The Third Hokage Was Worried Sick

"Thud—"

"Thud—"

"Thud!"

The next day, the sound of pounding on a tree rang out in Riverside Grove again.

Fortunately, it was early in the morning, and there was no one nearby.

Otherwise, people would definitely come running over to complain about this kid disturbing the peace at six in the morning.

Today, Kurama did not even have to wake Naruto. He woke up on his own right on time.

After washing up and having breakfast, he jogged all the way to yesterday's training spot and began today's training.

Thanks to the Uzumaki Clan's physique, not even a scar had remained from last night.

Naruto also discovered that his tolerance seemed to have improved.

Pounding the tree no longer felt like much of anything.

Other than the constant thud-thud-thud in his ears, he could not feel the slightest bit of pain.

He could even keep a rhythm as he punched while zoning out.

It was exactly like absentmindedly spinning a pen in class in his previous life.

"Naruto..."

"Grandpa happened to be passing by to see you."

"Stop for a moment and take a break first."

The Third Hokage's voice suddenly came from beside him. Naruto turned his head, but his hands did not stop moving for even a second.

That old Third Hokage?

What was he doing here??

Passing by?

Yeah, right. As if I'd believe that!

Naruto did not believe the Third Hokage's claim that he had merely been passing by.

The old man had probably seen him training by the river and specifically come over to check on him.

Still, Naruto could not figure out what the Third Hokage wanted from him this time.

Could it be that he could not stand seeing me work hard?

"Oh dear, stop for a moment. Don't hurt yourself."

The Third Hokage's tone was kind, but inwardly, he was utterly baffled.

Could this kid really be addicted to training??

No!

He absolutely had to nip this kid's reckless obsession with taijutsu training in the bud!

The Third Hokage took two scrolls from his robes and said to Naruto with a smile.

"Look, what good things did Grandpa bring you?"

"A basic ninjutsu—the Clone Technique!"

"And the Chakra Refinement Method!"

Naruto was speechless at the Third Hokage's pretentious act.

Who are you trying to fool...

You're giving me a Chakra Refinement Method and the Clone Technique right off the bat??

Why not take out my old man's Flying Thunder God...

Or, failing that, hand over my mom's Sealing Technique!

Of course, Naruto still put on an extremely delighted expression.

He quickly walked over to the Third Hokage, took the scrolls, and looked thrilled.

"Thank you, Grandpa!"

"I'll definitely work hard!"

Hearing the child's words, the Third Hokage finally revealed a long-lost smile. He reached out, intending to pat the child's head, but Naruto dodged aside.

The Third Hokage's action had seriously crossed Naruto's bottom line.

Patting my head again?

Doesn't he know that getting your head patted stunts your growth?!

Naruto nimbly flashed to the side and glared furiously at the Third Hokage.

This old man had loved patting his head ever since he was little.

If I end up short in the future, it'll all be his fault!

"Hehehe..."

Seeing Naruto's antics, the Third Hokage chuckled awkwardly.

Then he began instructing him, "Make good use of the time before school starts and train hard."

"Grandpa will be waiting for good news from you."

With that, the Third Hokage clasped his hands behind his back and slowly left.

Meanwhile, he thought to himself...

Now that Naruto had these two scrolls, he would not keep pounding that tree like his life depended on it, right?

He reckoned the kid might not even manage to refine Chakra before school started.

Much less master the Clone Technique.

And just as the Third Hokage had expected, after he left, Naruto eagerly opened the scrolls and began reading them carefully.

The Clone Technique was still somewhat difficult for him, so he only glanced through it before putting it away.

He focused most of his energy on refining Chakra afterward.

"Chakra within the human body..."

Naruto spent more than twenty minutes reading it over and over several times. Then he sat cross-legged on the ground, assumed a five-centers-facing-heaven posture, and began trying to refine Chakra.

Kurama, watching this from within the Sealing Space, felt like his entire world had fallen apart.

What the hell was this kid doing??

Who had ever heard of someone refining Chakra in that kind of posture?!

"Kid, what are you doing?"

Ten minutes later, Kurama finally could not help asking.

It really could not stand watching anymore. Was this kid an idiot?!

"Don't interrupt!"

"I'm starting to feel something!"

"Hiss—"

As soon as he spoke, Naruto noticed that his legs had gone numb.

It felt as though countless bugs had crawled into his pant legs and were biting him.

Naruto supported himself against the tree as he stood up, then limped around in place.

"Kid, that posture was cutting off your circulation. You'd have to be a ghost to refine Chakra that way."

"Huh?"

Hearing the fox's words, Naruto froze.

Was that not how Chakra was refined?

He could not help it. He had read too many cultivation novels in his previous life, so he had instinctively applied their methods here.

Not using that posture to refine Chakra just felt wrong somehow.

"Then what posture am I supposed to use?"

Realizing that his movements had been wrong, Naruto humbly sought guidance from the old man in his stomach.

"I have never heard of Chakra refinement requiring any specific posture!"

"Anything is fine!"

Kurama felt like this kid was truly going to anger it to death.

What the hell was he thinking?!

"Oh... is that so?"

Although Kurama's words made sense, Naruto still felt that Chakra should not be refined like this.