Early the next morning, as soon as Tsunade left the house, Nawaki eagerly hurried over to Minato.
"Minato—"
Nawaki gazed at him with wide, pleading eyes, looking utterly pitiful.
"I know, I know..."
Minato couldn't help smiling as he led Nawaki out into the yard.
Then he brought his hands together, and a thick wooden stump burst from the ground in front of him.
Minato extended his right hand toward Nawaki. "Watch closely!"
A chaotic stream of chakra suddenly gathered in his palm, spinning at incredible speed until it condensed into a high-density sphere of chakra!
The dense chakra whipped up a wild gust of air, ruffling both their hair.
"That's an incredible amount of chakra!"
Nawaki's eyes sparkled. "What's that technique called?"
"Rasengan!"
As he spoke, Minato turned and slammed the Rasengan into the stump.
Thud!
The moment the Rasengan made contact, it blasted a large, spherical hole through the wood.
"That's amazing..."
Nawaki stared at the hole in the stump, momentarily lost in thought.
Then he could barely contain his excitement. "Let's start training right away!"
"Just a little longer."
Minato raised a hand, gently signaling for Nawaki to calm down. "Before that, I need to check how well you can control your chakra."
"Tell me what to do! I'm ready!" Nawaki said eagerly.
"Like this..."
Minato clapped his hands together. The damaged stump shot up more than ten meters, countless branches sprouting from its top until it became a straight, towering tree.
Then Minato stepped onto the trunk and walked up to the very top as if he were on level ground.
"Distribute chakra evenly across the soles of your feet and balance it against your body weight. Then you can stick to a wall and walk freely."
"All right! Watch me!"
Nawaki backed up a few steps, then charged toward the trunk.
He took three quick steps up it.
Before he could celebrate, his feet suddenly slipped, and the back of his head came crashing toward the ground.
Swish—
Minato had anticipated Nawaki's mistake.
He appeared beneath him in an instant and caught him safely.
"Damn it, I messed up!"
Nawaki looked thoroughly frustrated. Being caught in Minato's arms like a princess only made him feel more embarrassed.
"Take your time. There's no need to rush."
Minato smiled reassuringly. "I have an idea that should help you learn to climb trees faster."
"What is it?"
Nawaki asked eagerly.
Minato placed a hand on the trunk and grew a thick branch about two and a half meters above their heads.
"You should be able to reach this height easily."
As he spoke, Minato leaped up and grabbed the branch, bracing his feet against the trunk.
"You can hold onto the branch and keep adjusting the chakra output in your feet. Getting used to it this way should be more effective than blindly charging upward."
Nawaki laughed at the sight. "Minato, you look like a koala!"
Crack!
Minato snapped the branch off and looked regretful. "If you don't like this method..."
"No, no, Lord Minato, I love training this way!"
Nawaki panicked. As Minato jumped down from the tree, he grabbed him by the leg.
Minato smiled, lightly tapped the trunk, and coaxed another branch into existence.
Nawaki leaped up and grabbed the branch, pressing both feet against the trunk.
Seeing that, Minato's lips curled into a smile. He formed Hand Seals. "Earth Release: Earth Spears!"
Shnk, shnk, shnk...
Sharp earthen spikes sprang up all around the trunk!
"Huh?"
Clinging to the tree, Nawaki saw what was happening and went pale. "Minato, you..."
"They say many powerful ninja surpass themselves when facing life or death."
Minato spoke with utter seriousness. "I think that makes sense. Nawaki, you're going to be Hokage someday. If you don't push yourself, how will you know your potential?"
"That's that, then. I'm going to buy groceries. Good luck~"
With that, Minato vanished in a Body Flicker.
As soon as Minato left, Nawaki panicked.
"Wait a minute!"
"Minato, come back! I won't make fun of you anymore! I was wrong!"
"Hey! Help! Somebody, help—"
Hearing Nawaki's cries for help, Minato smiled brightly.
Of course, he wouldn't risk Nawaki's life. Those earth spears were just flimsy clay props, meant only to intimidate him. They'd break at the slightest touch and collapse after a couple of minutes.
In the yard, Nawaki clung to the branch, trembling as he looked down at the sharp earthen spears below. He couldn't help swallowing nervously.
Whether it was all in his head or not, his arms felt increasingly sore from holding on, and his palms were slick with sweat.
"Minato, I'm sorry. Please, just let me down."
Nawaki called pitifully to one of the clones standing nearby.
The Wood Clone glanced at him. "You've got the wrong person. I'm just an ordinary clone."
Nawaki gave an awkward smile. "Then, Mr. Clone..."
"Who are you calling a clone? Don't I deserve a name? You're so annoying!"
The clone snorted and turned away. The other clones burst out laughing.
"Ahhh! Minato Namikaze, you bastard!!!"
As he shouted, a gust of wind swept past. The earthen spears below him silently collapsed like melting ice cream.
"Huh? They were fake?"
Only then did Nawaki realize he'd been tricked. His face flushed bright red.
"Damn, that sneaky guy!"
"Minato Namikaze is evil from birth!"
"Damn it!"
Two hours later, Minato returned with the groceries.
The moment he walked in, Nawaki suddenly dropped from above and punched him on the head.
"Got you! Ha! That's what you get for messing with me!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Minato went poof and turned into a wooden stump.
"A substitution?"
A flash of surprise crossed Nawaki's eyes. Then an ice pop appeared beside his neck.
"Okay, KO!"
Minato had appeared behind Nawaki at some point, his voice tinged with amusement.
"Looks like the gap in our strength isn't so easy to close..."
Nawaki took the ice pop. He didn't seem surprised, though. Instead, he looked rather pleased with himself.
"I've already learned how to climb trees!"
"Great job!"
Minato carried the groceries into the living room, then pointed to the small pond in the yard. "Next is Water Walking. It uses the same principle, but you'll need to keep adjusting your chakra output to account for the movement of the water. Go on~"
Minato wasn't surprised that Nawaki had learned to climb trees so quickly.
When it came to chakra control, Tsunade was among the very best in the Naruto world.
As her younger brother, Nawaki might not have been as talented as she was, but he surely wasn't far behind.
"Again?"
Nawaki grew anxious. "Can't I just learn the jutsu directly?"
"No."
Minato shook his head and explained, "Chakra training has two directions: shape transformation and nature transformation. The Rasengan is the pinnacle of shape transformation, and it will also improve your chakra control."
"So, in theory, as long as you have the right chakra nature, if you can learn the Rasengan, you can learn any jutsu!"
"Is that really true?"
Nawaki found it hard to believe. If Minato was right, then the Rasengan was far more valuable than an ordinary A-rank jutsu!
"Then... how long did it take you to learn it, Minato?"
"If you mean the actual training, about three months."
"Three months..." Nawaki said, his voice complicated.
In that moment, he finally understood just how talented Minato was...
According to Minato, if he could master the Rasengan in three months, then he could learn any jutsu in three months!
Minato had no idea what Nawaki was thinking. If he had, he might have explained that he could learn most jutsu just by watching them once.
Before you continue