-time arrangement. Just what one would expect from him. Naruto noticed, but he did not say anything. After all, that was simply Shikamaru's personality, and his clan was not known for combat to begin with. The Nara Clan was most famous for its high intelligence.

As a Strategist, it was perfectly normal for him not to fight personally. Still, although Shikamaru found it troublesome, under Nara Shikaku's pressure, he obediently learned the Shadow Binding Technique.

Never mind how it had been passed down; at least it had been passed down.

Every day after returning home, he would play chess with his father. He was living quite the comfortable life.

Sakura was the most ordinary civilian among them. Fortunately, Sakura's parents strongly supported her dream of becoming a ninja. After finishing her training with Naruto and returning home, Sakura would continue training on her own. Since her dream was to become a Medical Ninja, her Chakra control absolutely could not be weak.

Sakura's parents had also prepared many books on Chakra control for her to study. Sakura did have talent.

It was just that in the original story, Naruto and Sasuke had been by her side—two absurdly overpowered monsters—making Sakura seem somewhat mediocre.

But during the Ninja World War, Sakura's strength was indeed among the best of Konoha's Eleven. That alone showed that Sakura's talent was quite good.

Sakura did not disappoint her parents' expectations. She trained diligently at home as well, and her Chakra control had already become the strongest among them aside from Naruto.

Rock Lee was still the same as before. After training with Naruto, he would train with Might Guy.

Might Guy truly treated Rock Lee very well. After all, this was before graduation and team assignments, so Might Guy had not yet become Rock Lee's jonin instructor.

Rock Lee had met Might Guy entirely by chance. When Might Guy saw Rock Lee, he seemed to see his younger self. That was why he chose to take Rock Lee as his disciple.

When guiding Rock Lee in taijutsu, he held nothing back. He cared for Rock Lee with utmost dedication.

He treated him even better than his own child! Though Might Guy still had not found a partner.

As for Sasuke, there was much to say. As time passed and he spent more and more time around Naruto, the Indra Chakra within Sasuke had begun to reveal itself.

Not only had his speed of extracting Chakra increased greatly, but his talent for ninjutsu and taijutsu had also gradually emerged.

When Fugaku Uchiha saw Sasuke's talent, he exclaimed that the Uchiha Clan's revival was within reach. His sons Sasuke and Itachi both had the makings of Hokage!

Under Fugaku Uchiha's guidance, Uchiha Itachi and Sasuke improved at an astonishing pace. There was no need to say much about Itachi. At the age of four, Uchiha Itachi had experienced the cruelty of the ninja world. He killed a ninja who had ambushed him and tasted the weight of life.

At five, he protected the infant Sasuke during the Nine-Tails' Rampage.

At six, he entered the Ninja Academy.

At seven, he graduated at an unbelievable speed.

At eight, the occurrence of a tragedy awakened his legendary Sharingan.

The mission given to eight-year-old Itachi was to protect hostages, but the people he was protecting were also Obito's targets. Eight-year-old Itachi had no choice but to exchange a few moves with the Obito of that time. Obito already possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan, and Itachi's team was no match for him at all.

In the end, Obito killed Itachi's teammates. In order to protect Itachi, one of his teammates charged toward Obito and told Itachi to run. Seeing his close friend die before his eyes, eight-year-old Itachi awakened the Sharingan.

At ten, he became the first genius in Konoha ninja history to pass the Chunin Exams alone.

This year, Sasuke was six, while Itachi was already eleven. Itachi had successfully joined the Anbu and had gained some renown within its ranks. He was a genius among geniuses.

Under the guidance of Fugaku Uchiha and Itachi, Sasuke had successfully learned the Uchiha Clan's most famous technique: Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique.

Other than that, Fugaku only had Sasuke practice more taijutsu and the Great Fireball Technique.

Because he understood that truly powerful ninja were not those who used the strongest ninjutsu, but those who could unleash world-destroying effects even with low-level techniques, just like the legendary Uchiha Madara.

Although he had only learned one ninjutsu and quite a bit of taijutsu, Sasuke was still among the strongest of Konoha's Eleven. As for whether he ranked second, third, or fourth, it was hard to say without comparing them.

