In the forest clearing, Naruto lay battered and bruised—his face was bruised and bleeding. Standing chest-deep in a tree's roots, Tō watched Naruto's training patiently.
Naruto's chakra supply dwarfed even Tō's. Both being from the Uzumaki clan, Naruto's chakra was even more immense. However, his control was atrocious.
With the Nine-Tails constantly interfering and Naruto unable to tame his chakra, his training was chaotic.
Yet, working on chakra control through tree-climbing drills had its merit. Tō's chakra control sprang from his training with the Chakra Scalpel—a tool he mastered through intense practice.
Naruto, however, struggled. To Tō's mind, once Naruto learned chakra control, his already impressive stamina and speed would become formidable. With Wind Release techniques like Gale Palm, able to counter Lightning Release, he could gain even greater speed and power, though Tō himself was still only at an early stage, unable to match an Uchiha like Shisui or even the Fourth Hokage.
In the past few days, Tō had focused on teaching Naruto physical training and chakra control. Naruto's taijutsu talent was strong—carrying weights, push-ups, sprints—but in chakra control, he faltered.
By day eight of climbing, Naruto reached the top, though Tō had already found an even larger tree for further challenge.
At that moment, Itachi and Sasuke approached from another direction. Tō didn't turn but chuckled: "I see you brought your brother to train too."
Itachi smiled, patted Sasuke's head, and greeted, "So this is Uzumaki Naruto. Impressive chakra control."
Tō nodded coolly: "It's day nine—and this kid's talent still lags."
Naruto tumbled off the tree, rolling up defensively. "What did you say? My talent's no good? Well, I climbed up, didn't I? Let's see how you do with this!"
Sasuke couldn't resist the challenge. He dashed toward the tree and barely climbed a third of the way before faltering, tumbling, and landing in a somersault.
Itachi encouraged: "Don't lose heart. Naruto took nine days—Sasuke, you'll do it in at most a week."
Sasuke's eyes sparked with determination.
Naruto, quick to quip despite poor wit, bargained: "If you make it in a week, I'll treat you to Ichiraku ramen!"
Tō sighed inwardly, wanting to throttle someone. He draped a hand on Naruto's shoulder: "Sasuke—if you reach the top so fast, I'll teach you something truly powerful."
Sasuke blinked, intrigued. Tō added, "It's called 'Chidori'. I borrowed it from Kakashi's Raikiri."
Instantly, he formed the seal. A harsh hum crackled in his right hand, and a bright flash erupted, cleaving a 30cm hole through the tree.
Sasuke's eyes widened at its power. Itachi nodded thoughtfully: "Lightning-style jutsu… potent, but it's A-rank difficulty. Sasuke can't handle it yet."
He patted his brother's head: "If you reach that top, I'll teach you advanced shuriken control."
Naruto protested: "That's unfair—why teach Sasuke and not me?"
Tō shrugged: "You don't have lightning nature. And I promised… once you master Gale Palm and the taijutsu drills, I'll teach you Wind Release properly. It's got a wide range."
Naruto sulked, already daydreaming. Sasuke shot Naruto a smug look: "Watch me—no more than six days!"
Sasuke and Itachi then disappeared into the trees to seek a higher branch.
Naruto retorted: "I'll be doing my water-walking by then!"
He wiled away a moment, only to be yanked by Tō towards a creek. Tō raised a brow, pointing to the water: "Master water walking first—climbing a tree is easy in comparison!"
Naruto's bravado wilted. "Yeah, teach me your body drills first—I'm getting strong!"
Moments later, Naruto was sprawled belly-down in the stream. Tō punched the water and called, "Body drills aren't about bragging."
From the underbrush, Kabuto's voice murmured: "Doesn't look like the kid has ninja talent."
Tō replied: "Not always talent. Willpower and effort count too—just look at you. You didn't start as a genius but learned. If someone accepts their faults and works, they grow."
Kabuto paused, then said quietly: "Orochimaru's been in deeper talks with Danzo—experiment supplies, it seems."
Tō frowned: "Doesn't matter—Danzo might be in bed with Orochimaru, but tomorrow he'll answer to the Third Hokage. The Uchiha might force a showdown."
Kabuto's reply was quiet and conspiratorial: "You've found a way?"
Tō shrugged, "Maybe. Whoever's intelligence slips—if they both damage each other, it works in our favor."
They exchanged grim smiles.
Naruto, now at the creek's far side, called out: "Big bro! I can walk on water now!"
Kabuto vanished in a flash of speed.