"Shinsei!" Naruto happily waved at Shinsei on the rooftop, but his movements were so big that the wads of paper in his nostrils fell out. The stench swiftly filled his nose, and he couldn't help clutching his stomach and bending over to vomit.
Sasuke turned his face away in disgust.
"Hey!" Sakura planted her hands on her hips. "If you're not helping, don't make trouble!"
"Watch this!" Shinsei jumped down and formed hand seals. His chakra extended along the ground into the little stream, and a water snake made from a large amount of sewage crawled onto the bank.
The water snake shook its body, scattering the garbage inside it onto the ground, then crawled back into the stream and became river water again.
"Whoa!" Naruto stared, transfixed. "That's awesome!"
Sasuke haughtily turned his face away. He would never acknowledge Shinsei.
Watching the three of them pick up garbage, Shinsei couldn't help saying:
"You can train while doing missions, too. That's another way to get stronger."
"You can train by picking up garbage?" Naruto looked as though he was warning him not to lie.
"Of course!" Shinsei nodded. "Naruto, you know Wind Release, so you can blow the garbage into a pile. Sasuke knows Fire Style, so he can burn it. Keeping the power of your ninjutsu under control makes for great training."
"Really?" Naruto looked excited. "I'll go first!"
Naruto did know a little ninjutsu. He formed hand seals.
Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!
Seeing that something was wrong, Sasuke and Shinsei immediately used the Body Flicker Technique to leap away.
The gale blew through the garbage, sweeping it onto Sakura's face and body, while sewage soaked her from head to toe. Sakura's face immediately turned red and her eyebrows shot up. Her rising fury almost seemed visible.
"Naruto Uzumaki!"
Naruto had successfully activated violent Sakura. She punched him flat onto the ground, where he clutched his head and wailed.
Sakura turned her gaze toward Shinsei, but he had already run over to Sasuke's side, resting a hand on his shoulder as though he was holding Sasuke hostage.
Sasuke was always special. Sakura turned her face away, and when she turned back a second later, her angry expression had become pitiful.
"Sasuke, I'm going home to change. Don't leave. Let's train together later." With that, Sakura crouched down and gave Naruto another punch. "You take care of the rest!"
Having made a mistake, Naruto nodded frantically.
Over a hundred meters away, Kakashi Hatake withdrew his gaze as he lounged in the shade of a tree and continued leafing through the Icha Icha Paradise in his hands.
Naruto was made for hard labor. Hundreds of Shadow Clones moved out together and soon cleaned up the mess. If he had hauled bricks in Shinsei's previous life, he could easily have become rich.
The three sat down under a tree to chat.
Naruto pressed Shinsei about his assignment, but Shinsei kept acting mysterious, leaving Naruto grinding his teeth in frustration.
"Kakashi-senpai!" Shinsei flashed up into the tree and bowed to Kakashi.
Kakashi closed his book and looked at this year's top graduate before him.
"I received permission to choose a ninjutsu from the Scroll of Seals, and I chose your Chidori, Kakashi-senpai. May I ask you for guidance?"
"Chidori, huh?" Kakashi scratched his head and smiled. "Sure, no problem."
Sasuke pricked up his ears while pretending not to care.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto pointed at Kakashi. "Why are you teaching Shinsei instead of training us?"
Sakura had returned as well and looked pitifully at Kakashi.
"Well, you see..." Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "Now that I'm getting older, I forget things easily."
"You're just slacking off and sleeping!" Naruto grabbed Kakashi's clothes and shook him back and forth.
"Then how about this? Today's mission is already over, so I'll teach you."
"Yeah!" Naruto jumped up happily, pumping his fists.
"Sasuke, Shinsei, I'll teach you ninjutsu." Kakashi put Icha Icha Paradise into the ninja pouch at his waist and created a Shadow Clone. "Naruto, I'll train your chakra control. As for Sakura... hmm..."
"Sakura has water release chakra, right?" Seeing Kakashi's dilemma, Shinsei helped share the burden. "I know some water release ninjutsu. I'll teach her."
Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief. He really didn't know what ninjutsu he could teach Sakura. Although he had water release chakra, as for the effort he'd invested in water release ninjutsu... well, Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet, forty-four seals.
"Kakashi-sensei, I want to learn new ninjutsu, too!" Naruto looked indignant.
"Well, your foundations are too weak, Naruto!" Kakashi sounded rather helpless.
"But they're all learning new ninjutsu!"
"Watch this!" Kakashi formed hand seals.
A hurricane blasted from Kakashi's mouth, its immense pressure making the distant woods roar. Kakashi had already angled the wind upward; after all, they were still in Konoha, and damaging the surroundings wouldn't do.
