Harsh Training

"Mm... Hmm? You've already popped it?"

After lying under the tree and taking a sound nap, Jiraiya opened his eyes and looked at Naruto in the distance, puzzled.

"Uh..."

Naruto Uzumaki turned around and looked at the bleary-eyed Jiraiya, then remembered the bold claim he'd made at noon.

He immediately felt terribly embarrassed.

"Ah? I'm not sure if this counts as learning it..."

Naruto sheepishly scratched his orange hair.

"Looks like I didn't just take a nap. I slept for ages!"

Jiraiya stood up, pulled a liquor gourd from behind him, and tipped it into his mouth again, only to find it empty.

He sighed and turned to leave.

Naruto Uzumaki panicked and hurried over to grab the Pervy Sage.

"Tell me, tell me, what do I have to do to pop it?"

"Hm?"

Jiraiya heard Naruto's question and looked somewhat puzzled.

"Didn't I say I wouldn't explain in detail until you popped it?"

He rubbed his chin, looked at Naruto, who had been working hard all day, and clicked his tongue.

"I see... I wanted you to figure it out through trial and error so you could master the technique yourself. I'll teach you a little trick for this ninjutsu. First, try making the water spin!"

Naruto nodded, held up the water balloon in his right hand, and gathered chakra again.

Bzzzz—

The water balloon spun a few times, then quickly settled down.

"Did you make it spin to the left or to the right?"

Seeing that Naruto had stopped moving his chakra, Jiraiya asked.

"Um... to the left!"

Naruto answered without thinking, then wondered if the direction of the chakra's rotation really mattered for this ninjutsu.

"To the left, huh..."

Jiraiya placed his hand on top of Naruto's head and closed his eyes, sensing for a moment.

"That confirms it. You're the type who spins to the right!"

"???"

The confusion on Naruto's face deepened. What was the Pervy Sage up to?

Seeing Naruto's puzzled expression, Jiraiya smiled and explained:

"To gather chakra, you need to combine energy.

"Everyone unconsciously makes the energy inside their body spin to form chakra. Whether that energy spins to the left or the right varies from person to person.

"In other words, during this training, if you make the water balloon spin in the opposite direction from your own, the flow of chakra will be interrupted and meet resistance. It won't spin smoothly!"

At that, a helpless look crossed Jiraiya's weathered face.

"You can usually tell just by feeling it!"

"..."

"Then how could you tell at a glance that I spin to the right?"

"Heh heh!"

Jiraiya wore a mysterious smile.

"If the swirl on top of your head turns to the right, you're a right-spinner. If it turns to the left, you're a left-spinner. Simple!"

After finishing his explanation, he took the water balloon that Naruto had kept intact all afternoon.

He gathered a little chakra in his palm.

Pop! The water balloon burst.

"So you have to make the water spin to the right!"

"Um... I've never paid attention to that kind of detail before!"

Jiraiya looked at Naruto, who was scratching his head in confusion, and couldn't help laughing.

"But this ninjutsu is perfect for you. You don't need any Hand Seals, just chakra. You don't have to memorize any tricky seals, so even an idiot can do it!"

"Pfft..."

Hearing the Pervy Sage's slightly disparaging words, Lin Mu couldn't help laughing.

Naruto froze for a moment, then quickly caught on.

He jumped to his feet in anger and shouted:

"I'm not an idiot! I'm the man who's going to become Hokage someday! Once I figure out the trick, it'll be easy. I can master this ninjutsu perfectly in... three days!"

Three days?

Jiraiya and Lin Mu both smiled.

Jiraiya's expression grew serious as he spoke slowly.

"Three days...? This jutsu was left behind by the Fourth Hokage! It took the Fourth Hokage a full three years to learn it.

"On a scale of six difficulty levels, this ninjutsu is the second hardest—the extremely high-level A-rank!"

Jiraiya held up three fingers and waved them in front of Naruto.

"Learning this ninjutsu requires three stages of training. Popping this water balloon is the first stage."

"There's no point explaining any further to someone who can't even manage the first stage. Try it yourself from here on. I'm going back to town to gather information. What are you going to do?"

Naruto stared at the water balloon in his hand, his expression shifting again and again.

The genius ninja, the Fourth Hokage... had taken three years.

An A-rank ninjutsu left behind by the Fourth Hokage.

"I'm not going back just yet."

The solemn expression on Naruto's face suddenly gave way to a bright smile.

"Hahaha..."

Jiraiya smiled with some relief as he turned his back to Naruto.

This kid...

"See you. Don't overdo it!"

After saying goodbye to Naruto, Jiraiya turned his attention to Lin Mu.

Lin Mu smiled too.

"Then I'll train here as well, Jiraiya. This forest will also be a great help to my Wood Style Body!"

"Mm."

Jiraiya nodded slowly. Without another word, he turned and left the forest.

Time flew by, and before long, another three days had passed.

Naruto Uzumaki was crouched in the forest, drenched in sweat. He kept roaring in frustration:

"Damn it! It's already been three days since I asked the Pervy Sage for the trick. I've stretched the rubber this far! Why won't it pop? What am I doing differently from the Pervy Sage?"

Naruto was angry. Naruto was helpless. But there was nothing he could do.

The Fourth Hokage had been a genius, and even he had taken three years to learn this ninjutsu.

Naruto didn't think he had much talent, so he knew he couldn't compare himself to someone like the Hokage.

But he didn't have three years to train.

He needed to get stronger—quickly, as quickly as possible!

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!"

Naruto Uzumaki roared several times, venting his pent-up frustration.

Then his expression hardened once more. He bent down and continued refining his chakra.

He had to learn this ninjutsu!

Not far away, Lin Mu remained seated cross-legged. Watching Naruto struggle with learning a single jutsu, he couldn't help feeling rather fortunate.

"Good thing I have the system! All the ninjutsu memories are implanted directly, so I can master them in just a few breaths."

Otherwise, he would have spent no less time training in ninjutsu than Naruto Uzumaki!

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