Thinking that,
Kakashi glared fiercely at Zabuza when his mind returned to his body.
"!" Zabuza!
Zabuza had already been intimidated by Kakashi's simplified twelve-hand-sign Water Dragon Bullet, which was twice as large.
He was clearly the one who specialized in Water Release. What gave Kakashi, that copycat, the right to do it even better than the original?
As he thought that, he realized Kakashi had started forming hand signs again.
"Rooster—Ox—Horse—Snake—Rat—Tiger—Dog—Tiger—Snake—"
Ten hand signs.
Water Dragon Bullet 2 appeared.
Two dragons now stood there.
But Tobirama required eight hand signs to pass.
"Rooster—Ox—Horse—Snake—Rat—Tiger—Dog—"
Kakashi could only keep practicing.
Water Dragon Bullet 3 appeared.
Tobirama Senju: You're proud after just eight hand signs? I did it with four. Did I say anything?
Minato Namikaze...
Fine.
So Kakashi continued simplifying the hand signs, risking overexertion.
Meanwhile,
Kitahara Kaede, Naruto, and Sasuke were already sitting side by side.
In a small group, having a common enemy could bring people together.
Having a common goal could also bring people together.
But there was another exceptional scenario that could unite people: sitting down together to watch the drama unfold.
Thus, amid Kakashi's self-torture from poor student to Dead Last to average to ordinary to elite, Team 7's three students grew closer.
No one knew how much time had passed.
Perhaps because he had been pushed too hard, Kakashi Hatake transcended himself in an instant.
"Rat—Dragon—Rabbit—Tiger—"
His hands formed four signs in 1.5 seconds.
And once those four signs were complete—
"Roar—"
A water dragon shot into the sky.
Zabuza raised his head in shock.
Again?!
But the massive water dragon had already crashed down, trapping him instantly.
Water Dragon Bullet showdown... Dead Last Zabuza, defeated!
Kakashi Hatake formed a total of hand seals.
During this process, he consumed twenty-one Soldier Pills.
For ordinary rookie Genin, this time had brought them a great deal of knowledge.
1. Soldier Pills were made by specialized Medical Ninjas. Eating one could provide enough energy to go without food for a short period of time, while rapidly replenishing Chakra.
2. Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet did not require forty-four hand signs. The correct number was twelve. Forty-four hand signs were for poor students.
3. Eight hand signs for Water Dragon Bullet could be considered passing.
4. Four hand signs for Water Dragon Bullet were top-tier. Currently, the only person capable of this was the Second Hokage, Tobirama.
5. The Second Hokage of Konoha... no, the Second Hokage had made a contract with Ocean. Even in places without water, he could unleash large-scale ninjutsu as magnificent as those used near water.
6. The Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, was suspected of having come from Kirigakure...
Kitahara Kaede and the other two stood frozen in place and began taking notes.
Their Jonin Instructor, Kakashi Hatake, had already collapsed from lack of Chakra. According to him, he needed to lie down for more than half a day before recovering.
"Being a ninja really is dangerous," Naruto confirmed once more.
"Becoming a top-tier ninja is difficult," Sasuke Uchiha said, sinking into despair as well.
He had hatred to avenge, but his own strength had never improved.
And now, after watching the one-sided battle between Zabuza and Teacher Kakashi, he immediately realized how shallow his own abilities were.
How could someone as weak as him possibly defeat his older brother, who had been called a genius since childhood?
Kakashi could now form four signs in 1.5 seconds and unleash Water Dragon Bullet, but according to Sasuke's understanding, his older brother, Itachi Uchiha... also possessed Water-nature Chakra.
And Itachi was a genius. Back then, he could use any ninjutsu after seeing it once.
So... his brother could also unleash Water Dragon Bullet with four hand signs.
"Life—" Sasuke Uchiha began spiraling into despair.
Meanwhile, Kitahara Kaede took out a palm-sized notebook he carried with him and began writing.
Naruto glanced over and saw what was written inside.
[Ninjutsu usage is related to Chakra control and hand signs. Once proficiency reaches the extreme, hand signs can be omitted.
They can even be used without hand signs.]
