How to Get Along with Satsuki

Naruto stood to one side, staring intently at Satsuki's fingers. Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger—he memorized the hand seal sequence, somewhat surprised.

He had only casually asked, "Can you teach me this ninjutsu?" yet Satsuki had unhesitatingly told him how to practice the Great Fireball Technique.

The reason was simple. Although the Uchiha Clan always touted this technique as one of their foundational ninjutsu,

the Great Fireball Technique was actually only a C-rank ninjutsu. Within Konoha's system, Chunin and Jonin could learn it after accumulating a little merit. If a ninja had talent for Fire Release, their supervising Jonin could even teach it directly.

Watching Satsuki practice seriously in profile, Naruto gradually figured out the trick to getting along with her. The Uchiha Clan revered strength in their bones, but he absolutely could not appear too much stronger than her—he needed to make her feel the pressure of competition while keeping it at a level where she could catch up if she worked harder.

If he put too much pressure on her...

Naruto glanced at Satsuki's tightly pressed lips. According to the original story, Sasuke had fallen into obsession and self-doubt precisely because the gap between him and Itachi had been too great. Satsuki did not yet have that obsession with revenge, so she probably would not repeat the same mistake, right?

Naruto slowly formed hand seals. As he completed the final seal, he clearly felt the Chakra within him begin to flow, gathering toward his mouth like a gentle stream.

It was going too smoothly...

The fluid circulation of Chakra secretly startled Naruto. Instinctively, he realized that if he unleashed it at full power now, the Great Fireball Technique he spat out would definitely become a fireball far larger than normal. That was clearly not something a beginner should be capable of.

In the Ninja World, most ninjas only had an affinity for Chakra of a single attribute. Just as he had been proficient in Wind Release in the original story, while Sasuke excelled at Fire Release and Lightning Release. In theory, one could learn ninjutsu of every attribute, but talent determined the upper limit.

In all of Konoha Village, only two ninjas currently mastered all five transformations: Hiruzen Sarutobi and Hatake Kakashi.

And right now, Naruto's Chakra was transforming into Fire Release with unusual obedience, as though it were an innate talent he had been born with. He immediately understood why—

It was the system reward, "Fire Release Chakra Adaptation and Mastery of Nature Transformation," at work.

Naruto quickly adjusted his Chakra output, deliberately suppressing most of its power. He took a sharp breath, then—

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

A fireball the size of a basketball surged from his mouth, solidifying in the air for a moment before slowly dispersing. Though he had intentionally controlled its power, this ninjutsu succeeding on his very first attempt still made Satsuki's eyes widen.

Satsuki's expression gradually grew solemn. So... this guy is a genius too?

Although Naruto's successful first attempt left her feeling frustrated, what concerned her even more was a rumor within the clan—when her sister had first used the Great Fireball Technique, the fireball she released had been dozens of meters in diameter.

After she returned home, her mother had gently comforted her, saying that under normal circumstances, ninjas needed a long period of practice before they could successfully perform a ninjutsu. Satsuki had already been a genius for succeeding on her first attempt; it was just that... her sister was an even more exceptional genius.

At that thought, Satsuki's small chest rose and fell slightly as her fingers once again formed the hand seals. Her eyes shone with stubborn resolve as she made up her mind to successfully perform the complete Great Fireball Technique through practice.

Naruto observed Satsuki's serious profile. He knew it was time for him to make his move.

To become an outstanding ninjutsu artillery platform, the key was the proper use of the Chakra within one's body.

Naruto recalled the lessons from the original story: first sense it, then extract it, then control its flow; nature transformation came afterward. Sense the existence of Chakra, extract a sufficient amount, and precisely control its flow—all ninjutsu was essentially meticulous control over Chakra. And to practice this kind of control, naturally, he would need that classic method.

"Satsuki," Naruto suddenly said, "I know a way to speed up learning ninjutsu. Do you want to try it with me?"

"A way?" Satsuki stopped forming seals and turned toward him, her eyes filled with confusion.

Naruto nodded mysteriously. "Yeah. I secretly learned it by watching those ninjas in the village. It's an excellent method for practicing flexible Chakra control."

Satsuki's eyes instantly lit up. The throwing practice Naruto had taught her last time had indeed worked remarkably well. With that successful experience, she trusted Naruto's suggestion a little more.

"Really?" Satsuki unconsciously leaned forward. "Then... then what do we do?"

"This method requires you to use your body to remember the feeling of using Chakra, so it might be pretty hard."

"But if you're a genius of the Uchiha Clan, this level of training definitely won't stump you, right?"

"Hmph!" Satsuki immediately straightened her back and put her small hands on her hips. "Of course! No matter what kind of training it is, it'll be easy for the power of the Uchiha!"

Satsuki's eyes sparkled with confidence, her lips curving slightly into a somewhat childish smile.

Seeing Satsuki like this, Naruto felt complicated emotions stir within him. If he did not know she was actually a gender-swapped version of Sasuke... he would definitely simply think this kid was really lovable.

Unlike the aloof Sasuke from the original story, the girl before him was lively and tsundere. The reason was obvious—Satsuki was currently living in a happy family, whereas Sasuke in the original story had experienced the massacre of his entire clan from the moment he appeared, personally witnessing his beloved older brother slaughter everyone in the clan...

To become merely aloof after such a blow instead of turning into a psychopath—should that be called exceptionally strong mental resilience?

Naruto shook off these thoughts and led Satsuki into the forest.

"Watch closely. This is how it's done." Naruto formed the Tiger seal with both hands, closed his eyes, and sensed the flow of Chakra within him. He imagined the energy as a trickling stream, slowly gathering at the soles of his feet.

A faint burst of air rippled out from around Naruto's feet. Under Satsuki's astonished gaze, he slowly lifted one foot and firmly stepped onto the vertical tree trunk—Naruto actually walked straight up the trunk!

"W-What?!" Satsuki's eyes widened. "You climbed straight up using only your feet?!"

Naruto steadily walked up the thick trunk. When he reached about one-third of its height, he suddenly pulled a kunai from his ninja tool pouch and neatly carved a mark into the bark.

"Done!" He pushed hard against the trunk with both feet, then landed steadily with a beautiful backflip.

Satsuki stared without blinking at the fresh mark on the tree, then looked at Naruto's relaxed expression. "Can you only hold on until there?"

"That's right." Naruto explained, "The key is to precisely concentrate Chakra in the soles of your feet, making them stick to the trunk like suction cups. As long as you can flexibly control the flow of Chakra, anyone can do it."

"Can this kind of tree-climbing practice really make someone stronger?"

Naruto decided to borrow Kakashi's explanation from the original story. "Of course. Simply put, this training teaches you to control Chakra precisely. The Chakra extracted by ordinary ninjas is often wasted in unnecessary places. This practice is about using the most appropriate amount in the places where it's needed..."

Seeing Satsuki's expression gradually become focused, he continued, "Even excellent ninjas find it difficult to control Chakra perfectly. The amount of Chakra needed for tree climbing is especially delicate, and the soles of your feet... they're said to be the hardest part of the body in which to gather Chakra."

"As long as you master this kind of control," Naruto said with a confident smile, "learning any ninjutsu in the future will be twice as effective with half the effort!"

Children's thoughts were still relatively simple, and Satsuki did not consider how Naruto could have learned such a detailed training method merely by eavesdropping.

"Alright! Then I'll try it too!"

Satsuki's clear voice echoed through the forest. She pulled a kunai from her ninja tool pouch, formed hand seals, and focused completely on sensing the flow of Chakra within her body.

Naruto reminded her from the side, "First, let your body remember this feeling. At the beginning, you can practice with a running start."