Unexpected Birthday Wishes

"Now that I know your chakra natures, I will provide guidance based on your individual situations," Kakashi said, looking at the two of them.

"First, Naruto. Yours is Wind-style chakra. The characteristics of Wind-style are its cutting and blowing effects, which can enhance the sharpness of weapons." After saying this, Kakashi took out a kunai and threw it at a tree.

The kunai stuck into the tree. "Normally, a thrown kunai would only stick into the tree, but if you add Wind-style chakra..."

Kakashi then took out another kunai and began to condense Wind-style chakra onto it.

He then threw it at the tree. "Bang!" The kunai pierced straight through the tree and embedded itself deep into the large rock behind it.

"So cool!" Naruto's eyes sparkled.

"So, Naruto, what you need to do now is to feel the Wind-style chakra," Kakashi said.

"Feel the Wind-style chakra? How do I do that?" Naruto looked at Kakashi, puzzled.

"Just like this." Kakashi picked a leaf from the ground, placed it in the palm of his hand, and began to inject chakra into it.

"Like this, inject Wind-style chakra to split the leaf in two." As Kakashi spoke, he opened his palm, and the leaf was split in half.

"So that's how it works, I get it! Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto formed hand seals, summoning dozens of shadow clones, each of which took a leaf and began to practice.

Seeing this, Kakashi turned his gaze toward Menma.

"Menma, you are a bit more special. Since you have five types of chakra natures, your task is harder than Naruto's. You need to condense different chakra natures without any errors," Kakashi said while plucking several leaves from a tree.

"The difficulty in precisely using different chakra natures lies in the fact that each one is unique. Even isolating one is a challenge. The method of training is the same as Naruto's," Kakashi continued.

"Hmm, that does sound quite difficult," Menma said thoughtfully.

"However, this kind of training is quite simple for us." Menma began to form hand seals.

"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" After a puff of white smoke, dozens of Menmas appeared.

"Alright, let's divide the work. You guys are responsible for Fire-style chakra practice, and you guys are responsible for Wind-style..." Menma began to organize, and soon the clearing was filled with Naruto and Menma's shadow clones.

"This training method is indeed quite suitable for the two of them," Kakashi said, watching them practice.

"In that case, I might as well train too." With that, Kakashi began his own taijutsu training on the side.

Time quickly passed until evening, and Naruto and Menma's shadow clones were all panting heavily.

After an afternoon of practicing with the Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu, Naruto had made some progress.

As for Menma, he wasn't without progress either. Currently, he could barely manage to use all five chakra natures, but it was extremely taxing; whenever he tried to use one, the other four would interfere.

It was like trying to precisely grab a handful of beads of the same color from a box containing a mixture of five different colored beads.

Naruto and Menma looked at the sky, exchanged a glance, and simultaneously dispelled their Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu.

As the two digested the afternoon's training, a wave of intense exhaustion washed over them.

"It's been... a long time since I've gone this crazy." Menma knelt on one knee, gasping for air, before collapsing.

Naruto also fell over, and the two lay on the ground, breathing heavily.

"Say, Menma, why are we training so hard?" Naruto asked, his head turned to the side.

"Why? To keep ourselves and the people we cherish from being bullied by others!" Menma said, looking up at the starry sky.

"To keep ourselves and the people we cherish from being bullied?" Naruto repeated, lost in thought.

"Hey, you two, you can still stand up, right?" Kakashi called out from the side.

The two struggled to their feet and walked over to Kakashi.

"Yare yare, you can still stand? In the past, you two might have just passed out. It seems the training all this time hasn't been in vain," Kakashi said to them.

"That's not the point. The point should be what we're having for dinner," Menma said.

"Oh! Right! Follow me!" Naruto seemed to remember something suddenly and ran off.

Kakashi and Menma looked at each other in confusion, not knowing what Naruto was up to, but they followed him anyway.

The three arrived at the small stream, and it was only then that Menma suddenly remembered Naruto's birthday gift.

"Hey, hey, hey, brother, you aren't planning on taking us to catch fish, are you? It's so late already; why don't we just find somewhere to grab a bite?" Menma ran up to Naruto and said.

"No need, I've already prepared everything." Naruto pointed toward a spot in the forest where a faint light was glowing.

When the three arrived, they found three of Naruto's shadow clones sitting there.

"You're finally here. If you had been any later, the fish might have burned," one of Naruto's clones said.

"Sorry about that, thanks for your trouble today!" With that, Naruto dispelled the shadow clones.

"Come on, Kakashi-sensei, this is the birthday gift I prepared for you. I heard you often fished for yourself when you were a kid, so that's why I thought of this." Naruto handed a grilled fish to Kakashi.

"Then let me taste how this fish turned out." Kakashi smiled and began to eat the grilled fish, while Menma sat by the fire and took a bite of his own.

"The starry sky is exceptionally beautiful today!" Menma looked up at the sky and sighed.

"It is," Kakashi said, also looking up at the sky, his thoughts unknown. The three didn't stay there for long; after eating their fill, they left the area.

"Kakashi-sensei, why don't you walk us home?" Menma suggested.

"What, are you two afraid of walking in the dark?" Kakashi teased with a smile.

"We are still just kids, after all," Menma replied, looking at Kakashi with a feigned expression of fear.

"So, you finally realize you're just a kid?" Kakashi teased.

After dropping Naruto and Menma off at their home, Kakashi was just about to leave when the door opened, revealing a woman he had never seen before.

"You must be Kakashi, right? Come in and have a glass of water before you go!" the woman said.

"No need, I..." Before Kakashi could finish his sentence, Menma pulled him into the house.

Once inside, Menma grabbed Naruto, intending to head for a bath. "Menma, why are you in such a rush?" Naruto asked, witnessing this scene.

"Ah, well... we need to sleep early today, so let's just finish our bath and rest," Menma said after a moment's thought.

"But Kakashi-sensei..." Naruto wanted to point out that it would be impolite to leave Kakashi-sensei alone in their home.

"It's fine, Auntie Kushina is here, so it's the same," Menma replied. "Alright then."

With that, the two grabbed their change of clothes and headed to the bathroom to run the water.

Kushina pulled Kakashi into a small room. She first glanced at the two brothers upstairs, and only after confirming they had entered the bathroom did she dispel her Transformation Technique.

"Long time no see, Kakashi!" Kushina greeted him.

"Ku... Kushina... senpai? How is this..." Kakashi stared at the Kushina before him in disbelief.

"Surprised? Actually, I was even more surprised than you are now when I first saw Menma and Naruto," Kushina said.

"Kushina-senpai, have you been resurrected?" Kakashi asked.

"Not exactly. I was brought back by Menma using the Impure World Reincarnation," Kushina explained.

"Impure World Reincarnation? That forbidden jutsu that requires a living sacrifice?" Kakashi looked at Kushina with utter disbelief.

"That's right. I was surprised and shocked at the time, too. Oh, that's right, today is your birthday, isn't it, Kakashi? Then, on behalf of Minato, let me wish you a happy 18th birthday, Kakashi!" Kushina said, wearing the expression of an elder looking after a younger one.