When I woke up, I sighed and sat back down with the books. I skimmed through history, "The Deeds of the Great Shinobi," also skimming—it was pure propaganda. I read the theory on taijutsu very carefully, almost memorizing it. In my past life, I fought terribly. Sure, they sent me to a jiu-jitsu class as a kid, but when I got beaten up at my first competition, I quit without learning anything. It hurt back then... and now I regret it. I could've learned and shown everyone here whose kung fu is better. Not meant to be. "The Basics of Chakra Control" I read every other line, sometimes skipping three, because it was about 70% fluff, like my college essays. Why? Well, I have a guess. Why should a small, inexperienced shinobi know how everything works? You might blab it to the enemy. First, grow up to the level of a chunin, and then we'll tell you.
I carefully read and copied all the control exercises into my notebook—they are especially important to me. I wrote down everything I remembered about creating the Rasengan. It seems like control improves as you study it. Rasengan, an A-rank technique, a powerful, chaotically rotating stream of chakra concentrated in a sphere. Its stats must be quite impressive, not weak at all.
Train, train, and train some more! But I'm so lazy. If I can gain decent chakra control with my theoretical knowledge, no resurrected Madaras would scare me. I'll make a deal with Danzo, secretly conquer all the countries, declare the Imperium of Mankind and... there I go.
Two weeks passed in righteous labor. The academy's course was briefly read but not fully absorbed. My taijutsu was at a rudimentary level, and my kunai and shuriken throwing was no better. Objectively, I'm useless even as a genin.
I trained chakra control at the team training ground. Spin a leaf on my palm, speed up the chakra flow a little, infuse my limbs with chakra, and so on. At first, nothing worked, no matter how hard I tried. It turned out chakra is controlled in some kind of detached state, when you think about it but in a scattered way, moving it with your imagination. Naturally, it's hard to maintain concentration in such a state. It's like the task "focus on not thinking about anything."
Time for an experiment! I'll try to walk up a tree. Lying under it, on the ground. My feet are pressed to the trunk. Okay, chakra flow to the legs, slowly releasing it, take a step! Boom! The trunk snaps! The tree crown falls toward me, and on some instinct, I manage to roll to the side. I look at my foot. My shoe is torn to shreds, and the skin on my foot is gone, but I don't feel pain yet, probably in shock. My head hums a little, and I feel dizzy. Losing consciousness now would be just perfect.
Just in case, I slap myself a couple of times to stay awake. I further increase the chakra flow to my leg. The foot starts itching like crazy and gets covered with pink skin. I waited until the wound healed completely and scratched it with pleasure. Bliss...
I walked home barefoot, in a strange mood. On one hand, everything is bad—my control is barely there. On the other hand, I can heal pretty well. At home, I sat down for standard meditation—"breath counting." Inhale with your belly until it hurts. One! Exhale. Count the breaths to ten, then start over. "Turn your attention" inward.
The heart's beats echoed through my body, the blood flow pulsed in my fingertips, a strange heaviness filled my head. The chakra pulsed along with my blood. In rhythm with my heart. Thump! The chakra surged through my channels, flowing out through the capillaries. Thump! A new wave. I keep counting.
There's an anomaly in my stomach. The chakra is falling somewhere. Where to? Into the seal holding the demon. It's too early to mess with that... far too early for me. And I doubt it's necessary. I already have loads of chakra, and if I get more from the tailed beast, things will go nuclear. Walking nuclear bomb at your service. I have no idea when it'll blow.
– Naruto-kun! – a voice called from the window, breaking my concentration. – Have you read the textbooks?
– Hello, Kakashi-taicho. – I calmly stand and give a small bow. Politeness hasn't killed anyone, as far as I know. – Yes, I've read all the textbooks. I have a few questions. Could you answer them?
– Hmm. Ask away, Naruto, – his voice sounded doubtful.
– In the "Theory of Control" there's no mention of exercises for shinobi with excessive chakra reserves. Do they exist? I had... problems trying the standard ones.
– No, Naruto-kun, there are no special exercises. Usually, there's too little chakra, not too much…– Kakashi scratched the back of his head thoughtfully.
– That's too bad... I also didn't understand something from history…– I needed to show I really had been reading. So, I started asking about everything.
After about half an hour, Kakashi got tired of answering and suggested I go to the library for books on the topics I was interested in. Then, he told me that since I'd read the textbooks, it was time to start working with the team, so tomorrow I'd be going on missions, and I could train in the process.
– Kakashi-sensei, could we go to the training ground? I want to try using shadow clones. At least I'd have one technique.
– Naruto, first you need to master the illusionary clones.
– Do you remember how the henge ended? And considering illusions can't be damaged and they stay as long as there's chakra...
– Fine, fine. Let's go… – he said, jumping out the window.
– I can't do that! – I shouted after him. Sensei turned around and came back like a grasshopper...
In the end, he transported me to the training ground with a shunshin. It felt like I'd just swung on a swing, my insides clenched slightly, and boom — I was in a new place.
– So, Naruto, you form the seals, infuse them with chakra, then say the name and release the technique. Try to put as little chakra as possible into each action, it's extremely important in your case. Understood?
– Yes, Kakashi-sensei.
We begin. Seals, fingers crossed, as little chakra as possible—the bare minimum I can manage. What can I compare it to? Imagine holding a twelve-liter bucket with outstretched arms, and you need to measure out one drop. Anything more, and you're toast. Pouring half the bucket—that's easy!
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
How many? Seven? Perfect! We smile at each other. I couldn't resist touching one. It's an exact copy of me! Even the feel of the vest fabric under my fingers is the same. Sensei grumbled that I did well and left on his own business.
I performed the technique twice more. A total of 23 clones (my control is weak, so I summoned 12 once and 4 the next time). I sent 15 to sit with leaves on their palms, training control. Five went off to throw kunai I pulled out of my bag. Two were tasked with practicing the taijutsu moves from the academy—who knows, it might help? The last one went to the library—maybe he'll find something useful. As for me, I went to sleep. At night, the clones would disperse in turn, reducing the load on my brain. At least, that's my plan.