At that moment, they were in the Training Ground Naruto and the others had once known best.
"Ha!"
Under Naruto's watchful eye, Konohamaru gave it everything he had, cold sweat pouring down his forehead, and finally managed to perform the Clone Technique.
But Konohamaru's clone lay motionless on the ground like a puddle of sludge.
"H-how was that, Naruto...? Does that barely count as a success?"
Konohamaru panted and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"No, no good! Sure, it has a physical body, but this absolutely, absolutely, absolutely doesn't count as a Shadow Clone."
Naruto shook his head with a sigh, then crouched down and poked the "sludge Konohamaru" with a finger.
"A clone like this won't fool anyone. It'll just get in the way. Seriously, if I made a clone like that, I'd want to dig a hole right there, crawl inside, and never show my face again!"
"I-is it... really that bad?"
Konohamaru was clearly crushed.
"But don't get discouraged. You're still little, after all, and you've got me here, right? With my help, you'll definitely fix it. Let me think..."
After circling Konohamaru's clone to inspect it, Naruto watched him form his hand seals again and shouted, "I've got it! Your chakra wasn't flowing right when you did that 'mm' there and that 'ha' here. Try again!"
"There and here... okay! Oh, the 'ha' bit, right? I get it, I get it! I'll try again!"
Practicing off to one side, Sasuke heard Konohamaru's shout of sudden understanding, then actually saw his chakra begin to flow more smoothly.
He couldn't help questioning something—was his inability to understand Naruto's teaching really just his own problem?
"By the way, Konohamaru, have you seen Hinata's little sister at school?"
Something suddenly occurred to Naruto, and he asked.
"Huh? Hanabi Hyuga?"