That only left Hinata. Hinata was the eldest legitimate daughter of the Main Family of the Hyuga Clan, one of Konoha's great clans. In the future, she would be the one to inherit the Hyuga Clan.

Therefore, Hyuga Hiashi was extremely strict with Hinata. He required her to train in the Gentle Fist every day. Though she could not yet awaken the Byakugan, training was indispensable.

Of course, Hyuga Hiashi only wanted Hinata to possess strength worthy of the Main Family's eldest legitimate daughter. He was not abusing her. After every training session, the medicinal baths arranged for her were never lacking. Naturally, Hinata did not accumulate many hidden injuries.

Hinata's younger sister, Hanabi Hyuga, had also been born. She was five years younger than Hinata. Originally, Hyuga Hiashi had considered her a backup in case Hinata could not inherit the Hyuga Clan.

But now, Hinata's performance had been quite encouraging. Under Naruto's influence, Hinata's originally shy personality had improved somewhat. Hinata had never truly been a weak girl. On the contrary, she understood better than most ninja what the Nindo of never giving up truly meant!

Thus, through Hinata's efforts, she improved remarkably quickly. Though she still could not compare to the Hyuga Clan's true genius—the child of Hyuga Hiashi's younger brother, Hizashi Hyuga—the one countless people called Konoha's Caged Bird, Neji Hyuga!

Neji had displayed astonishing talent since childhood and had been quite close to Hinata when they were young. When Hinata was three years old, the Main Family placed a curse mark on his forehead to restrain the Branch Family's power. This curse mark would only disappear when the person bearing it died.

That was the Caged Bird. From then on, Neji was bound by the Main Family and was no longer as close to Hinata.

Later, when Hinata was three, Kumogakure ninja infiltrated Konoha in an attempt to kidnap her and obtain the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan. Hiashi of the Hyuga Main Family used the Byakugan to counterattack Kumogakure and reclaim Hinata.

This worsened the relationship between Kumogakure and Konoha, indirectly provoking a war. To avoid it, Konoha made a deal with Kumogakure. Kumogakure demanded that Konoha hand over the corpse of Hinata's father, Hiashi, and Konoha was forced to accept Kumogakure's terms.

An elder of the Hyuga Clan proposed handing over the corpse of Hizashi from the Branch Family as Hiashi's substitute. Before his death, Hizashi told Hiashi, "Please tell Neji that I was not killed to protect the Main Family. I died to protect my own older brother and the village." Thus, Hizashi was killed as Hiashi's substitute.

It was precisely because of his father's death that Neji maintained a pessimistic belief in fate and clung stubbornly to the idea of destiny.

Neji harbored resentment toward Hyuga Hiashi and Hinata. Although he remained respectful toward them on the surface, anyone with eyes could see the dissatisfaction in his heart.

As someone with true talent, he had been branded with the restrictive Caged Bird merely because he belonged to the Branch Family. Meanwhile, the talentless Hinata of his childhood was able to sacrifice his father to preserve Hizashi Hyuga simply because she belonged to the Main Family.

Neji often came to pick Hinata up and take her home, so Naruto had many chances to meet him.

Naruto wanted to strike up a conversation with Neji and hoped Neji could join them in training, so they might have a chance to change their future fate.

But Neji's distant attitude made it impossible for Naruto to find an opening. It was the first time Heavenly Mouth had encountered someone it could not persuade.

But if one attempt did not work, he could just try a few more times. Neji might be stubborn as a mule, but the power of his Heavenly Mouth was not weak either.

They would see who was stronger!

Naruto himself had gained even more. Not only had he mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique, but he had also improved upon it, developing a Flying Thunder God Technique that allowed him to move without physical technique formulas. He had also unlocked Kurama's seal and could skillfully wield Kurama's Chakra.

In his normal state, Naruto could activate his two-tomoe Sharingan and Byakugan. Combined with his special bloodline power, he was already comparable to an Elite Jonin.

Not to mention his troublesome Flying Thunder God Technique and the Rasengan that had already become ingrained in his bones.

The combat power he could display was comparable to ten—or even nine—ordinary jonin.

If he also used the Nine-Tails' Chakra, then even though he could not yet enter Tailed Beast Transformation, beating Hiruzen Sarutobi around would be more than easy.

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