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The Naka River was a river that flowed through the outskirts of the Leaf Village.
In terms of the overall scale of the Shinobi World, there weren't many natural waterways that were grand. If there were truly magnificent waterfalls, they would probably be caused by some BUG-level ninjas using BUG-level jutsu.
The Naka River was a fairly ordinary river.
But this ordinary river had a special quality. It wasn't because the mountain spring was a little sweet, but because it flowed close to a special area of the Leaf Village.
The Naka River flowed around the Uchiha district of the Leaf Village.
Because of the Uchiha's special status in the Leaf Village, according to the Second Hokage's policy and the Uchiha's own wishes, the entire clan lived together. This was probably one of the external reasons why the clan couldn't fully integrate into the Leaf Village.
This district, whether it was civilians or ninjas, as long as they weren't Uchiha, basically wouldn't go near it. It even had a bit of "extraterritoriality."
The Leaf Village people looked at the Uchiha with a strange gaze. The Uchiha themselves also felt a sense of separation from the Leaf Village. But now, during wartime, external battles suppressed internal conflicts, and the two sides could temporarily unite as one.
On the Naka River side, there was the famous shrine of the Uchiha clan.
In short, this area was basically the Uchiha clan's territory. It was rare to see other ninjas active here… but not completely absent. For example, Haori.
He came to this place for no particular reason. Ultimately, he just wanted to find a training spot that wasn't very crowded but had water.
Haori sat cross-legged on the riverbank at this time. His right elbow rested on his knee, and his palm supported his chin.
His left hand was raised in front of him, and his eyes were fixed on a piece of paper in his hand. His left ring finger, pinky finger, and thumb were curled up, while his middle finger and index finger were extended and joined together. A chakra test paper was sandwiched between these two fingers.
His eyes were fixed on the test paper.
He didn't make any particular movements, but his expression seemed as if he was trying very hard.
Looking at the test paper, it was slowly being dampened.
It seemed like there was water-natured chakra. But this result made him shake his head repeatedly.
He was indeed practicing water-natured chakra. He was also starting to be able to transform water-natured chakra. But at this point, he had only solved the problem of whether or not there was water-natured chakra. If he wanted to use Water Release jutsu, it was far from enough.
To use Water Release, at the very least, a ninja must have water-natured chakra. This was a must. Second, they must have the ability to instantly transform a large amount of water-natured chakra. Then, there was the issue of the jutsu's hand seals.
The more powerful the Water Release, the more efficient the transformation of water-natured chakra was required.
That is, a large-scale, instant transformation ability of water-natured chakra was needed. Otherwise, it wouldn't work. Haori was far from being able to do that.
Think about Haori's Lightning Release and Fire Release. Lightning Release naturally didn't need to be explained. Fire Release was also his innate chakra nature. This was in the realm of "talent." Being able to use Fire Release was natural and effortless. So, this kind of chakra nature training was something he had never experienced before.
He could transform Lightning Release or Fire Release with just a thought, but he couldn't do that with Water Release.
As for why he chose to practice Water Release first among the remaining three natures, Haori also had his reasons.
First, it was determined by the nature of Water Release itself. Water Release had both offense and defense. It could even be high offense and high defense. If you could master it, it was very practical.
Second, it was for Haori's own reasons. This was even more important.
Because of a certain period of time before, he and Kushina had jointly planned and implemented a very meaningful activity. You get what you work for. After that action, he got a lot of Water Release jutsu, including many high-level Water Release jutsu that the Second Hokage, known as the God of Water, used.
It would be a waste to have so many high-level jutsu and not be able to use them. So, Haori had to find a way to use them.
But chakra nature training had to be done step by step. It couldn't be done overnight. It required gradual accumulation of experience to achieve a quantitative change that would lead to… a greater quantitative change.
This wasn't specific jutsu training, but something more basic and fundamental. So, even Haori needed time to train.
But theory was theory, and psychological disparity was psychological disparity. For Haori, who was used to a fast-paced training method, this slow speed was quite depressing.
"Chakra nature training? Water nature?"
A voice suddenly appeared behind him.
Hearing the voice, Haori didn't need to turn around to know who was speaking.
"Uncle Jiraiya."
The person was indeed Jiraiya.
Although he called Jiraiya's name with a tone of exclamation, Haori was still quite curious as to why he had appeared.
Was he following him? That was obviously impossible. His gender characteristics were quite clear… well, probably quite clear.
Could there be a bathhouse nearby? Was it the Uchiha bathhouse?
Haori forced himself to think of a reason more consistent with Jiraiya's behavior.
Well, he was actually overthinking. Jiraiya was about to leave the Leaf Village soon. He would meet up with his team and then immediately return to the Kumo frontline.
He had just happened to see Haori on the way, so he just wanted to say hello.
Jiraiya was the most important person in charge of the frontline. Even if the Hokage had important matters to discuss with him, he couldn't stay in the Leaf Village for long.
After all, although the entire front was temporarily stable, temporarily was temporarily. The various countries were undergoing frequent troop movements. This could probably be considered the calm before the storm. The various enemy forces were currently exercising restraint, but once the other countries' troop movements were complete, once the fighting resumed, it would likely be a large-scale operation.
"Water Release training, are there any tricks to it?" Haori suddenly remembered that Jiraiya seemed to be proficient in everything. Maybe he had some training tips.
So, he asked this question with anticipation.
Jiraiya was one of the few ninjas in the early stages who could proficiently use multiple chakra natures. In fact, he was proficient in everything except Lightning Release.
He was a tailender back then. Actually, every tailender is a true talent, isn't he?
This world's way of judging a ninja's potential is problematic. Very problematic.
Jiraiya pondered for a moment, then said,
"No…"
"Even if there were, I wouldn't tell you…"
Was this revenge for someone's arrow that day?
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