The Approaching Chunin Ninja Exams

After leaving Tenten's family ninja tool shop, Naruto went to a forest to begin his training.

First, before learning the Flying Thunder God Technique, he needed to master the Summoning Jutsu. This technique was not particularly difficult.

On the first day, Naruto practiced the Summoning Jutsu alongside his Shadow Clones. The things that could be summoned were not limited to summoned beasts; weapons, things sealed inside scrolls, and more all fell within the scope of space-time ninjutsu.

On the second day, Naruto had improved his proficiency with the Summoning Jutsu and began trying to use the chakra-conducting Chakra Dagger to perform the technique in reverse, summoning himself to where the Chakra Dagger was.

In the Naruto from Awen's memories, Shikamaru had also used Flying Swallow, the chakra-conducting weapon Asuma left behind. Through Flying Swallow, Shikamaru could perform his clan's shadow-manipulation ninjutsu.

On the sixth day, Naruto nervously swallowed. He channeled the Summoning Jutsu into the Chakra Dagger, planted it in the ground, then slowly increased the distance between himself and it, preparing to try the Reverse Summoning Technique and transfer himself to the Chakra Dagger.

"Aaaah... here I go..." Naruto shouted, trying to bolster his courage.

Whoosh!

Space shifted in an instant. The sudden change in his surroundings left Naruto frozen for a moment, unable to react. The chakra-conducting dagger at his feet showed that he had succeeded. He had successfully used the Chakra Dagger to reverse-summon himself over.

"Great, great... I did it! I learned the first stage of the Flying Thunder God!" Naruto cheered excitedly.

Suddenly, a light breeze blew past. Naruto shivered, feeling cold all over. Then he seemed to realize something, and his heart nearly stopped.

Naruto mechanically turned his head. His clothes, even his underwear, had been left behind. Meanwhile, he himself was completely naked, a mess in the wind.

"Aaaah!" Naruto hurriedly covered his vital areas with both hands, letting out a groundhog-like scream. The Reverse Summoning Technique had brought him directly to his destination, but his clothes and everything else had remained where they were.

At that moment, the Nine-Tails in the inner space burst into laughter. The sound rang directly in Naruto's mind, making Naruto, who was hurriedly getting dressed, extremely annoyed. He snapped, "Kurama!"

The Nine-Tails laughed until tears came out, clutching his stomach as he rolled around. "I'm dying! The title of the ninja most prone to accidents suits you perfectly. If your father and the Second Hokage knew, they'd probably laugh themselves to death too. Hahaha..."

"Don't underestimate me! At least I've learned the Flying Thunder God Technique. It's just..." The more Naruto spoke, the less confident he became. He had learned it, but it was only a half-finished product. If he fought someone, he would have to strip naked.

At that thought, Naruto completely deflated. With a resigned expression, he said, "What exactly is going on with the Reverse Summoning Technique? It can summon a person, but it can't bring their clothes along. If I use the regular Summoning Jutsu directly, there's no problem!"

After laughing enough, the Nine-Tails said, "Reverse summoning and ordinary summoning are different. In short, if you teleport using a Flying Thunder God Mark, you'll end up naked. This method of using Flying Thunder God Marks isn't very suitable for you. You should consider the method I mentioned instead."

"Mm." Naruto, now dressed, gave a listless response. He had learned the Flying Thunder God Technique, but not entirely.

First, he had tried many times. When he used the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport objects, they would not arrive whole. When teleporting people, sometimes the entire person would be sent over, while other times only their clothes would be. According to Kurama, his chakra control was still inadequate.

The seven-day vacation passed just like that, and Naruto returned to his usual daily routine: either carrying out tedious missions or training.

Naruto could now use the Rasengan one-handed, but the Flying Thunder God Technique was still in the same state as before. Sasuke's strength had also improved considerably.

After learning that Naruto had mastered an A-rank ninjutsu, Sasuke asked Kakashi to train him as well. Just as he had done with Naruto, Kakashi first tested Sasuke's chakra nature. Upon discovering that Sasuke possessed not only the fire nature unique to the Uchiha Clan, but also lightning nature, Kakashi taught Sasuke his signature ninjutsu. Sasuke's Sharingan had also both evolved into two tomoe as he pursued Naruto.

As for Sakura, although she had grown considerably during their trip to the Land of Waves, she reverted to her old self after returning. She was either trying to ask Sasuke out or busy grooming herself, with little enthusiasm for training. After all, she did not have the same troubles Naruto and Sasuke did.

That day, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were standing on a bridge, once again caught in the daily routine of waiting they had long grown accustomed to.

"Why isn't Kakashi-sensei here yet? Why isn't Kakashi-sensei here yet?" Sakura muttered under her breath, sounding a little obsessed.

Just as everyone was beginning to grow impatient, Kakashi finally arrived late.

"Yo, good morning, everyone. I got lost on the road of life again." Kakashi waved with a smile, showing no sign that he thought he had done anything wrong.

"You're too late!" Sakura and Naruto practically roared in unison.

Kakashi shamelessly smiled and gave a lame excuse. "I helped an old lady cross the street today, so I was a little late."

"Hmph. Why didn't you run into someone staging an accident and get scammed? Then let's see if you'd keep using that excuse." Naruto narrowed his eyes, recalling the frustrating incidents from Awen's memories as he mocked Kakashi.

Kakashi froze, not understanding for a moment. He asked curiously, "Staging an accident? What's that?"

Naruto considered his wording before saying, "Porcelain falls over at the slightest touch, and once it falls, it breaks. Someone deliberately lets you bump into it, then demands that you pay for it. Basically, they latch onto you and force you to hand over money."

"Ah, I get it, I get it. Still, we're lucky. Neither he nor I have encountered the kind of person you described." Kakashi understood Naruto's meaning and narrowed his eyes.

Kakashi beckoned them over. "All right, enough chatter. Team 7 will begin its mission. Let's see what we have today..."

Kakashi was only halfway through his sentence when an eagle's cry pierced the sky. Whether it was Kakashi or the Jonin currently in the village, their expressions tightened as they looked toward the sky, their gazes turning solemn.

It's already been a year since we graduated from the Academy. Naruto thought to himself. This was the Jonin assembly signal. According to Awen's memories, the stormy Chunin Ninja Exams were about to begin.

Kakashi came back to his senses and said to Team 7, "We'll stop here for today. The meeting time and place tomorrow remain unchanged. Team 7, dismissed."

Whoosh!

Kakashi vanished directly with the Body Flicker. Sasuke snorted coldly and left as well. Naruto said goodbye before departing too, leaving Sakura standing there alone.

"Sigh, it's this again..." Sakura had gotten used to it. Naruto no longer pestered her as he once had, but Sasuke was still as cold toward her as ever. She felt that the future was truly bleak.