Three Basic Techniques

As noon approached, sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting mottled shadows. Menma had long been sitting steadily on the branch where Kakashi was perched, his posture light and airy, as if he had merged into the tree itself.

Although Naruto had not yet arrived, his energetic figure was constantly climbing up the trunk. Sweat trickled down his forehead, and his eyes burned with stubbornness and persistence. Every upward movement was more skillful than the last; clearly, he had made significant progress.

Kakashi looked up at the sky. The sun had reached its zenith, meaning it was now noon.

"Alright! Let's stop here for now and continue this afternoon," Kakashi asked with a smile.

"Yeah! No problem!" Menma jumped down from the branch, landing steadily, and Kakashi followed suit.

"Damn it! I was so close!" Naruto was a bit frustrated. He looked at Menma, suddenly thought of something, and immediately went over to his side.

"Hey... Menma, is there a trick to this? Can you tell me?" Naruto scratched his head, his eyes squinting into slits as he asked with a grin.

"Ah, a trick? Sure, there is." Menma said as he walked.

"Really? Really? Tell me, quick!" Naruto followed Menma, looking at him with anticipation.

"Hee hee hee, I won't tell you." Menma said playfully.

"Ah, come on, Menma, just tell me, I'm begging you, just tell me the trick..." Naruto looked at Menma with an almost pleading expression.

"Alright, fine. The trick is actually quite simple: just relax." Menma held the back of his head with both hands, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly. With a hint of smugness in his eyes, he walked forward with a light step.

"Relax?" Naruto pondered, but still didn't understand what he meant.

"Geez, listen up. Since using chakra requires spiritual energy, you can't be too tense or obsessed. To gather a specific amount of chakra at the soles of your feet, you must relax and focus your spirit on the tree. That's it." Menma explained to Naruto.

"Oh, so that's it. I get it now." Naruto had a sudden realization, finally understanding what Menma meant.

If he could, Naruto would have loved to go back and try it immediately.

"Yare yare, you two worked hard today. Let's go have some barbecue for lunch." Kakashi said, his eyes squinting into slits with a faint smile on his face.

"Awesome! Let's go!" Naruto walked ahead, oblivious to everything.

"Um, Kakashi-sensei, I can already climb to that branch. I won't just be watching Naruto climb trees all afternoon, will I?" Menma seemed to be hinting at something, looking at Kakashi with expectation.

"That is true. How about I teach you the Three Basic Techniques this afternoon? You don't have much trouble controlling your chakra, so learning this shouldn't be difficult." Kakashi thought for a moment and replied.

"Ah! Is that so? That sounds pretty good." Although the Three Basic Techniques were the foundation of foundations, as long as the foundation was solid, everything else would be learned quickly.

Time soon reached the afternoon, and the three returned to the small grove.

Naruto was eager to try. With a sprint, he dashed out. This time, there was clear progress; he was only a few steps away from the target branch.

After coming down, Naruto was immediately invigorated. He looked at the branch on the tree, gathered his strength, and rushed up again.

On Menma's side, Kakashi was demonstrating the Three Basic Techniques: Transformation Technique, Substitution Technique, and Clone Technique.

"Transformation Technique is a type of ninjutsu for changing appearance, achieved through the mimetic transformation of chakra. Substitution Technique belongs to summoning and sealing arts; it is a defensive, life-saving ninjutsu. As for Clone Technique, it is an interference and deception ninjutsu, a simple form of genjutsu." Kakashi explained them one by one.

After listening to Kakashi's explanation and watching the demonstration, Menma was eager to try.

"Clone Technique!" At that moment, a burst of smoke appeared on both sides of Menma, and a clone of him appeared on each side.

"Oh? Not bad. You got it on the first try." Kakashi felt a bit incredulous.

Then, Menma used the Transformation Technique. "Change!" With a "poof," the three Menmas turned into three Kakashis.

"Yo, not bad. Combining the Clone Technique and Transformation Technique." Kakashi was a bit shocked. Learning it after seeing it once—if that wasn't genius, what was? Although these were the most basic of basics, very few people could do it on the first try at his age.

"Alright, next is the Substitution Technique." Menma gave a low shout: "Substitution Technique!" With a "poof," a cloud of smoke instantly filled the air. Menma's figure vanished like a phantom, and where he had disappeared, Naruto's somewhat bewildered figure gradually emerged.

Kakashi initially thought it had failed, but upon closer inspection, he realized it was actually Naruto.

Menma had, unsurprisingly, appeared where Naruto had been just a moment ago—and Naruto had been in the middle of climbing the tree.

"Thud!" Unsurprisingly, before Menma could react, he fell straight down.

Naruto looked around, bewildered, scratching his head in confusion: "Huh? Wasn't I climbing the tree? How did I suddenly end up here?"

Seeing this, Kakashi couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time; Menma was likely the first person to use his own brother as a substitute.

Meanwhile, Menma sat up, clutching the large bump on his head. He hadn't expected this to happen; perhaps it was because it was his first time using it, and he wasn't very skilled yet.

Naruto looked back at the tree and saw Menma sitting under it, holding his head. Seeing this, Naruto immediately ran over.

"Eh? Menma, why do you have such a big bump on your head? How did that happen? And how did you suddenly end up here?"

Naruto looked at Menma, full of confusion, and asked aloud. Watching the slow-witted Naruto, Menma sighed helplessly and stood up.

"It's nothing, brother. You keep going." Menma patted Naruto on the shoulder and walked back to Kakashi.

