When Friday arrived, as soon as school was dismissed, Shinji took Naruto to the training ground next to the Forest of Death.
"Naruto, you've mastered standing on water, haven't you?"
Shinji stood on the outskirts of the training ground, where a small stream flowed.
"That's right. Sensei, watch this."
Naruto, who had been training with Shinji, naturally knew what he meant. He quickly gathered Chakra in his feet and stepped onto the surface of the stream.
Once he stood steady, he rubbed his nose and said, "Sensei, don't you think I did pretty well?"
Shinji smiled at this. He gathered Chakra in his right index and middle fingers, and held them together. Then he slapped the surface of the water with his palm.
The next second, the previously calm stream began to churn like boiling water. Naruto, standing on the water, started flailing and fell into the stream.
Naruto, soaking wet, complained with a dejected expression about Shinji's unethical behavior, "Sensei, how can you be so unfair?"
Shinji spread his hands and said, "Naruto, nature is mysterious. If you can only stand on calm water, you haven't met the requirement."
"Right now it's just a small stream. If you were in the ocean, and the surface churned once, you might not even have your life anymore."
Shinji had his own teaching method for Naruto. Reasoning was useless, he needed metaphors, ones that Naruto could empathize with.
Hearing Shinji's words, Naruto's thoughts expanded, and he imagined the situation Shinji described. He would die a miserable death. His face turned purple.
Shinji said, "Alright, come up and take off your jacket. Later, I will teach you a Ninjutsu."
After a scolding, a reward was naturally due.
Naruto had already learned tree climbing and standing on water. Although he hadn't met the full requirements, Shinji felt it was necessary to teach him some Ninjutsu.
"Really?!"
Sure enough, hearing this, Naruto's eyes lit up, and he quickly came ashore.
After building a bonfire and hanging his clothes to dry, Naruto quickly ran over, looking at Shinji with anticipation.
"This is a C-rank Ninjutsu. Watch carefully."
With that, Shinji immediately formed hand seals.
Tiger - Rabbit - Dog - Ram - Dragon
Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique!
As the hand seals were completed, Shinji exhaled a wind blade towards a large tree on the opposite bank of the stream. The next second, the wind blade sliced its target.
Under Naruto's astonished gaze, the wind blade sliced through the large tree.
Rumble...
As the severed branch fell, a cloud of dust rose on the opposite bank and lingered for a long time.
"Sensei, that's so cool!"
Naruto only thought the power of this Ninjutsu was incredibly cool.
Shinji merely smiled at Naruto's reaction, after all, he was the same way when he was learning. He got used to it over time.
He turned to ask Naruto, "Did you clearly remember the hand seals I just made?"
"Mhm, sensei, I remembered them all clearly." Naruto quickly nodded upon hearing this.
"Very good, then I'll explain the release technique for this Ninjutsu."
Shinji nodded, and slowly began to form hand seals again, explaining the techniques of the Wind Release: Wind Cutter.
"The difficulty of Wind Release: Wind Cutter Ninjutsu actually lies in how we compress Chakra into the shape of a wind blade when releasing it."
"And the size and shape of the wind blade are actually determined by the amount of Chakra released."
After speaking, Shinji once again used Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique. However, compared to the previous wind blade, this one was much smaller. Its power was naturally greatly reduced.
With that, Shinji looked at Naruto and said, "Naruto, you can apply the small tips for shape transformation that I've been telling you about these past few days here."
Naruto nodded, stepped forward, and prepared to try it out.
Recalling the hand seals Shinji had made in front of him, he slowly formed them step by step. Feeling the surge of Chakra within him, he immediately opened his mouth and exhaled.
Several gusts of wind blew from his mouth, rippling the surface of the stream.
"Gah..."
Naruto, who had been full of confidence, was dumbfounded when he saw the effect of his Ninjutsu.
Shinji, however, clapped his hands, saying, "Not bad."
He wasn't lying. The first time he had practiced this Ninjutsu years ago, he couldn't even produce the gusts of wind that Naruto had produced.
"Naruto, your hand seals were almost flawless, but you were too cautious in mobilizing your Chakra."
"Also, regarding the control of Chakra's shape and structure, you need to imagine them as individual wind blades."
"Simply put, materialize the form of your Chakra."
With that, Shinji told Naruto to continue. No amount of talking was as good as practice.
Under Naruto's careful control, a wind blade actually formed during his second attempt. However, it dissipated into the air halfway through.
"Keep going. You succeeded in materializing it, but you're not using enough Chakra."
"The wind blade is too large, causing it to only maintain its form when released. That won't do."
Shinji stood by, continuing to guide, and Naruto, not to be outdone, practiced again.
"Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique!"
The next second, Naruto once again unleashed several wind blades, which swept towards the opposite bank and struck the trees. They left behind several marks where they had scraped the tree's bark.
"Good. If you can increase its power later, you'll have mastered this technique. I'll demonstrate it for you again. Watch carefully."
With that, Shinji raised his hands, slowing down his hand seal speed so Naruto could see more clearly how he unleashed it.
Naruto didn't get distracted. He watched intently as Shinji used the Ninjutsu.
After Shinji's several demonstrations, Naruto formed hand seals again. The next second, several large wind blades shot out from his mouth.
Rumble—
A sound comparable to Shinji's first release echoed, and Naruto immediately jumped up and said, "Sensei! I succeeded!"
"Naruto, you're amazing!" ×2
Two voices rang out simultaneously.
Shinji, with an understanding look, turned towards the direction of the bushes and said, "You two little rascals, finally decided to show yourselves?"
He had already sensed the Chakra in the bushes when he and Naruto had first arrived at the training ground. When he realized it was Shikamaru and Choji, he didn't call them out.
Let them watch if they wanted. Perhaps both families had already come to a decision. It wouldn't hurt to let Shikamaru get to know his teaching style.
Shikamaru, with an embarrassed expression, led Choji out. When he first arrived, he had only intended to take a quick look.
Unexpectedly, he became engrossed, and Choji also spoke up when Naruto succeeded.
Seeing Shinji's knowing expression, Shikamaru naturally realized that Shinji had discovered them long ago.
Coming before Shinji, Shikamaru was about to speak when—
"Shikamaru, Choji! Why are you two here?!"
Naruto was dumbfounded at this moment, pointing at Shikamaru and Choji.