After taking care of everything, Naruto returned to the main topic. Minato guided him through his training in the consciousness space, while Kushina stood beside Minato and cheered him on.
"Naruto, the Flying Thunder God Technique isn't that difficult to learn, though it might seem that way. The first step is to use your spiritual power to sense the nodes in space. You can't continue training until you sense them. Remember, you can only use your spiritual power," Minato's voice rang in Naruto's mind.
Hearing that, Naruto released his spiritual power and carefully observed his surroundings. Gradually, everything his spiritual power touched grew dark, until all around him was pitch-black. Then, tiny points of light appeared in the surrounding void.
Are these the space nodes? Naruto wondered as he spotted the lights.
After seeing the space nodes, Naruto withdrew his spiritual power and opened his eyes. He turned to Minato in the Sealing Space and asked, "Dad, I saw a lot of points of light. Are those the space nodes?"
"Yes, those points of light are the space nodes. I didn't expect you to see them so quickly. It looks like you have a lot of talent for Space-Time Ninjutsu, too."
"What should I do next?"
"Next, try sensing them without spiritual power. Use chakra instead."
At Minato's answer, Naruto closed his eyes and tried again. He didn't convert his energy into chakra, though. Instead, he used spiritual energy. As he released it, he activated God Moon Mind's Eye. This time, it was even faster than before. The surroundings quickly went dark, and the points of light grew to the size of human heads. There were also far more of them than before, filling the area densely.
Naruto opened his eyes again and described what he'd seen to Minato. Minato listened with a solemn expression. It had taken him a whole week to reach this stage.
Minato told Naruto all the remaining steps of the Flying Thunder God Technique. After listening, Naruto began to practice. He had to keep looking at the space nodes and choose a target. Once only two remained—the target and the node where he was standing—he could move on to the next stage.
As Naruto concentrated, the points of light around him gradually dwindled until only two remained.
The next step was to leave a mark on an object and sense its location. By forming Hand Seals, he would pass through the space node where he stood and arrive at the node where the mark was located.
The Flying Thunder God Technique had no direct offensive power; it was simply a type of Body Flicker Technique. However, it was among the most difficult techniques to learn. The step of sensing space nodes alone kept most people who wanted to learn it from getting any further.
Since the Second Hokage had created the Flying Thunder God Technique, only he, Minato, and the three members of Minato's escort squad had learned it. (The three could only use it by working together, but that still counted, right?) Minato had even improved it, developing it into Flying Thunder God Level 3. His ability to use the technique without Hand Seals was closely connected to his extraordinary talent for Space-Time Ninjutsu. His familiarity with the technique also played a part.
Naruto began the final stage of training, but he kept failing. Even when he formed the Hand Seals carefully, he still couldn't make it work. Of course, he didn't get discouraged and continued trying.
Time flew by during training, and soon it was dark. After wolfing down a little food, Naruto entered the Sealing Space. He touched Minato and Kushina's foreheads, and a cultivation manual called "Soul-Gathering Art" appeared in their minds. It was a method for cultivating the soul, absorbing the Soul Origin drifting through the void to strengthen one's own soul. The stronger a person's soul, the greater their talent.
Although Minato and Kushina were currently only tiny consciousnesses—fragments of their souls—they could still cultivate this art and strengthen their Soul Origins. When they were resurrected in the future, their consciousnesses could merge with their souls, making them both stronger and more talented after their revival.
After giving them the cultivation method, Naruto left the Sealing Space. He still had to train, too. He understood that the stronger he was, the more say he would have.
Back in his own consciousness, Naruto didn't continue practicing the Flying Thunder God Technique. Instead, he began cultivating the Supreme Demon Sutra. That was the true foundation of his strength.
And so Naruto began training in the valley. He practiced the Flying Thunder God Technique during the day and the Supreme Demon Sutra at night. In his spare time, he chatted with Minato, Kushina, and Kurama. Although he was exhausted, Naruto was happy.
Three days later, Naruto finally managed to use the Flying Thunder God Technique in its entirety. With Minato's guidance, he left a mark on a large tree. Unlike Minato's mark, Naruto's was shaped like a fox's head. Kurama, in the Sealing Space, was secretly delighted.
Naruto still needed Hand Seals to use the Flying Thunder God Technique, but that was good enough. He didn't need the technique to increase his combat strength, so he didn't have to train until he could use it without Hand Seals. As long as he could use it, that was all that mattered.
After learning the Flying Thunder God Technique, Naruto began studying with Kushina. Before teaching him Sealing Jutsu, she taught him the Multi-Shadow Clone Technique. Like the Shadow Clone Technique, the clones wouldn't disappear until their energy ran out. Before long, the valley was full of yellow-haired, spiky-haired Narutos. Some were reading scrolls, some were practicing leg techniques, and some were zipping around with the Flying Thunder God Technique. The real Naruto was off to one side, cultivating the Supreme Demon Sutra.
This continued until evening. After dinner, Naruto dispelled the Multi-Shadow Clones. The moment they disappeared, his mind filled with experience in Sealing Jutsu, leg techniques, and the Flying Thunder God Technique. Although Kurama had supplied all the energy for the clones, having so much information suddenly flood his mind left Naruto exhausted. Mental exhaustion was even worse than physical fatigue. He staggered into the cave and went to sleep.
The night passed peacefully. The next morning, Naruto awoke and checked how he felt. There was nothing wrong; he felt refreshed and full of energy. He stepped out of the cave and tried out everything he'd been practicing. He found that he'd made great progress in Mad Demon Leg, the Flying Thunder God Technique, and all kinds of Sealing Jutsu. The first form of Mad Demon Leg, Mountain Breaker, had reached the pinnacle of mastery, and he could begin training in the second form, Stream Cutter. He was also becoming more proficient with the Flying Thunder God Technique. With Minato's guidance, he was sure he'd soon be able to use it without Hand Seals.
