Chakra Nature

Chapter 29: Chakra Natures [Please Vote for Me]

Minato Namikaze was also a genius who had graduated early from the Ninja Academy.

But the timing of his graduation request had been awkward. He graduated at the height of the war between Konoha and the other villages, when many of Konoha's jōnin had been sent to the battlefield.

And since he had graduated early, he hadn't been assigned to a team, so most of the time he was temporarily attached to other groups to carry out missions.

Minato Namikaze didn't complain about it.

He had applied for early graduation because he hoped to go to the battlefield. But Konoha wasn't yet so weak that it needed freshly graduated genin to fight in the war, so his request had been rejected.

He was one of the few who were naturally gifted, and the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi took him seriously and had always kept an eye on his progress.

So, for now, Minato Namikaze was on his own. He trained alone and grew on his own.

But he never complained. He faced everything with a smile every day, like a little sun warming everyone who came into contact with him.

At first, Toneri and Minato Namikaze simply trained on their own, without interfering with each other.

Judging by the difficulty of Minato Namikaze's training, Toneri could only admire him in secret.

As expected of the future Yellow Flash. Though he hadn't learned the Flying Thunder God Technique yet, his mastery of the Body Flicker Technique was already impressive.

And judging by Taijutsu alone, Minato Namikaze's skills were probably better than Nara Shikaku's.

Toneri didn't make a show of wanting to get close to Minato, either. That would have seemed too deliberate. He simply kept training, training, and training some more. The effort he put in now rivaled that of the future Rock Lee.

Gradually, Minato Namikaze grew curious about Toneri, who practiced Taijutsu without end.

He'd seen people push themselves, but never anyone this determined. Wouldn't training like this wear him out?

Out of concern, Minato Namikaze decided to say something.

"Toneri, if you keep this up... won't your body give out?"

Minato Namikaze had barely started speaking when he saw Toneri, who had been doing push-ups on the ground, flip himself upside down, lift one hand, then balance on all five fingers and begin doing a new kind of push-up.

Minato Namikaze: "..."

All right, he felt like he'd just said something pointless.

Toneri had been looking for an opening to start a conversation. After all, Minato Namikaze wasn't an idiot. He couldn't just walk up and ask him to do something for him. The other boy didn't owe him anything.

Even a tool needed to be developed little by little.

"Phew—thanks for the reminder, Minato! Is it okay if I call you that?" Toneri pushed off with his fingers, did a somersault in the air, and landed in front of him.

"That's fine. Everyone else calls me that, too. It's just... you're still a child, Toneri, and you're still growing. This kind of intense physical training could have a considerable impact on your development..." Minato Namikaze waved a hand and voiced his concern.

People in the Naruto world were tough, but not that tough.

Everyone knew how important the body was, but they still didn't overtrain. Wasn't that because they were afraid their bodies wouldn't be able to take it?

Toneri scratched the back of his head and realized that his hair really wasn't as flowing as Minato Namikaze's.

"I can't help it. Taijutsu is the only thing I can think of right now. I haven't learned ninjutsu, and I don't know how to control chakra. This most basic method is the fastest one I can think of."

He knew that overtraining could be very harmful to a child's development.

But was he an ordinary child?

As the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, he didn't need to worry about how much strain his body could take.

That was why he could push himself so relentlessly.

Minato Namikaze was taken aback. "You... aren't you a student at the Ninja Academy? The teachers should have taught you all this."

"Uh..."

Toneri then gave Minato Namikaze a "brief" account of his "tragic experiences."

Of course, he didn't mention the Two-Tails. Otherwise, those Anbu Ninja would probably have jumped out immediately.

After hearing Toneri's story, Minato Namikaze looked at him with a little more sympathy, along with a vague sense that they shared the same fate.

Minato Namikaze was an orphan, too. He had graduated from the Ninja Academy and become a ninja through his own efforts, and his dream was to become Konoha's Hokage.

Though many people had once laughed at him for that dream, he had worked so hard that he'd made them all shut up. They'd realized that while Minato Namikaze becoming Hokage still seemed a little unrealistic, it wasn't impossible.

So he couldn't help but feel some affection for Toneri, who was also an orphan and worked exceptionally hard.

Hardworking people earned the respect of others, no matter where they were.

"So you've never even been to the Ninja Academy, and yet your Taijutsu is already this good... That's incredible!

"But... never doubt your hard work, okay? Even if it doesn't pay off right now, it'll surely show itself in the future, when all your efforts come together. Besides, your Taijutsu is already better than that of many Ninja Academy students! Keep it up, Toneri!"

Minato Namikaze patted Toneri on the shoulder, his eyes crinkling with a smile as he grinned and showed off his pearly white teeth.

Toneri stared at Minato Namikaze, momentarily stunned.

For some reason, in that instant, he thought he saw the smile of the Goddess of Dawn!

It was soothing to the soul!

His fatigue faded by half in an instant. What a great tool!

It even came with a recovery and encouragement aura!

Tool Number Two: 30% complete!

"Yeah! Keep at it and work hard, and it'll pay off eventually.

"Um... Minato, you know I might be going to the Ninja Academy in a while. Before then, could you tell me a bit about chakra?

"And if you could teach me a few things, that'd be even better!" Toneri's eyes lit up.

Most of what Nara Shikaku and Shikashin Nara studied were the Nara Clan's secret techniques. Toneri had learned that much from being around them.

Even having a high status in the family wouldn't help him get access to those.

They knew other ninjutsu, too, but why settle for that when Minato Namikaze was an option?

"No problem," Minato Namikaze agreed at once.

The things he'd learned were all taught at the Ninja Academy anyway. He'd only be telling Toneri about them a little early.

"So, Toneri, what are your chakra natures? Have you tested them?"

Only then did Toneri remember that he hadn't even tested his chakra natures.

Fortunately, the test was relatively simple. There was special chakra paper: after you channeled your chakra into it, the paper changed according to your chakra nature.

He slowly shook his head.

Chakra paper was easy to use, but it wasn't cheap, especially for someone with no money.

"Actually, I have a piece of chakra paper left over. It's no use after you've tested it once, so you can try it.

"It's easy to use. Just put your chakra into it."

Minato Namikaze took a piece of chakra paper about the size of two finger joints from his ninja tool pouch.

Toneri didn't refuse. He took the chakra paper and held it between his index and middle fingers, then struggled to control his chakra and push it into the paper.

But...

Minato Namikaze and Toneri stared at the chakra paper for a long time. Nothing happened.

"Does this... mean you don't have a nature?" Minato Namikaze had never seen anything like it.

Toneri's face flushed. "No, I haven't managed to put any chakra into it yet."

Minato Namikaze: "..."

His chakra control was something else.

But Minato Namikaze's surprise was understandable. He'd assumed that since Toneri's Taijutsu was so strong, even if he didn't have much chakra, his control should be decent. Testing his chakra natures ought to have been a piece of cake.

Who could have guessed that since his first attempt at the Transformation Technique, Toneri had done nothing with his somewhat enormous chakra reserves except extract chakra?

Of course he couldn't control it properly right away.

Fortunately, after Toneri's "unstinting efforts," the chakra paper finally changed.

The chakra paper split into three parts. The first third to change burst into flames, the next third crumbled into fragments, and the final third became soaked, as though submerged in water.