The next day, Naruto once again appeared in the small forest by the river. This time, he arrived through one of his space portals.
Standing before a large tree, he began pounding it with his fists—bam, bam, bam.
Meanwhile, at the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage had just arrived. He wanted to check on Naruto's training progress for the day. Activating his crystal ball to observe, what did he see? Naruto hammering away at a tree again.
This made the Third Hokage sigh deeply. He rubbed his temples, recalling the scene from yesterday's fight with Uchiha Sasuke, where Naruto had used his crude version of the Eight Trigrams Sealing Palm.
'Crap! Letting him win yesterday might've given him the wrong idea...'
The Third thought back to how Naruto successfully refined chakra and, in just three days of grueling effort, learned the Clone Jutsu. He was at a loss for words.
'Could this child be a genius...?'
But, what kind of genius practices the Clone Jutsu tens of thousands of times?
'Yet, to say he's not talented… the kid still learned it in three days.'
Normally, children who just started their ninja training would need at least a week to get the hang of the Clone Jutsu! The only difference was Naruto's absurd amount of chakra compared to the average ninja.
If it weren't for that vast chakra pool, this kind of reckless training would have drained him to death by now.
What truly concerned the Third Hokage was Naruto's obsessive focus on taijutsu. Looking at Naruto's unsteady footwork and sloppy punches, he could tell the boy wasn't even using half of his real strength. And yet, there he was, tirelessly training day in and day out...
Each time the Third Hokage glanced at the image in the crystal ball, he could feel his blood pressure rising. Finally, unable to take it any longer, he deactivated the viewing jutsu—out of sight, out of mind.
But still, worried that Naruto might injure himself, the Third Hokage gave a quick order to the Anbu.
"Have Might Guy and Kakashi report to me."
"Yes, Lord Third!"
———
Bang—
Naruto, his mind wandering, continued pummeling the tree, sending chips of bark flying with every punch.
The surface of the tree, after just a short while, had visibly caved in from the repeated blows.
Each punch left a bit of the tree crumbling. It wouldn't be long before Naruto would need a new tree for training.
Not far away, Might Guy and Kakashi were watching Naruto intently. After half an hour of observation, both of them had the same reaction as the Third Hokage—a headache.
"Guy, if that kid keeps training like this, he's going to ruin himself, right?" Kakashi asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well… it's certainly passionate, but without the proper technique, he won't make it far in his youthful journey." Guy scratched his head, visibly distressed by Naruto's inefficient training methods.
When the Third Hokage had first mentioned that there was a kid in the village who was working hard on his taijutsu, Guy had been thrilled. He even considered taking the child under his wing.
However, when he learned that the child was the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki and the son of the Fourth Hokage, Guy had immediately gone silent.
Despite all his talk of "youthful passion," Guy wasn't so foolish as to think he could casually take the jinchūriki as a disciple. The Third Hokage would probably tear him apart.
The Third had specifically instructed them only to offer guidance on Naruto's incorrect taijutsu training but to absolutely avoid getting the boy too interested in taijutsu.
Kakashi, staring at the small figure of Naruto, couldn't help but picture his former sensei, the Fourth Hokage. In that moment, the images of master and son overlapped in his mind.
He blinked, feeling a lump form in his throat. Old memories long locked away began to surface once again. 'It's because sensei isn't here… There's no one to guide him. That's why this kid is training so blindly...'
The two exchanged a glance, silently coming to an understanding. They strolled casually toward Naruto, acting as though they were just passing by.
Neither of them approached Naruto directly, sticking to the Third Hokage's plan of "coincidentally" bumping into the hardworking boy, waiting for him to ask for guidance himself.
However, after circling him at least ten times, they still hadn't gotten Naruto to notice them.
It was as if the boy was completely engrossed in that tree in front of him.
In reality, Naruto had noticed them the first time they showed up. I mean, how could he not? One had a head of unmistakable white hair, and the other wore that ridiculous green jumpsuit. How could anyone miss them?