"That's amazing!" Naruto grabbed Kakashi's clothes. "I want to learn that! Kakashi-sensei, I want to learn that ninjutsu!"
"Really?" Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "No changing your mind!"
"That's the ninjutsu I'm learning!" Naruto looked solemn. "I won't change my mind! I keep my word. That's my ninja way!"
"Oh," Kakashi said seriously. "That was the Wind Release: Great Breakthrough you just used!"
"Huh?" Naruto was baffled. "But... but it was so different!"
"Naruto, your foundations are too weak!"
Naruto followed Kakashi's Shadow Clone off to one side for remedial lessons, while Sasuke followed Kakashi toward the woods.
"Come with me." Shinsei's Shadow Clone beckoned to Sakura. "Sakura, since I'm teaching you ninjutsu, could you call me sensei?"
"Don't even think about it!" Sakura raised her eyebrows. She didn't want Ino mocking her for being a generation below her when they met later.
Kakashi led Sasuke and Shinsei into the woods.
"Shinsei, I'm glad you chose Chidori. Could you use it once? That way, I can see where the problem lies." Kakashi watched Shinsei closely.
"No problem, Kakashi-senpai." Shinsei nodded, guessing Kakashi was guarding against being tricked into giving away his ninjutsu. After all, he hadn't confirmed it with the Hokage yet.
Shinsei formed hand seals.
Ox-Hare-Monkey.
Intense electricity erupted from his right hand, crackling and flashing like a thousand birds chirping.
Shinsei swung his arm swiftly, carrying his body forward as he thrust toward a nearby rock.
Crack!
His arm pierced straight through the boulder, and the fierce electrical sparks blasted the rock apart.
Sasuke watched Shinsei, the paired tomoe in his red eyes slowly turning. So he was already this strong? At the thought that he would soon learn such powerful ninjutsu himself, even his hair trembled with excitement.
"I see." Kakashi nodded. "The problem is stimulating your body's cells. Then I'll teach you from the beginning."
Since Sasuke was there, Kakashi began with lightning release chakra.
Kakashi truly deserved his place among Konoha's best Lightning Release users. His explanations filled the gaps in Shinsei's theoretical foundations in lightning release chakra. Who knew how much time Shinsei would have spent figuring out these fundamentals on his own?
Kakashi started with the basics, then covered how to use chakra to stimulate the body's cells, and finally how to increase the penetrating power of lightning release chakra.
An excellent listener, Shinsei asked questions from time to time, some of which even gave Kakashi inspiration.
As the sun set in the west, Kakashi stood up.
"Let's stop here for today. If you're free tomorrow, Shinsei-kun, you're welcome to come discuss this some more. Sasuke still needs instruction anyway."
"Sorry for imposing today, and thank you for your instruction, Kakashi-senpai! I don't have a mission tomorrow, so if you don't mind the interruption, I'll trouble you again." Shinsei hurriedly bowed. He had gained a tremendous amount from Kakashi's explanations.
"No need to thank me. Your questions gave me plenty of inspiration, too." Kakashi was sincerely grateful. Once one's lightning release ninjutsu reached his level, further improvement became very difficult. He hadn't expected Shinsei's wildly imaginative ideas about Lightning Release to give him so much inspiration. Honestly, he had underestimated this top Ninja Academy graduate.
The five gathered together. Naruto looked excited, apparently having gained something. Sakura also looked delighted. The Shadow Clone had taught her the C-rank Water Release: Wild Water Wave, the B-rank Water Release: Water Formation Wall, and the B-rank Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique, explaining everything from the full hand-seal versions to the simplified versions. The only thing limiting her now was her chakra reserves.
"Naruto!" Shinsei hooked an arm around Naruto's neck. "Did I help you with your mission today?"
"Yes." Naruto agreed, but watched Shinsei warily.
"Treating me to ramen isn't too much to ask, right?" Shinsei patted Naruto's shoulder. Naruto should have saved quite a bit of money over the past few days.
"Huh? No, it isn't." Naruto felt his frog wallet. Treating Shinsei to ramen really wasn't too much. He had thought Shinsei was going to ask for something outrageous.
"Then... Ichiraku Ramen?" Shinsei looked expectantly at Naruto.
"Okay! Ichiraku Ramen!" Hearing the name made Naruto want some, too.
"Just me?" Shinsei asked leisurely.
Four pairs of eyes turned toward him.
"I'll treat everyone to ramen!" Naruto wasn't one to agonize over things, either.
Hmm, spending a little of Naruto's money is better than letting Jiraiya use it to gather material. That's right. I must fight the Shinobi World's unhealthy trends!
Shinsei pulled Sasuke over with his left hand and hooked an arm around his shoulders, resting his right hand on Naruto's shoulder.
Off they went!