This was the note Kitahara Kaede wrote after seeing Teacher Kakashi collapse from exhaustion.
"So that means..." Naruto grew interested. "I might be able to simplify ninjutsu too, and then cast them instantly?"
"That's possible," Kitahara Kaede said.
Naruto was the protagonist of the original story, and he was also an all-forgiving saint. Protagonists like that came with built-in cheats.
However, Naruto was not particularly intelligent, so he had never developed in those directions. If he was nudged toward them, perhaps he could grow even more.
"Then I want to try it!" Naruto immediately became excited.
"If I can simplify the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu, wouldn't I be able to instantly summon a whole bunch of clones to fight?"
"Then it'll be many versus one. That should have an unexpected effect, right?"
It certainly would be unexpected.
You think there's only one of me? Actually, there's a whole crowd of us!
This was a combat style suited for people with abundant Chakra.
"However, I suggest that you improve your own Taijutsu first," Kitahara Kaede said.
"After all, Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu creates copies based on your original body."
"Mm-hm—" Naruto thought that made perfect sense.
Or rather, he felt that everyone in the village disliked him, hated him, and even harbored ill will toward him.
But from Kitahara Kaede, he had received warmth and respect.
So he trusted his training method.
And besides...
After discovering that he could use ninjutsu freely, Naruto had a feeling that he might become stronger.
And if he became stronger, strong enough, then he could protect the people he cared about.
The first of them would be Kitahara, who had helped him.
"I understand." Naruto nodded.
He formed hand signs, and ten Narutos rushed into the Three Rooms and a Hall created by Kitahara Kaede.
There were three men inside.
More precisely, Zabuza and his two Rogue Ninja Chunin subordinates.
Originally, only the two Chunin had been locked inside as a training room for rookie Genin. But Zabuza had been blasted away by Kakashi's eight Water Dragon Bullets, so naturally, Zabuza had been added to the room.
"..." Zabuza.
"..." Rogue Ninja Subordinates x2.
"Uzumaki Naruto is back again!"
"If you've got the guts, come in with your real body instead of using Shadow Clones!"
"Let us rest for a while!"
The room became very lively.
As Rogue Ninjas from Kirigakure, Zabuza and the other two had never imagined that one day they would become... targets for someone else's training.
Outside the door, Naruto's original body sat quietly in meditation, waiting to collect the experience from his Shadow Clones being destroyed.
His Taijutsu was not strong, but he discovered that doing this really did make him improve.
And... he was improving very quickly.
If he had to evaluate it... then he had probably already reached the level of an elite Chunin.
This progress could practically be called... miraculous speed!
Observing Kitahara Kaede (^_-) Minato Namikaze: Naruto is working so hard. I can feel how desperately he wants to become stronger. Hashirama Senju: I can feel him becoming stronger too. By the way, this method is incredible. Hashirama Senju: This is the first time I've realized that a ninja's Taijutsu can be trained like this. I want to learn it too! Tobirama Senju: Same here. I originally thought Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu was meant for espionage, but I never expected it could also be used to train Taijutsu. Tobirama Senju: Kitahara Kaede's Taijutsu training method is powerful! If it could be widely promoted, Konoha's combat strength could increase by at least twofold!
Tobirama praised him.
Kakashi had already passed out from lack of Chakra, but that did not matter. His mind could still enter the small group.
Minato Namikaze: Sasuke looks a little pitiful over there, desperately chugging Soldier Pills.
Everyone turned their attention toward Sasuke Uchiha.
They could see Naruto's Taijutsu experience increasing rapidly, all thanks to the effects of Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu.
But Sasuke did not have enough Chakra, so he could not learn Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu. Naturally, he could not cheat like Naruto.
Although he tried using Soldier Pills, Soldier Pills could only replenish Chakra, not increase it. So... he still could not reach the required amount of Chakra for Shadow Clone Jutsu.
In the end,
After watching Naruto constantly enter that room containing only three men, then emerge stronger each time...
Sasuke stood up.
"Kitahara!"
Sasuke walked up to Kitahara Kaede. "I graduated first in my class from the Ninja Academy."
"That's just an empty title."
Before you continue