"Sensei, can I really not learn it now?"
Naruto, who had witnessed the power of the Rasengan, turned his head again and looked at Shinji, asking.
Shinji nodded solemnly, not backing down in the slightest, saying, "That's right. If you don't have a certain foundation in Chakra control, learning this will only harm you."
"Chakra control foundation?"
Naruto frowned upon hearing this, as he hadn't learned this yet at the time.
Let alone now, even after graduating from the Academy, Naruto only learned tree climbing and water walking under Kakashi's guidance.
Seeing this, Naruto quickly changed his objective and asked, "Then, sensei, can I learn the foundation of Chakra control first?"
Shinji already had this idea, and upon hearing this, he nodded. "You can."
He then turned and came to the base of a tall tree near the training ground, and then, under Naruto's shocked expression, he walked up at a ninety-degree angle, as if walking on flat ground.
"This is too cool!"
Naruto's eyes burst with dazzling light, and he shouted loudly, looking at Shinji who was leisurely on the treetop.
Seeing that he had successfully demonstrated, Shinji dispersed the Chakra under his feet and jumped down in a free-fall posture. Just before reaching the ground, he released Chakra from his feet and stood firmly.
"Naruto, this is the first step in Chakra control, tree climbing. Its principle is to cover the feet with Chakra, forming an adhesive force. Through this adhesive force, you can do as I just did."
"Can you understand?"
After speaking, Shinji looked at Naruto beside him.
Naruto, with his arms crossed over his chest, squinted his eyes and shook his head after a long time.
Slap!
Shinji slapped Naruto on the head in annoyance, saying exasperatedly, "You didn't understand? Why are you pretending to look so confident?"
"It hurts."
Naruto covered his head, crying out in pain, and explained, "Sensei, what you said is too complicated, I don't understand."
"..."
Shinji looked at Naruto in front of him, somewhat speechless. He had already tried to simplify his explanation as much as possible, but he didn't expect Naruto still wouldn't understand.
There was no other way. He had to teach his own disciple no matter what.
After making a few mental preparations, Shinji spoke again, "Have you seen a suction cup, Naruto?"
Upon hearing this, Naruto quickly nodded, indicating that he knew.
"The specific operation for tree climbing is to control Chakra to adhere to your feet, making your feet like suction cups, possessing suction."
"Can you understand this way?"
"I understand when you put it like that, sensei."
Naruto clenched his left fist and hit his right palm, full of confidence, saying, "Sensei, can I give it a try?"
"Go ahead."
Shinji tilted his head, signaling that Naruto could start anytime.
As Naruto came to the tree, he put his hands together, formed a hand sign, and mobilized Chakra to gradually gather at his feet. With the preparation done, he stepped onto the tree trunk with his right foot. After pulling hard to confirm it was adhered, Naruto quickly stepped out with his left foot.
The next second, he stood horizontally on the tree trunk at a ninety-degree angle.
Naruto raised his head and looked at Shinji excitedly. "Sensei! I succeeded!"
The next second, he fell to the ground on his back.
Shinji clenched his right fist and pressed it against his brow, feeling very helpless.
Naruto quickly got up covering his back. He didn't dare to look back, afraid that Shinji would scold him the next second. He quickly followed the previous steps and walked on the tree trunk again. This time, he didn't dare to show off.
Looking at the straight tree trunk, he slowly walked up step by step. It was fine at first, not far from the ground.
As he walked up step by step, the distance between him and the ground increased, and the wind around him kept blowing.
Naruto looked at the ground. Shinji's figure had become very small.
The dizzy feeling from the height made Naruto, who was climbing so high for the first time, swallow his saliva. A drop of cold sweat quietly slid down, and the Chakra under his feet became chaotic.
The next second, Naruto fell towards the ground.
"Ah—!" Naruto was in a panic, constantly shouting.
Shinji immediately sprang up, quickly caught the falling Naruto, and returned to the ground.
Looking at Naruto in his arms, who was still thrashing around like a fish out of water, he said, "Okay, I've caught you."
Upon hearing this, Naruto stopped his struggling movements and opened his eyes.
Looking at Shinji's annoyed expression, Naruto quickly jumped down and stood there, waiting for Shinji's criticism.
"Naruto, the important foundation for controlling Chakra is mental energy. Therefore, you can't be nervous. Once you're nervous, your Chakra will lose control."
Shinji didn't criticize Naruto. Nine-tails was temporarily asleep and without the Nine-tails' Chakra interference, Naruto's performance just now was much better compared to how he and Sasuke in the future needed a whole day to successfully practice. It was almost perfect.
Learning is not something that happens overnight. When a student makes progress, they should be praised.
It was Naruto's first time at such a high altitude, and a momentary nervousness was understandable. After all, this is the innate human fear of heights.
"Your handling of tree climbing wasn't wrong. You just need to overcome your body's fear of heights."
"I believe once you overcome it, tree climbing will be easy."
After speaking, Shinji stroked Naruto's hair to comfort him.
"Yes. Sensei, I understand."
Naruto looked up and responded with a smile on his face, as if reborn.
Shinji didn't say much, he just told Naruto to continue.
Watching Naruto climb the tree again, he fell into deep thought.
In the future, besides water walking, he might have to add a few more exercises to enhance Naruto's Chakra control ability. After all, the reason Naruto could learn tree climbing so quickly now was because Nine-tails wasn't interfering.
Once Nine-tails wakes up and interferes again, if Naruto only relies on the current practice, it will be far from enough.
It's even more likely that the foundation he has will collapse, and practicing again might be even more difficult than in the original story.
But, is there any way to practice Chakra control ability?
Shinji searched through his memories of looking for information in the Konoha library. After all, he didn't have a system before, and everything depended on himself. And the library was the only way for all civilian ninjas to learn and know.
He got it!
Shinji thought of one, but it wasn't from Konoha. It was a method for training Chakra control from the Land of Wind, captured on the battlefield.
Chakra Threads, the fighting method of Sunagakure's puppeteers.