The next morning, I got to Training Ground 6 at 7:03.
Yamato was already there. Standing in the middle of the clearing. Arms crossed. Face blank. He looked like he'd been there for hours.
"You're late," he said.
"Come on, sensei. It was only three minutes."
"Three minutes is late."
"Nuh uh."
He stared at me. I stared back.
"Three minutes," he said again.
"Yes."
"Don't let it happen again."
"sure... but no promises."
---
Yamato didn't waste time with small talk. No "welcome to the team" speech. No getting-to-know-you questions. Just business.
"What can you do?"
I gave him the generic answer. The one I'd been giving for years.
"Taijutsu. Some ninjutsu. Basic seals."
"How many ninjutsu?"
"A few."
"What kind?"
"I guess the useful kind?."
His eye twitched. "You're going to be difficult, aren't you?"
"I prefer 'efficient.'"
He reached into his pocket. Pulled out a bell. it was Small, Silver colored. It jingled when he moved, like yo mama. ( A/N: it's a joke alright don't get offended ಥ‿ಥ )
"This is your test. Get the bell from me within one hour."
He hung it on his waist. Stepped back.
"Begin."
---
«Reducing gravity seal. 100x to 50x.»
My body felt lighter. Not floating or anything, I'd been under 100x for so long that normal gravity felt like flying. But 50x was enough to move.
I made a hand sign. Four shadow clones poofed into existence around me.
Yamato's eyebrow went up. "Shadow clones?"
"You said don't hold back."
"I said get the bell."
The clones spread out. Formed a semicircle. Yamato stood in the center, watching, waiting.
«Analysis. Yamato's stance is defensive. He is observing, not attacking. He wants to see what you do first.»
Alright Then let's show him.
The clones charged. In zigzag permission. I'd practiced this formation a hundred times.
Yamato didn't move. Waited until the first clone was inches away.
Then he vanished.
«Behind you, don't drop the sope»
I DON'T EVEN HAVE ONE!.
I spun. Yamato's hand was reaching for my collar. I dropped low, swept my leg, he jumped over it, flipped mid-air, landed behind me again.
"Fast," he said.
"You're not bad yourself."
I threw kunai around him. Explosive tags attached. The moment he moved, they'd box him in.
He noticed. His eyes flicked to the kunai in the ground. Then back to me.
"Clever."
He blurred in a Body Flicker, He appeared outside the ring of kunai, grabbed one, threw it back at me.
«Substitution.»
I swapped with a log. The kunai embedded in the wood. Then I appeared behind Yamato, reached for the bell...
He caught my wrist.
"Nice try kid."
He threw me. I flipped mid-air, landed on my feet. Skidded backward.
The clones were already moving. Three of them rushed him from different angles. The fourth was doing something else—laying more explosive tags.
Yamato dispatched the first three clones in seconds. Palm strikes to the body. No wasted movement.
Then the fourth clone triggered the tags.
BOOM.
Smoke filled the clearing.
«He cannot see. I can still track him. He is moving to the east edge of the smoke.»
I threw kunai into the smoke. Not aiming to hit him, just aiming to herd.
He emerged exactly where Jarvis predicted. I was already there. Hand outstretched.
My fingers touched the bell.
He grabbed my arm. Pulled. I let him, used the momentum to flip over his shoulder, landed behind him, grabbed the bell with my other hand.
Jingle.
I stepped back. Held up the bell.
"How long?"
«Fourteen minutes. Thirty-two seconds.»
"Fourteen minutes?," I said.
Yamato stared at the bell. Then at me. Then at the bell again.
"Fourteen minutes," he repeated.
"Give or take."
"You used shadow clones, explosive tags, substitution, and..." He paused. "You predicted my movements? How...."
"I had a good teacher."
"Kakashi right?."
"Yeah."
"didn't expect him to teach tactical skills this good..." he mumbled.
He was quiet for a second. Then he nodded slowly.
"Alright. We'll start with chakra control."
I raised an eyebrow. "Chakra control?"
"Foundation is everything."
"Sensei." I walked to a tree. Put one foot on the trunk. Then the other. Walked up. Kept going until I was upside down, hanging from a branch by my feet.
Looked at him. "See?."
I dropped down. Landed softly.
Yamato's face didn't change. But his eye twitched again.
"Who taught you that?"
"Kakashi." I lied "A few years ago."
"A few years ago???."
"Yeah. I've had time to practice."
He rubbed his temples. "You're twelve..."
"Yes."
"And you've mastered tree walking."