And so Naruto spent his days using Shadow Clones to practice martial arts, the Flying Thunder God Technique, and Sealing Jutsu, while the real him cultivated his technique. He slept at night and filled every day with training.
Konoha.
The clone Naruto had left behind continued to attend class in his place, making his days much easier. He went to class, chatted with Hinata, and walked her home in the evening. That was all he had to do each day. (Since Kurama supplied the Shadow Clone's energy, he could sense what happened on its side. Naruto wasn't worried that anything would go wrong.)
The Anbu Naruto controlled continued their surveillance as usual, reporting his situation to the Third Hokage every day. There was never anything unusual.
It was the seventh day since classes had started. Today's lesson consisted of one thing—sparring. Once it was over, the students could go home, so they were all eager to get started.
Seeing how excited the students were, Iruka smiled. "All right, sparring starts now. First up, Inoue Taro versus Nara Shikamaru."
When Iruka called their names, the two students walked to the middle and faced each other. Once they were in position, Iruka said, "Form the Seal of Confrontation."
After Iruka spoke, the two formed a seal and began sparring. At the Ninja Academy, they only taught the Three Body Technique, which was hardly useful in a fight. So, the students mostly relied on Taijutsu. Shikamaru was the young master of the Nara Clan and had received guidance from his family since childhood. As expected, he won quickly.
When the sparring match ended, Iruka said, "Form the Seal of Reconciliation."
After forming the Seal of Reconciliation, Shikamaru muttered, "What a drag." Then he put his hands in his pockets and walked back.
Iruka continued calling out names.
"*** versus ***."
"*** versus ***."
The students began sparring in pairs. From where he stood below, Naruto's Shadow Clone noticed that nearly every match pitted an heir from one of the clans against a civilian student. The clan heirs always won.
"Uchiha Sasuke versus Uzumaki Naruto."
The Shadow Clone had been daydreaming, but when it heard Iruka call its name, it quickly snapped out of it and walked into the middle of the field. Uchiha Sasuke stepped forward, too.
During class, the Shadow Clone only chatted with Hinata and never approached the other students. Although the children from the major clans had played with Naruto when they were little, he had no interest in getting close to them now.
The Uchiha Clan hadn't been wiped out yet, so Sasuke was still just a haughty little kid.
The two formed the Seal of Confrontation. As soon as Iruka called for them to begin, Sasuke charged at Naruto with his fist raised. When Sasuke was almost upon him, Naruto raised a hand and said, "I give up."
When Naruto said he was giving up, many students around them sneered. "That fox brat gave up? Is he afraid of getting beaten up?"
Only the children from Konoha's clans stood quietly without saying anything. Hinata clenched her hands in front of her. She wanted to speak, but then she remembered what Naruto had told her: "Don't worry about what they say. I don't care, and I don't want you getting angry because of them. They're not worth it."
When Naruto gave up, Iruka and Naruto both had a # pop up on their foreheads.
"Naruto, sparring helps you understand your weaknesses so you can correct them and grow stronger," Iruka said.
"Uzumaki Naruto, are you looking down on me? Are you insulting the Uchiha Clan?" Sasuke said.
Naruto ignored Sasuke and turned to Iruka. "Iruka-sensei, I haven't even learned the Three Body Technique. There's no way I can beat Sasuke, so I don't want to get beaten up. That's why I gave up."
When Iruka heard Naruto say he didn't want to get beaten up, he seemed to realize something. He said nothing more and had the two form the Seal of Reconciliation.
After Naruto and Sasuke left, Iruka stepped forward. "That's the end of sparring. You should all know what you need to work on now. Go home and practice hard. Class dismissed!"
After Iruka dismissed the class, Naruto took Hinata's hand and headed for the school gate. After spending time together, Hinata had grown less shy around him.
As they neared the gate, Naruto saw Hiruzen Sarutobi standing there. He thought for a moment, then asked Hinata to wait where she was and walked over to Hiruzen. "Grandpa Third, what are you doing here?"
"I came to see little Naruto. How are you finding school?" Hiruzen asked with a smile when Naruto approached him.
"It's great! I made a friend," Naruto replied with a smile.
Hearing him mention a friend, Hiruzen glanced at Hinata, who was standing in the distance. "Keep it up, then. Make some more friends, too. Also, why did you give up during sparring today? Why didn't you use those chains?"
"Eh? Grandpa Third, how do you know I can use chains? I think they're too strong, and I can't control them. I was afraid I might hurt Sasuke," Naruto replied, still wearing an innocent expression.
Hiruzen patted him on the head. "Mm, little Naruto did the right thing. As for how I knew, it's because I'm the Hokage. The Hokage knows everything."
"Is that so? Then I want to be Hokage someday, too!" Naruto continued trying to fool Hiruzen.
"Hahaha, then you'd better work hard. Hurry home." Hiruzen patted Naruto's head once more and turned to leave.
"Goodbye, Grandpa Third!" Naruto said. Then he went back to Hinata, walked her home, and returned to his own place.
In the valley.
In the Sealing Space, Kurama used a small ninjutsu to show Minato and Kushina what had happened at the Ninja Academy. When they saw Hiruzen Sarutobi appear, Kushina's fists clenched with a series of creaks. Minato said nothing, but a murderous glint flickered in his eyes. Kurama lay there, deep in thought. Naruto was still training, so he knew nothing about what was happening in the Sealing Space.
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