Uchiha-style Taijutsu

Uchiha-style Taijutsu

The Third Hokage took a deep breath, closed the composition book, and said, "Iruka, Naruto already knows that he is the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. He has accepted his identity as the Demon Fox."

Hearing this, Iruka froze where he stood. Everything seemed to make sense now.

Naruto knew about and accepted his identity as a Jinchuriki, which was why he had become so withdrawn and negative. Aside from speaking with a handful of classmates, he refused to interact with anyone else.

Putting himself in Naruto's shoes, if he had known he was the Demon Fox, he would have been in an even worse state.

After pondering for a moment, Iruka said seriously, "Third Lord, even so, my opinion of Naruto remains unchanged. If his current state continues, it will only harm both him and the village."

The Third Hokage took out his pipe. Whenever he encountered a difficult problem, he always liked to smoke, as though it could numb him.

"Naruto's situation is giving me a headache too, but I don't have much time to deal with it. There are too many matters in the village that need my attention, so... could I trouble you to look after Naruto a little more?"

"That is my duty as a teacher..."

Iruka said somewhat awkwardly, "But educating a student also requires parental involvement. I alone am not enough... I still need help from you, Third Lord."

Hearing this, the Third Hokage sighed softly. "I will assist Teacher Iruka with his work. Still, it seems you have completely emerged from that shadow."

Iruka scratched his head. "Naruto may be a Jinchuriki, but it was the Nine-Tails that killed my parents. When I first met him, I did hate him somewhat. But after spending time with him, I could tell that he has not been assimilated by the Nine-Tails."

"I believe that, with time, the other people in the village will come to understand Naruto just as I have."

"After all, bringing every student who has gone astray back onto the right path is the duty of an excellent teacher."

"I hope so." The Third Hokage did not hold much hope for this. He did not believe the villagers could understand Naruto, nor did he believe Naruto could understand the villagers.

But as long as Naruto listened to him properly and trusted him, that was enough.

Still, it had indeed been a while since he had visited Naruto and strengthened their bond.

On the training ground.

Sasuke escaped the encirclement of girls and found Naruto hiding in a corner. He asked directly, "Naruto, how did you interrupt that ninjutsu?"

Naruto glanced at Sasuke and said indifferently, "Hand seals themselves are a waste of time. As long as you strike the meridians before you convert your Chakra into ninjutsu, you can naturally interrupt it."

"Besides, in battles between ninja, ninjutsu is mostly for probing. In the end, victory is decided through taijutsu."

After saying that, Naruto looked at Sasuke with amusement in his eyes. "Don't tell me you don't know such basic knowledge, Sasuke Uchiha, the genius of our grade."

Sasuke's expression shifted, but he still said, "I know I'm not as good as you, but I want to know—did you already master other ninjutsu? Is that why you know how to interrupt ninjutsu?"

Naruto said nothing, but a gust of wind suddenly rose from the ground, sweeping fallen leaves toward Sasuke.

Sasuke stared at the leaves moving in a regular pattern, his fists clenched tightly.

He finally understood the gap between himself and Naruto. And Naruto's mannerisms reminded him of his older brother.

While Sasuke was lost in thought, Naruto walked over, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "After school today, I can teach you a method for training quickly. In return, I want to learn your shuriken throwing techniques. I can never get high marks in throwing class, and it seriously affects my overall ranking."

Sasuke's expression returned to normal, and he said with some pride, "Uchiha Shurikenjutsu is naturally the strongest. But if you teach me how to train quickly, aren't you afraid I'll surpass you?"

Naruto smiled and shook his head. "Of course not. I'll only grow faster than you. I'm willing to teach you because you're the new classmate who took the initiative to befriend me. I won't mistreat a friend."

Sasuke snorted coldly, then walked away from Naruto.

After Sasuke left, Choji, who had been ignored, frowned repeatedly but ultimately said nothing and continued eating his chips.

Shikamaru, however, opened his eyes. Looking at Naruto and the departing Sasuke, he seemed deep in thought.

As Naruto's friend, he had already clearly noticed the changes in Naruto over the past few days. He just did not know whether those changes were good or bad.

But he would not take the initiative to bring up these matters, nor would he tell anyone else.

Making the choice that best suited one's own interests as an outsider—this was the Nara Clan's way of survival.

After school, Naruto and Sasuke arrived at the small grove.

This was already the seventh time they had slipped into the grove to train. The process was simple: Naruto dished out the punishment, and Sasuke took the beating. Through these repeated friendly exchanges, Naruto and Sasuke's practical combat experience rose rapidly.

Naruto kept his word and taught Sasuke how to use Shadow Clones for multithreaded ninjutsu training.

But after Sasuke was left panting for breath, he could only barely produce three Shadow Clones. His training efficiency was far below Naruto's, who had the Nine-Tails assisting him. And after dispelling the Shadow Clones, Sasuke nearly fainted from overexertion.

Seeing Sasuke lying there like a dead dog, Naruto could not help laughing. He laughed very happily.

Sasuke slowly climbed up from the ground and looked at Naruto, who was laughing his head off. "Tell me, do you undergo training this intense every day?"

Naruto nodded. "Every day. I've never stopped."

Sasuke was somewhat curious. "Why? Is it because of your parents' expectations? My father is very strict with me, but he never made me train like this. You have no time of your own at all."

Naruto smiled and said, "Sorry, I'm the Demon Fox. I don't have parents for the time being. When I'm bored, I can only pass the time by training. Besides, whenever I go outside, all I see are fearful looks. It gets tiresome."

Sasuke fell silent for a moment before saying, "I may have parents, but I can understand how you feel. The Uchiha are in a very similar situation."

Sasuke understood Naruto's feelings very well. Although the students in class were relatively enthusiastic toward him,

the Uchiha Clan was often ostracized within the village. Nearly every day, he heard clan members complain about the village, and he often heard villagers complain about the Uchiha. The clan seemed to have been completely marginalized.

Naruto glanced at Sasuke and said jokingly, "Then you can find friends too, like the relationship between us. The village is so large—there will always be someone who can understand what the Uchiha have been through."

"If no one understands, that's fine too. A person only needs to be true to themselves."