"Water walking too. And leaf concentration. And pretty much everything else the Academy pretends is hard."
He looked at me for a long moment.
"hmm, alright, Meet me here tomorrow. Same time."
"That's it?"
"For now."
I nodded. Turned to leave.
"Ryū."
I looked back.
"don't be late."
"OH COMMON IT WAS ONLY THREE MINUTES."
I walked away. Didn't look back.
---
= Evening, at Training Ground 3 =
I was mid-push-up when Naruto showed up.
He looked exhausted. Not physically, emotionally. The kind of tired you get from dealing with people who make no sense.
"How was your day?" I asked, not stopping.
"OUR SENSEI IS A JERK!"
"Join the club."
"He was THREE HOURS LATE! THREE! HOURS!"
I kept doing push-ups. "Kakashi?"
"YES! He showed up, talked about how he got lost in the way of life, then tied a bell to his belt and told us to try and grab it."
"Sounds familiar."
"We FAILED at first. But then we did something, I don't even know what it was, something about teamwork, and we passed. But he said we were 'still trash.'"
"yep Sounds like Kakashi."
Naruto dropped to the ground next to me. Stared at the sky.
"I thought being a Genin would be cool. But it's just... more school. With a meaner teacher."
Internally I was thinking about how Naruto hadn't learned the shadow clone since he was not involved in the Mizuki incident.
I finished my set. Sat up.
"Hey, Naruto."
"What?"
"I'm gonna teach you something."
He sat up. "What?"
"A technique named Shadow Clone. It's like the normal clone, but way better."
"The normal clone is useless."
"Exactly. This one isn't."
I stood up. Brushed off my pants.
"Watch."
Poof.
Five clones appeared around me. Solid and Real.
Naruto's jaw dropped.
"THOSE ARE!!"
"Shadow clones. They can touch things. Fight things. Take hits. And when they disappear, and the really good part is you get their memories."
"THEIR MEMORIES?!"
"Yeah. It's how I train so fast. Make a bunch of clones, have them train, then dispel them. All that experience goes straight to your brain, but be careful to not use them too much it causes headache's"
He was staring at me like I'd just told him ramen was free forever.
"Teach meee."
"Sure,That's the plan."
---
I walked him through it. Hand sign. Chakra flow. The difference between illusion clones and real ones.
"Cross seal. Index and middle fingers on both hands. Right vertical, left horizontal."
Naruto made the sign.
"Now push your chakra. Not too much—you'll flood it. Not too little—it won't form. Just enough."
He closed his eyes. Concentrated.
Poof.
A clone appeared. It was him. Solid. Real.
It looked around. Blinked. "Whoa."
Naruto's eyes went wide. "DID I DO THAT?!"
"Yes yes, YOU did it."
"I DID THAT!"
The clone waved. "Hi, me!"
"HI, ME!"
They high-fived.
«Naruto has learned the Shadow Clone technique in four attempts. His chakra control has improved significantly since childhood.»
He had a good teacher.
«He had you, and you are definitely not a good teacher. That is not the same thing.»
who is spreading miss information that I am not a good teacher.
«...»
The clone started doing some random stuff. Naruto watched, fascinated.
"If I dispel it, I get its memories?"
"Yeah. But be careful, too many clones at once and your brain gets overwhelmed. Start small. Five at most."
"Five?!" He grinned. "I'm gonna make HUNDREDS!"
"You're gonna make five. Then ten. Then twenty. Then maybe more. But you gotta work up to it."
"I'M GONNA BE SO STRONG!"
"You're gonna be more annoying."
"THAT TOO!"
He dispelled the clone. Flinched as the memories hit.
"Whoa," he said. "That felt weird."
"yeah You get used to it."
He looked at his hands. Then at me.
"Ryū... why are you teaching me this?"
"Because you're my friend."
it is totally not because you were once one of my favourite character's that I admired...
"hmm... That's it?"
"yep, That's it."
He stared at me for a second. Then he tackled me.
"YOU'RE THE BEST, RYŪ!"
"GET OFF ME!"
"NEVER!"
"GO KISS SASUKE OR SOMETHING!"
"I DON'T SWING THAT WAY!"
"THEN WHY ARE YOU ON ME"
We rolled in the dirt like idiots. The sun was setting. The sky was orange.
When he finally let go, we just lay there.
---
END CHAPTER 27
Xx-----xX
A/N: Leave some power stones and if you don't... I'll steal all your food >:)
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Btw if you want to read some advance chapters then check out my P@treøn, links in the synopsis.