"You're the first person I've seen use their own brother as a substitute." Kakashi said, looking at the approaching Menma with a grin.

Menma's mouth twitched, and he looked at Kakashi speechlessly, not knowing what to say.

At this moment, Naruto gathered his strength and sprinted, reaching the branch where Kakashi and Menma had been earlier. Naruto shouted excitedly toward them: "Kakashi-sensei! I climbed up too!"

Kakashi glanced in Naruto's direction, saw him standing on the branch, and smiled with satisfaction. "Well done, Naruto!"

Naruto began to laugh, getting a bit carried away, when suddenly he lost his balance and looked like he was about to fall.

Seeing this, the expressions of Kakashi and Menma changed. "Naruto!" they shouted almost in unison.

Just as Naruto was about to fall, he steadied himself, hanging half-off the branch.

"Just kidding! This is the new ninjutsu I developed: Ninja Art! Bat Hanging Upside Down Technique!"

Naruto looked at Kakashi and Menma with a cheeky grin, laughing as he spoke. But before Naruto could enjoy himself for long, his feet slipped right off the tree branch.

"Huh?" Before Naruto could even react, he plummeted from the tree.

"Oh no!" Kakashi's expression shifted instantly, a flash of panic crossing his eyes. He triggered the Body Flicker Technique in a heartbeat, his figure blurring into a hazy streak of light, appearing beneath the tree in the blink of an eye. He reached out his arms and caught the falling Naruto steadily, the two of them forming a picture framed by the sunlight.

Naruto recovered from the shock, and Menma ran over as well. "Getting carried away again, huh? You really deserved that fall." Menma looked at Naruto, who was rubbing a bump on his head, and crossed his arms.

Naruto scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed. Kakashi observed Naruto closely and realized that he already had a certain foundation in chakra control.

With that, Kakashi said to Naruto gently, "Naruto, your chakra control is decent enough now. Come over and learn the Three Basic Techniques with Menma." As he spoke, Kakashi set Naruto down on the ground. Naruto jumped up with excitement and hurried to Menma's side, his eyes filled with curiosity and anticipation.

After Kakashi explained the technique and Menma demonstrated it once, Naruto began to practice.

"Clone Technique!" With a puff of smoke, a miniature version of Naruto, only the size of a fist, appeared before the three of them.

Kakashi didn't find it strange; if Naruto had learned it as quickly as Menma, he would have been envious of the genes Minato and Kushina passed down.

Menma's mouth twitched involuntarily, and he thought to himself: This is just like the plot in the anime. He remembered clearly that in the world of Naruto he recalled, Naruto had once created two miniature clones to protect Hinata, yet now he could only manage one.

Seeing Kakashi's unchanged expression and Menma's speechless look, Naruto felt a bit indignant.

"Clone Technique!" Naruto shouted again, and suddenly, with a pop—

After a cloud of smoke cleared on Naruto's left, a set of clothes identical to Naruto's appeared out of thin air.

Seeing this, even Naruto couldn't help but twitch his mouth, while Menma was covered in black lines of frustration. Kakashi, on the other hand, didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary.

Time ticked by, and as the sun set, Menma was already able to use the Three Basic Techniques with great proficiency, even combining them to transform into different appearances.

Naruto had also become quite skilled at the Transformation Technique, and he could barely manage to summon a clone, though the clone looked like a deflated balloon, lying limply on the ground. As for the Substitution Technique, for some reason, he hadn't succeeded even once.

And so, for the next few days, Naruto and Menma studied literacy with Kakashi in the morning and practiced the Three Basic Techniques in the afternoon, while Menma never forgot to perform his physical training every day.

The small courtyard was quiet and peaceful that afternoon. Naruto and Menma were focused on practicing the Three Basic Techniques, while Kakashi lay comfortably on a lounge chair, reading Tales of a Gutsy Ninja.

Suddenly, Might Guy's energetic voice rang out: "Yo! Kakashi, it looks like you've taught them some incredible things while I was away." The voice shattered the tranquility of the courtyard. Naruto and Menma stopped what they were doing, and Kakashi put away his book, all three of them turning their gaze toward the source of the sound.

"Bushy Brows sensei!" Naruto shouted in surprise.

"Yo, Guy, you're back." Kakashi put his book away, stood up from the lounge chair, and greeted Might Guy with a smile.

"Guy sensei, you're back! Let me tell you, Kakashi sensei is a great teacher. In just these few days, we've learned how to read, and we've even learned the Three Basic Techniques!" Menma ran up to Might Guy as if showing off. He wasn't doing it just to brag; he understood Might Guy's personality too well. His true goal was to learn the Eight Inner Gates from him.

"Ah, as expected of the disciples I've taken a liking to, to have learned..." Might Guy first patted Menma on the head, then suddenly seemed to realize something.

"W-what? So fast? You even learned the Three Basic Techniques? Kakashi, you rascal, you actually snatched my disciples!" Might Guy's eyes were filled with flames as he looked at Kakashi, feeling rather unconvinced.

"Yare yare, what can I do? Both of them are just too talented; they learn as soon as I teach them," Kakashi said with a laugh, scratching his head.

"Ha? They learn as soon as you teach them?" Might Guy's eyes widened, and he roared, full of defiance, "Damn it! Kakashi! Let's have a duel between real men!"

"Eh?" Kakashi was completely stunned, feeling a bit bewildered that Might Guy wanted to challenge him the moment he returned.