Power

In a small grove in Konoha, Tianyun Hyuga had no idea exactly where he was. All he knew was that he was still inside the village.

Tianyun Hyuga had asked Naruto Uzumaki to find somewhere quiet, and Naruto had led him through one winding turn after another within the village to get here.

Once they reached the grove, Naruto Uzumaki immediately told Tianyun Hyuga proudly, "Boss, this is my secret base. Nobody knows about it! Just tell me what you need!"

Tianyun Hyuga glanced around and saw no one, but remembering Naruto Uzumaki's special status, he waited until Naruto was distracted by a small animal in the grove, then briefly activated his Byakugan to scan the surroundings.

Tianyun Hyuga's suspicions were right. The instant he activated his Byakugan, he spotted an Anbu member in the distance. They were far enough away that they were probably only there to prevent Naruto Uzumaki from leaving Konoha.

Since the watcher couldn't possibly see what was happening here, Tianyun Hyuga deactivated his Byakugan and told the unusually excited Naruto Uzumaki without concern, "Stop staring. It's just a squirrel. I've got something for you to do, so don't waste my time."

Naruto Uzumaki snapped out of it and asked in confusion, "Boss, what could I help with out here? Do you want me to train with you?"

Tianyun Hyuga nodded. "You could say that. I want to practice the Three Body Technique. Your job is to attack me, and I'll use the Three Body Technique to defend against your attacks. You can manage that, right?"

Naruto Uzumaki said somewhat awkwardly, "Is that really a good idea? You're my boss. What if I hurt you...?"

"You think you could hurt me...?" Tianyun Hyuga said dismissively. "Give it everything you've got. Let's see what you're capable of."

Naruto Uzumaki said indignantly, "Even if you're my boss, you can't look down on my skills. I'm going to beat you today..."

"Fine. Come at me!" Tianyun Hyuga beckoned to Naruto Uzumaki with his little finger, looking utterly dismissive of him.

Naruto Uzumaki immediately flew into a rage and lunged straight at Tianyun Hyuga, kicking at his leg. He intended to knock Tianyun down, which would count as beating him.

As far as Naruto Uzumaki was concerned, Tianyun Hyuga was clearly a little younger than he was. No matter how skilled Tianyun was, he couldn't possibly be all that strong. To avoid hurting him, Naruto had deliberately chosen to attack his leg.

But Naruto Uzumaki froze a moment later. He had clearly kicked Tianyun Hyuga's leg, yet it felt as though he had struck a rock. The pain made him grab his foot and frantically rub it.

"What's going on, Boss...?" Naruto Uzumaki sat on the ground clutching his foot, staring in confusion at the motionless Tianyun Hyuga.

Tianyun Hyuga neither moved nor spoke. Then, with a sudden pop, he turned into a piece of wood, making Naruto Uzumaki's eyes practically bulge out of their sockets.

Naruto Uzumaki had seen the Substitution Technique before, but he had never seen someone turn into wood so long after being hit.

While Naruto Uzumaki stood there stunned, Tianyun Hyuga was feeling very pleased behind a tree. The enhanced Substitution Technique seemed to preserve his original appearance for three seconds, and getting attacked didn't immediately turn the substitute into wood.

Used properly, those three seconds would let Tianyun Hyuga easily kill an unsuspecting Jonin. He was extremely satisfied with the enhanced Substitution Technique. That million had been well spent.

Having tested the Substitution Technique, Tianyun Hyuga stepped out from behind the tree and approached Naruto Uzumaki, who was still sitting motionless, staring blankly at the wood. "All right, get up. We've still got training to do."

Naruto Uzumaki came to his senses and sprang to his feet excitedly, ignoring the lingering pain in his foot. "Boss, what was going on with that Substitution Technique? It felt like I kicked that piece of wood, but you still looked exactly the same instead of turning into wood. And now you've walked out from behind a tree. How does that work?"

Of course, Tianyun Hyuga wasn't going to explain it to Naruto Uzumaki. He shot Naruto a glare. "Do I need you questioning everything I do? Get ready. We're starting the second test..."

With that, Tianyun Hyuga created three ordinary clones and told Naruto Uzumaki, "Try giving each clone a punch..."

Naruto Uzumaki was now intensely curious about Tianyun Hyuga's training. At Tianyun's instruction, he unhesitatingly punched the Tianyun Hyuga on the left. With a pop, that Tianyun turned into a puff of smoke.

The one on the left had been a clone, so Naruto Uzumaki immediately attacked the Tianyun Hyuga in the middle. But when his punch landed, that one also vanished into smoke with a pop. Naruto excitedly attacked the last Tianyun Hyuga.

The Tianyun Hyuga on the right was indeed the real one, but he had actually been standing in the middle at the start. After discovering that he could freely switch positions among the three clones, he had swiftly moved to the right just as Naruto Uzumaki attacked his real body in the middle.

The enhanced Clone Technique now seemed to let him switch between clones. Tianyun Hyuga was very pleased with this as well, since it was an extremely powerful survival skill. That million had been more than worth it, too.

With the Clone Technique test finished, Tianyun Hyuga reached out and blocked Naruto Uzumaki's punch. "All right, that's enough training for now. We'll rest for five minutes, then you'll keep training with me."

"We're taking a break already? I've still got plenty of energy!" Naruto Uzumaki felt a little frustrated. He wasn't tired at all.

Tianyun Hyuga had chosen to take a five-minute break so he could think about how to use the enhanced Three Body Technique, not because he needed to rest. He glared at Naruto Uzumaki to make him settle down, then found a relatively clean patch of ground and sat down to think.

The five minutes quickly passed. After reviewing the information on the level-two Three Body Technique, Tianyun Hyuga began testing its various applications with Naruto Uzumaki in the grove.

Naruto Uzumaki had quite an eye-opening experience that day. Tianyun Hyuga's Three Body Technique was far too bizarre. Naruto attacked him continuously for two hours without landing a single hit, only exhausting himself until he was panting for breath. He gazed at Tianyun with immense envy.

After testing the power of the level-two Three Body Technique with Naruto Uzumaki for two hours, Tianyun Hyuga was satisfied. He warned Naruto not to reveal anything about him, then tossed him five thousand to go buy himself some ramen and headed back toward the Konoha Ninja Academy in a good mood.

Having received five thousand from Tianyun Hyuga and learned his secret, Naruto Uzumaki now considered himself Tianyun's loyal underling. Ignoring his exhaustion, he ran excitedly to Ichiraku Ramen.