Three days passed since Naruto began his training.
The results were still far from satisfying him, but the progress was undeniable.
The leaf exercise remained the biggest obstacle. During the first two days, he failed to keep a single leaf attached to his forehead for more than a second. However, by repeating the same exercise over and over, he began to better regulate the amount of chakra he released. That morning, he had managed to keep a leaf suspended for nearly two seconds before it ended up splitting. It was still a mediocre result by his own standards, but at least it confirmed he was moving in the right direction.
The rest of the afternoon was dedicated to physical training.
Far from the residential areas, one of the village's training grounds remained practically empty. Several wooden posts scarred by countless impacts stood upon the hardened earth, while a couple of fallen logs outlined a small area used for taijutsu practice.
Naruto stood before one of those posts. He did not start throwing punches immediately. First, he slowly adopted the guard he had memorized from the Academy manual, checking the position of his feet, the bend of his knees, and the balance of his body. Only when he was satisfied with his posture did he take the first step forward.
His fist impacted the wood with a dull thud.
He stepped back.
Reset his stance.
Struck again.
For the next hour, he did not try to increase his strength or speed. His sole concern was repeating the exact same movement over and over, correcting small errors that he perceived himself. At times, he discovered he was raising one shoulder too much before striking; other times, he placed his lead foot incorrectly and lost part of his balance upon finishing the motion.
Every time he detected one of those flaws, he stopped the training for a few seconds, took a deep breath, and repeated the sequence from the beginning.
Gradually, his movements began to feel more natural.
They were not faster.
Nor were they stronger.
They were simply cleaner than they had been three days ago.
As the sun began to set, Naruto let out a long sigh and looked at his reddened knuckles. He was still very far from being able to call himself a good taijutsu user, but he understood that strength was not built by finding shortcuts, but by eliminating mistakes.
And that was exactly what he intended to do.
It was Sunday that day, and six days had already passed since Naruto began his training; time was moving faster than the blonde expected.
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Over the last three days, he had slightly increased the intensity of his physical training, pushing his body a bit harder each day. The thirty push-ups he used to complete with relative ease had already become forty; his squats and sit-ups had also increased, accompanied by several laps running around the small forest near his apartment before starting taijutsu practice.
The results were beginning to show.
Every movement of his arms was accompanied by a slight sensation of heaviness, while the muscles in his legs remained constantly tight. Even walking down the building's stairs caused a mild burn in his thighs, and his knuckles were still sore from the countless strikes he had delivered against the training posts. It was not a pleasant sensation, but Naruto understood it was part of the process. As long as the pain disappeared after resting, it meant his body was continuing to adapt.
His chakra training also showed progress.
Six days ago, he could barely keep a leaf attached to his forehead for a fraction of a second. Now, after hundreds of attempts, he was capable of holding it for nearly ten seconds before losing control of the flow and causing it to drop to the ground. It was still a modest result by his standards, but the improvement was clear.
He had no class that morning, but he did not use it to train either; he had decided to leave his training for later.
The weather that morning was cool, with no sign of the harsh sunbeams that usually beat down on Konoha at those hours of the morning.
A perfect climate for him.
He took advantage of it to walk calmly through one of Konoha's commercial streets.
He wore a gray hoodie, dark red shorts, and ninja sandals.
Without his blonde hair out in the open, his figure drew much less attention, allowing him to take his time observing the various establishments in the area.
Every so often, he mentally reviewed the route the Third Hokage had pointed out to him a few days ago, when he handed him a small pouch of additional money.
"Consider it an Academy expense. Every future shinobi will need to buy their own equipment sooner or later." Naruto had asked no questions. The amount was enough to acquire basic training gear, and he preferred to do so before weapons practice began at the Academy.
After walking down a couple more streets, he finally found the establishment he was looking for.
A simple wooden sign hung over the entrance. Carved into it was the silhouette of a kunai.
Naruto pushed the door open.
A small bell announced his arrival.
The interior was more spacious than he expected. The walls were lined with neatly organized shelves displaying dozens of ninja tools. Kunai of various sizes, four- and eight-pointed shuriken, rolls of steel wire, weapons pouches, leather holsters, forearm guards, and even small smoke bombs occupied the different shelves.
His eyes scanned the place intently.
