Climbing Trees

After a pleasant lunch.

After saying goodbye to the beautiful teacher, whose hands were still trembling after she'd taken out her wallet.

And... Hinata, who was blushing bright red after eating until she was eighty percent full.

And, of course... Ino, the hidden little rich girl.

He arrived at Training Ground Seven.

The three little ones were already fast asleep.

Cangwu didn't wake them. Instead, he sat off to the side, enjoying the cool breeze.

His enhanced physique had improved him in every way.

For example, ever since he'd left BBQ Q.

He'd felt an uncomfortable gaze following him.

It had probably been tailing him the whole way.

If his guess was right.

Cangwu watched the calm surface of the lake.

From the corner of his eye, he kept track of the woods not far away.

Sure enough, when he shifted his gaze there, the uncomfortable feeling vanished.

Danzo's Root Organization?

They must have come to watch the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

And investigate him, an inconspicuous nobody.

Cangwu resisted the urge to test his abilities.

After all, this wasn't the time to show his hand to those old bastards.

Still, being watched was unpleasant.

With that thought, Cangwu closed his eyes and pretended to nap.

His fingers were hidden where the Root ninja couldn't see them.

A streak of golden light flashed.

Concealed by the blazing sun, it shot toward the spot where the Root ninja was hiding.

RUMBLE—!!!

In an instant, golden light flared brilliantly.

The Root ninja's eyes widened in disbelief.

A moment later, his eyes lost their light.

The dazzling golden flash had taken his sight forever.

At the moment the golden light burst, the Root ninja fled using Body Flicker Technique, guided by muscle memory.

"What happened?"

Root ninja rarely worked alone.

"I don't know... A flash of light blinded me."

"Was it that unknown Genin, Cangwu?!"

"No... It wasn't him. He was resting under the tree with the target."

"Let's go. We need to report to Lord Danzo!"

Cangwu watched the Root ninja flee in disarray, the corners of his mouth lifting.

The commotion hadn't been too big, but it hadn't been small, either.

"Cangwu?"

Sasuke opened his eyes.

The commotion had clearly been enough to wake him.

Sakura only furrowed her brow and didn't wake up.

Naruto, meanwhile, had slept like a log the entire time.

"Teacher Cangwu."

Once he was fully awake, Sasuke quickly added that.

"Mm."

Only then did Cangwu give a slight nod in reply.

After a moment of silence, Sasuke asked in a low voice,

"Teacher Cangwu, you're not weak. Why were you a Genin all this time? And why teach at the Ninja Academy?"

Cangwu answered without a second thought. "I was waiting for you three to graduate."

Sasuke: "..."

Do you think I believe that?

He took a deep breath and asked, "Teacher Cangwu... How big is the gap between me and that man?"

Cangwu glanced at Sasuke. "Want the truth?"

Sasuke nodded.

"He could kill you with a single glance."

Sasuke: "..."

Memories of the night of the clan's massacre surfaced.

He clenched his fists. "The gap hasn't changed at all?!"

"It's fine. Keep training, and you'll get stronger."

Cangwu's words helped Sasuke calm down.

"Then, Teacher Cangwu, when do we start training?" Sasuke's expression turned cold again, but his eyes were full of determination.

"No rush. We'll wait until the other two wake up."

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"If you're bored, you can practice Fire Style over there, but don't use up too much chakra."

After thinking for a moment, Cangwu said, "For you personally, simplifying the hand seals for the Great Fireball is what you need to work on right now."

"You also need to learn to change your chakra nature on your own."

"Figure these things out for yourself. I'll only give you a general direction."

Sasuke frowned as he digested Cangwu's words.

A moment later, he silently walked away.

Cangwu treated Team 7 equally.

He wouldn't deliberately focus his training on any one of them.

It was simple: he didn't need to teach according to the wishes of his superiors.

Nor did he have as many qualms as Kakashi.

Could Kakashi use the Rasengan?

The answer was yes. After all, he'd developed Chidori based on the Rasengan.

Why hadn't he taught Naruto the Rasengan?

Because Jiraiya was above him.

How good was Jiraiya at teaching?

How to put it... Aside from fostering some unnecessary emotional bonds, he was mediocre.

Those bonds hadn't exactly made Naruto any better.

After all, Naruto himself was a deeply troubled person.

How could someone like that teach anyone well?

Kakashi, by contrast, was different.

Training was training, and cultivating the mind was something else.

Teaching Naruto really didn't have to be difficult.

Honestly, for Naruto to develop the Rasenshuriken, Kakashi only needed to point him in the right direction and provide a place to train.

Naruto could figure out the rest on his own.

That was thanks to the existence of multiple Shadow Clones.

And Naruto's particular nature—his brain and his endurance were both far from normal.

As for Sakura... If she hadn't met Tsunade, then at the end of the story, the ones who made Kakashi proud wouldn't have been Team 7.

It would have been Naruto and Sasuke.

That was reality.

Sakura had only become qualified to join Konoha's higher-ups because Tsunade had been her teacher.

That afternoon.

When Sasuke returned, Naruto and Sakura woke up one after the other.

They sat cross-legged in front of Cangwu and asked about that afternoon's training.

"It's training in chakra control, and also a foundational step toward becoming a more advanced ninja."

"Chakra training?" The three little ones were taken aback.

Sakura immediately asked, "Teacher Cangwu, by chakra training, do you mean chakra extraction?"

"I already know how to do that!" Naruto shouted.

Sasuke glanced at Naruto with a cold expression. "Idiot."

Naruto: "???"

That smug Sasuke—I want to knock him flat!

Cangwu waved a hand. "I said it was advanced training, so of course it isn't something as basic as chakra extraction."

As he spoke, Cangwu walked up to a large tree and sized it up. The height seemed about right.

"So, the next exercise is... tree climbing."

"Tree climbing?!" x3

This time, even Sasuke joined in.

"Teacher Cangwu, why do we have to climb trees?" Sakura asked, somewhat tactfully.

"To teach you to control your chakra."

"Also, it'll help you fight on all kinds of terrain in the future."

Cangwu stopped teasing them and let his warm smile fade. He said,

"All right, you three little kids."

Little kids?

Before they could respond, Cangwu said sternly, "Watch closely. Remember, watch carefully."

He made a point of repeating himself.

Then he lifted a foot. Under the three little ones' disbelieving gazes,

He stood with both feet on the tree trunk, parallel to the ground.

"This... Sugoi~!!" Naruto's eyes widened, and the hint of impatience he'd felt earlier vanished.

"So this is... advanced training... chakra control?" Sakura covered her little mouth, eyes wide.

Sasuke was surprised, too. "I see. So this is chakra control training..."

At Cangwu's reminder, Sakura and Sasuke had both picked up on the key points.

Only Naruto still hadn't caught on.

Cangwu walked to the top of the tree, then jumped down.

"Now it's your turn."

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

The next moment, three Kunai landed in front of the three little ones.

"This exercise isn't difficult."