If these two weren't Kakashi and Guy, Naruto would've gladly eaten the tree he was punching.
Watching them pass by again and again, looking like they had something on their minds, Naruto finally grew annoyed.
"Hey! You two old geezers! What's your deal?!" Naruto yelled, unable to contain his frustration any longer. "Can you stop walking back and forth in front of me? I'm trying to train here!"
Kakashi and Guy both froze, their lips twitching.
'Training?' they both thought in unison. Looking at the tree that had been punched full of holes, and then at Naruto's haphazard punches, they had to wonder... was this really "training," or was he just chopping down trees?
Still, they were both astonished by Naruto's freakish constitution. He's only six years old!
Despite his clumsy punching technique, the kid had almost knocked over a whole tree.
When Kakashi and Guy were Naruto's age, they could never have done something like this. Even Guy, a taijutsu fanatic, hadn't trained to this extreme when he was younger.
Punching like that for even a single day would ruin a person's hands forever, ending their ninja career before it even began. But from what they heard from the Third Hokage...
The Nine-Tails' jinchūriki had been hammering away at trees like this for several days straight now.
Looking down at Naruto's small hands, which showed no signs of injury, Kakashi was utterly baffled. Just what kind of monstrous constitution is this kid blessed with!?
"Hey there, young man!" Guy shouted with enthusiasm. "My dear friend and I were just passing by and noticed that your form is a little off."
"If you keep training like this, you might—" Guy paused, glancing at Naruto's hands, which were perfectly fine. He quickly changed tack. "Let me show you the correct punching form!"
Naruto blinked in confusion. 'My form is wrong?'
'How could that be?' In his past life, he'd watched countless boxing matches and movies featuring Wing Chun masters. He was pretty sure his form was decent.
'Didn't I beat Sasuke into the ground with this very technique just yesterday?' Naruto thought, baffled.
While he pondered, the green-clad Guy had already started his demonstration, shouting energetically as he struck another tree.
"Young man, the key to delivering a powerful punch is to start from your feet, move through your hips, and let your waist drive your punch!"
Bang!
Guy demonstrated again, then began throwing punches and kicks, showcasing basic taijutsu attacks for Naruto to study.
"Got it?"
Kakashi, with his trademark dead-fish eyes, lazily chimed in, "It's pretty straightforward."
"I get it now!" Naruto exclaimed, finally understanding.
In his past life, he'd heard of a similar concept in martial arts: something about the body having "three hearts." He remembered it clearly now.
Recalling Guy's movements, Naruto mimicked him, focusing on proper technique as he threw a punch.
Boom!
With a thunderous crash, the tree he'd been pummeling finally collapsed, sending a cloud of dust into the air.
Kakashi's eyelid twitched. 'Did this kid just knock down a tree with one punch?'
True, the tree had already been weakened, but still… for a six-year-old to punch down a tree was downright terrifying!
Kakashi estimated that if Naruto hit him with that kind of force, he'd definitely feel it.
And he's only six... Kakashi didn't know what to say anymore.
In his mind, he offered a silent prayer for the future jonin who would one day lead this child into battle.
"Well done! Your form is spot on!" Guy gave a mighty thumbs-up, his hand gleaming in the sunlight. His bowl-cut hair and sparkling white teeth reflected the light in a strange, almost blinding way.
Naruto, feeling awkward, scratched the ground with his toes.
"Young man! Keep pushing forward!" Guy continued passionately. "The flames of youth must never die out!"
Kakashi, face in his hands, couldn't bear to watch. 'Is he really saying this out loud?'
What if this kid gets obsessed with taijutsu now? Guy would have to face the Third Hokage's wrath.
Moved by Naruto's determination, Guy dragged Kakashi off to the training grounds, insisting on a youthful showdown between friends.
After they left, Naruto continued practicing the technique he'd just learned. Each punch now created a fist-sized dent in the trees.
However, Naruto realized that soon, there might not be enough trees left in this forest for his training.
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