It was the first time he had stepped inside a specialized shinobi shop.
Behind the counter, a middle-aged, brown-haired man with a dark complexion looked up upon hearing the bell. He observed the blonde boy for a few seconds before giving him a slight nod.
"Good morning. Can I help you?" There was no hostility in his voice.
Nor was there sympathy.
He simply spoke with the calm of someone accustomed to handling customers every day.
"I want to buy training equipment," Naruto replied, pulling down his hood.
The man observed him for a moment longer, but said nothing.
"First year at the Academy?" Naruto nodded.
"Then you don't need anything too sophisticated." The salesman stepped out from behind the counter and began walking among the shelves.
"Most everyone starts with the same thing. A couple of kunai, some shuriken, a weapons pouch, and hand wraps. That will be more than enough for quite a while."
Naruto listened carefully while following the man through the shop. His eyes never stopped roaming every corner of the establishment.
As they passed a glass display case, his attention was captured by several swords carefully laid out. There were long blades, shorter ones, and even small, elegant-looking tantō. He stood observing them for a few seconds.
He did not know how to use them.
He hadn't even seriously thought about training in kenjutsu.
Even so, there was something about those weapons that powerfully drew his attention.
The salesman noticed his gaze and smiled with a touch of nostalgia.
"They're nice, aren't they?" Naruto nodded slightly. "Yeah."
"A lot of kids are drawn to them the first time they come in here. But a sword takes years of practice. It's not usually the best place to start." Naruto shifted his view back to the rest of the shop.
"Someday... maybe." The salesman didn't reply. He simply kept walking.
Shortly after, they reached a small shelf packed with books and rolled-up scrolls.
Naruto stopped again.
There were manuals on survival, first aid, weapons maintenance, and basic tracking. Among them all, one especially caught his eye.
Introduction to Fūinjutsu.
He picked it up carefully and opened a few pages.
Strange symbols were distributed across the paper, forming diagrams that made no sense to him. There were formulas, notes, and seals of a complexity far superior to anything he had seen up to that point.
The salesman let out a short laugh.
"That book usually sparks curiosity in many, but few actually dare to take the time to learn it." Naruto looked up, the curiosity in his eyes easy to spot. "Is it hard?"
"Very. Fūinjutsu is a highly specialized discipline. Most shinobi go their entire lives without learning more than a few basic seals. That book is meant for people who already master the fundamentals."
Naruto looked at the pages one more time before returning the copy to its place.
"Do you have one for beginners?" Discovering that it was something difficult to learn seemed to motivate him to learn it.
The man took another book from the shelf and handed it to him. Naruto read the title: The Art of Seals for Beginners. He flipped through the first few pages of the book and nodded.
Naruto turned his gaze back to the man, who was looking at him expectantly with a slight smile on his lips. "I'll take it." The man nodded, and then both continued browsing the shop for a few more minutes until finally returning to the counter.
The salesman placed a small pile of gear onto the wood.
"Six standard kunai." He laid them out next to one another. "A set of eight shuriken." Next, he placed a leather weapons pouch down. "And some wraps to protect your knuckles. Trust me, in a few days, you'll thank me for buying those."
Naruto directed a brief glance at his reddened hands before nodding.
That made sense.
While the salesman packed the tools inside a small bag, Naruto asked one final question.
"What's the hardest weapon to master?" The salesman remained thoughtful for a few seconds. His gaze slowly traveled across the entire shop before stopping once more on the swords.
"There is no weapon harder than another." Naruto waited in silence. "There is the weapon you have the most talent for. I've seen shinobi incapable of throwing a kunai with precision after years of practice... and others turn a common sword into an extension of their own body."
Naruto kept those words in silence.
The salesman finished preparing the purchase and slid the bag across the counter.
"Take good care of them. If you treat them right, they'll stay with you for a long time." Naruto took the bag, paid with the money the Hokage had given him, and gave a small bow of his head.
"Thank you." His gratitude was sincere. He left the shop a few seconds later.
The weight of the equipment was barely noticeable in his hand, but the feeling was different.
For the first time since he had entered the Academy, he held the tools of a true shinobi in his hands.
End
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I hope you enjoyed it. If so, don't forget to leave your power stones.
I would also like to clarify that English is not my native language, in case you spot any errors.