"Naruto, what's wrong?"
Today, the Academy had no classes. After finishing his tasks, Shinji came over and noticed Naruto's unusual state.
Naruto, who had been somewhat quiet, was startled by Shinji's question. He then turned around, revealing a smile, and said, "Nothing, sensei."
Recently, Naruto, who had been training, sensed that something was amiss. His father often didn't appear, and even when he did, it was only for a short time before he gave instructions and then vanished.
When he asked Kurama, it wouldn't tell him, saying it would be clearer if he asked Minato himself.
Naruto wasn't foolish. On the contrary, his childhood experiences had made him more sensitive than others.
"Alright, if anything happens, you must tell me."
Seeing Naruto like this, Shinji had some general suspicions, but since Naruto wasn't speaking, he wouldn't deliberately dig for answers.
Some paths, Naruto needed to walk on his own.
Unless Minato sought him out, which Shinji estimated wouldn't be long now.
After all, this was their unspoken understanding. Over the past few years, Shinji had avoided entering the Sealed Space unless absolutely necessary.
"I will, sensei." Naruto replied with a serious expression.
Shinji patted Naruto's head. This kid was no longer the insecure Naruto he once was.
"How is your training progressing?"
Ever since perfectly evading his attacks, Naruto had resumed his training.
Shinji, as Naruto had requested, placed his Chakra marks in various spots on the training ground. Then, Naruto would sense them himself, which was the concept of the Flying Thunder God's coordinates.
As for the shinkirou pearl training, it was scheduled once a week. After all, this needed to be carefully managed, otherwise, too much time would make Naruto and Sasuke unable to distinguish between reality and illusion. After all, the illusions created by the shinkirou pearl were too realistic.
"Hehe, sensei, I've found all the marks you left behind." Naruto said, rubbing the tip of his nose, quite smugly.
Chakra marks were not the same as sensing people. Naruto had learned sensory techniques, and was the best among Sasuke and the others. Now with Karin, he was in second place, but it still took him a few days to find all the Chakra marks Shinji had placed.
Shinji nodded. "Good, then next, I will place them in the forest, expanding the range."
Naruto indeed possessed spatial-temporal talent. Although he didn't know how talented Minato was back then, the current Naruto was not bad, especially since his Chakra marks were specially disguised.
Naruto nodded. "No problem, Dad even gave me a carving jutsu pattern last night and told me to practice it more when I have time."
He wouldn't delay his training by learning carving while searching for Chakra marks.
Shinji then raised his hand to form a hand seal, creating a Shadow Clone to go around the forest and place Chakra marks. The range was set to the maximum Shinji could sense.
Afterward, Shinji began to check the training progress of each of his disciples. After checking them one by one, he nodded.
Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino, needless to say, the three of them already had a tacit understanding in their cooperation.
Hinata's Taijutsu had also made great progress, and recently, she seemed to have started researching her own developmental direction.
As for Sasuke, during training, he would wield the kusanagi sword Shinji had given him, combining his Lightning Release and Taijutsu, intentionally incorporating them.
Then, Shinji slowly walked up to Karin and said, "Karin, show me your progress."
Although Karin had initially complained about the difficulty of Nature Transformation training, she never slacked off when it was time to learn.
Sometimes, at home, Shinji could see the lights on in her room, presumably Karin would look at the scrolls he gave her after returning.
"Okay, sensei." Karin nodded and began to gather Chakra.
Soon, a stream of water appeared in Karin's hand. Although it wasn't large, it was indeed a pure Water Release Nature Transformation.
Seeing Shinji nod with satisfaction, Karin was delighted and immediately gathered a large amount of Chakra again. This time, it wasn't as easy as the Water Release Nature Transformation just now. Karin's face wrinkled up. It took a while before a muddy stream slowly manifested in her hand.
"Not bad. Compared to Water Release Nature Transformation, Earth Release is a bit weaker."
Shinji glanced at it and immediately knew Karin's progress, nodding in appreciation.
"Hehe, I think Earth Release is a bit difficult." Karin had an embarrassed expression.
This Earth Release didn't seem as easy as Water Release.
Shinji said with a smile, "Starting from scratch and reaching this progress in such a short time is already very impressive."
Then, he thought for a moment and pulled out a blank scroll from his ninja tool pouch. He took out a pen and began to write.
After a while, he handed it to Karin and said, "These are two of the most basic Water Release and Earth Release Ninjutsu."
"It contains my insights on the training of these two Ninjutsu. Starting today, Karin, you can try to practice them."
"Remember what I said before, about the feeling of Water Release and Earth Release."
"Yes, sensei." Karin happily accepted it.
After learning for so long, she could finally start practicing Ninjutsu.
Normally, seeing Naruto and the others cast a Ninjutsu with a flick of their hand, Karin felt a bit envious. Not of their strength, but of Shinji's guidance.
Naruto and the others could provide good feedback to Shinji through their own efforts. This was also what she wanted.
"Keep up the good work." Shinji, for his part, did not hesitate to encourage Karin.
For disciples, strictness is one thing, but necessary positive encouragement should not be lacking.
"Meow—"
At this moment, Mimi's voice sounded in Shinji's mind.
Shinji was startled, then created a Shadow Clone to stay here, while his main body used Reverse Summoning to go to the Ancestral Land.
"What's wrong?"
When his body appeared in the Ancestral Land, Shinji saw Mimi squatting in front of the shrine. He currently had a lazy expression, licking his front paw.
Mimi looked up at Shinji and reported, "I sensed that someone seems to be watching the Land of Waterfall."
"Oh? Are they starting to act?" Shinji raised an eyebrow.
Akatsuki dared to act directly now?
It should be known that the Takigakure had just been approached by Shikaku for funds. Although it couldn't be said that there were no informants there at this time, it also didn't mean that Konoha had completely withdrawn its attention.
Mimi's whiskers twitched as he offered his opinion, "No, it felt like a guy was quietly watching from the shadows. I was afraid of disturbing him, so I didn't pursue him immediately."
"However, this guy is very cunning. When I quietly approached, I didn't see anyone."
"Gathering intelligence?" Shinji rubbed his chin.
Or perhaps they were preparing to make a move on Seven-Tails?
From what Mimi said, it was probably Black Zetsu.
Only such a Jutsu that could hide through the earth and trees at any time could leave Mimi's perception in the first instance.