"Could it be a problem with chakra control? Or the amount of chakra?"
Naruto scratched the back of his head and muttered, thoroughly perplexed.
He really couldn't make sense of it.
If it was a problem with chakra control,
that still didn't add up.
They were all Three Body Techniques.
There was no reason the Clone Technique should be harder to control than the Substitution Technique or the Transformation Technique, was there? Naruto even thought the Substitution Technique was the hardest of the three to control. A ninja had to consider things like what object to swap with and when to make the switch.
The Clone Technique shouldn't be more complicated than the Substitution Technique.
After all, the clone had no physical body to begin with.
Besides,
Naruto had already completed his chakra-control training for tree climbing and Water Walking.
As for the amount of chakra,
that made even less sense.
Neither in his previous life nor this one had Naruto ever heard that the Three Body Techniques required a certain amount of chakra to control. It wasn't some high-level ninjutsu that couldn't be performed without enough chakra. They were only the Three Body Techniques; they shouldn't be that demanding. Besides, even if he considered every possibility, Naruto had already tried adjusting the amount and rate of chakra output. He had tried everything he could think of, whether using more or less chakra, and had even asked Iruka. The conclusion was still the same: he was stuck in this extremely awkward situation.
Iruka, who had seen Naruto use the Clone Technique with his own eyes, was just as baffled. The Substitution Technique and Transformation Technique both worked perfectly well.
So why couldn't he use the Clone Technique?
Iruka, who wasn't particularly knowledgeable himself, couldn't come up with an explanation either.
All he could do was encourage Naruto.
He just had to keep trying.
After all, he was only in his second year.
He still had more than four years before the graduation exam. There was no need to rush.
Sigh. Still, I couldn't even make out an object at first, and now at least this looks a little like a person. I guess that counts as progress?
Naruto tried the Clone Technique again.
Looking at the figure before him, which he could just barely recognize as his own clone, he sighed helplessly.
Unable to find a reason,
Naruto could only chalk it up to some kind of bug.
"Never mind. That's enough for today."
As the light gradually faded, a glint flickered in Naruto's eyes. He rolled his neck, then stood up again.
After gathering his equipment and the wild vegetables and berries he'd picked that day, Naruto stretched, picked up his things, and headed for the edge of the forest, ready to return home.
"I need to change my training plan a little..."
"I can still spend some time practicing the Clone Technique, but I can't waste too much time on it..."
"My main focus should be improving my physical fitness..."
"The Kunai I got before is almost worn out. Hmm, I'll ask Iruka-sensei for some more tomorrow..."
"Ah... I'm exhausted..."
The setting sun cast its final glow over the land.
Naruto's long shadow stretched across the ground.
That night, after returning home and quickly finishing dinner, Naruto rested for a while, then sat down at his desk and opened the textbook lying there.
Training during the day.
Studying at night.
That had been Naruto's routine for the past year.
And he wasn't just studying what they covered in class.
He planned to borrow and read, one by one, the books on ninjas, ninjutsu, genjutsu, and Taijutsu kept at the Ninja Academy. Thanks to Iruka, Naruto had plenty of opportunities to do so. Of course, because of his age and the fact that he'd only been at the Academy for a little over a year, Iruka still had to keep him in check. It wasn't that Iruka wouldn't let Naruto read those books. Rather, from Iruka's perspective, he didn't want Naruto to reach too high too soon or try to swallow more than he could chew. That was what Iruka had told Naruto more than anything else over the past year.
Iruka was naturally delighted by how eager Naruto was to learn.
And because he often spent time with Naruto,
watching how bright and cheerful Naruto was,
Iruka gradually began to let down his guard. It wasn't that he had forgotten how his parents had died. He had simply learned to see Naruto as his own person. The Nine-Tails was the Nine-Tails, and Naruto was Naruto; they were not one and the same. And because Naruto had become the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and was hated and shunned by more than ninety-nine percent of the village, Iruka felt even more sympathy for him.
As the two of them grew closer,
Iruka naturally became more invested in Naruto's future.
He hoped Naruto would become a great ninja, just as he'd said, and earn everyone's recognition.
Iruka paid even more attention to Naruto's training and studies than he had a year ago.
Naruto's progress in his studies far exceeded Iruka's expectations.
He picked up a lot of things as soon as he learned them.
But since Naruto was still holding back a little,
Iruka's assessment of him was bound to be inaccurate.
Naruto himself didn't really mind.
There were benefits to studying some things over and over. It helped the lessons stick.
In that respect,
Naruto had carried over a good habit from his previous life.
"Ah... is it already this late?"
Naruto had been so engrossed in his studies
that his neck had started to ache. He straightened up and rolled his neck, then happened to notice the time displayed on the clock on his desk.
Naruto yawned and spoke sleepily.
"I have to get up early tomorrow. Better wash up and go to bed."
Naruto shook his head, closed the book in front of him, stood up, and stretched his arms and legs. Then he went straight to the bathroom. After washing up,
he went straight to bed.
In less than a minute,
his accumulated fatigue
quickly pulled him into a deep sleep.
The night should have passed as peacefully as any other, with him sleeping soundly until morning.
But tonight,
something unexpected happened.
"Rumble!!!"
An explosion suddenly rang out across the sky above Konoha.
Flames shot into the sky.
The fiery clouds blazing across the horizon
turned the quiet, still village of Konoha into a place of commotion in an instant.
Naruto, who had already fallen asleep,
was jolted awake.
The sharp, piercing roar, along with the faint sounds of fighting,
sent Naruto scrambling out of bed.
He quickly ran to the window.
As he stared at the raging fire in the northwestern part of Konoha, and the Konoha Ninja rushing toward it from all directions, a look of shock flickered in Naruto's eyes.
"If I'm not mistaken, that direction is where the Uchiha Clan lives, right? A fire that big... could this be the Night of the Massacre? The timing fits, too."
Naruto nodded slightly and murmured.
Not long after Uchiha Sasuke enrolled, the Uchiha Clan really was wiped out.
But no, that didn't seem right.
Naruto couldn't remember the details of the story very clearly, though.