Afternoon, the small woods on the outskirts of the village.
"See, watch closely... This is my Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu."
Naruto, with a bruised and swollen face, stood in the woods, proudly forming hand seals, ready to demonstrate.
'Sharingan, activate...'
Sasuke didn't waste words, directly activating his Sharingan and staring intently at Naruto.
"Good luck, Sasuke-kun..."
Sakura, the atmosphere setter, immediately showered him with praise, resting her chin on her hands, her eyes sparkling with anticipation and longing... because Sasuke-kun had promised to eat with her after training.
"Here we go!!
Ninja Art: Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu..."
Hearing Sakura's cheers, Naruto pouted unhappily and shouted loudly.
Under Sasuke and Sakura's tense gaze,
With a 'bang,' several Naruto clones appeared simultaneously... "Hehehe... Simple, right? It succeeded with just a 'bang'!"
Looking at Sasuke, who was deep in thought, Naruto couldn't help but touch his nose and smile smugly.
At the same time, he looked at Sasuke with a nervous and anxious feeling... If Sasuke learned his proud ninjutsu in the blink of an eye, he would lose all face!
But if Sasuke didn't learn it, then the month-long feast would be gone... This, what a difficult choice!
Under Naruto's nervous gaze, Sasuke pondered for a moment and formed hand seals.
"Ninja Art: Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu..."
Following the chakra flow observed by his Sharingan, Sasuke, with a burst of determination, activated his chakra and shouted.
With a 'bang'... a puff of white smoke also rose beside Sasuke... But to everyone's surprise,
Not to mention a shadow clone, not even a defective shadow clone with missing limbs appeared!
"Naruto, what else is there to the secret of the Shadow Clone Jutsu's success?
I performed the jutsu exactly according to your chakra flow, so why did it still fail??"
Looking at Naruto's strange expression, Sasuke couldn't help but ask in confusion.
The Two-Tomoe Sharingan could copy non-bloodline ninjutsu and taijutsu by observing chakra flow.
Logically speaking, as long as he had the hand seals and chakra flow, there shouldn't be any problem!
Even if it failed the first time, it shouldn't have produced nothing... There must be a problem here!
"Secret??"
Seeing Sasuke's serious expression, Naruto put aside his joyful disdain and scratched his head.
Secret? How would he know such a thing... Didn't it just succeed with a 'bang'??
But in front of Sakura, he couldn't expose his dead-last nature!
"Naruto, you wouldn't happen to not know the secret, would you..."
Seeing Naruto's conflicted expression, Sakura's eyes shifted, and she looked at him suspiciously.
Sasuke, standing nearby, trembled and suddenly realized, remembering Naruto's academic incompetence.
He wouldn't, really not know, would he!
"Ahem... This, um, of course there's a secret... But I can only tell you secretly, you can't tell anyone else."
Looking at Sakura and Sasuke's suspicious gazes, Naruto coughed dryly and leaned close to Sasuke's ear.
This was a matter of pride; he absolutely couldn't lose here!
"Tch, what's with the mystery..."
Sakura complained, but still thoughtfully took a few steps back to create distance.
She didn't want Sasuke-kun to dislike her because of this... "Alright, Sasuke.
The secret to this jutsu is..."
Seeing Sakura retreat ten meters and turn her back, Naruto gave Sasuke an embarrassed smile and lowered his voice.
"Anger?
That's the so-called secret??"
Hearing the two words in his ear, Sasuke's face darkened, and he complained weakly.
Good heavens, do you think this is a Super Saiyan transformation from the Sixth Universe next door??
Sure enough, he shouldn't have trusted this guy Naruto... Uh, he didn't seem to have planned on trusting Naruto in the first place.
The original plan was to learn the Shadow Clone Jutsu by observing chakra flow with the Sharingan, but he didn't expect it to fail!
This...
"Mhm mhm, anyway, I've already told you the secret... I only learned the Shadow Clone Jutsu because of anger!
So, it must be performed under extreme anger to succeed.
Whether you learn it or not is your problem, you can't go back on your word about treating me to dinner."
Naruto secretly glanced at Sakura, then lowered his voice and continued to bluff, his eyebrows dancing with excitement.
Anyway, he had told him the secret; whether it actually worked or not was no longer his concern!
[Naruto's malicious suggestion detected, triggering a 20x C-rank reward.
Mission: Perform Shadow Clone Jutsu under anger; Reward: Naruto's version of Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu...]
Sasuke was about to erupt in anger, but the prompt in his ear instantly made him stop.
This was like finding a new village in a winding path... However, this 'anger' thing couldn't be faked!
He still had to wait for the right moment.
"Let's go, it's time to eat..."
Exhaling a breath of stale air, Sasuke turned and sighed, under Naruto's uneasy expression.
Since he couldn't learn it, he could only cheat!
"Huh??
Alright, alright, Sakura, let's go..."
Naruto was stunned for a moment, then paused for half a second before nodding frantically and shouting.
He had already prepared himself to pester Sasuke to death if he refused!
He didn't expect Sasuke to be so honorable...
"Huh? Is training over??"
Sakura was equally bewildered by Naruto's shout; what secret, and it's already over??
However, Sakura certainly wouldn't refuse to eat with Sasuke-kun earlier, so she quickly hurried to catch up.
"Did he give up?
Sasuke is indeed a smart child!
That method is actually only suitable for Naruto.
Simplified ninjutsu, especially forbidden-level advanced ninjutsu,
cannot be learned simply by observing chakra flow!
That is a chakra flow that only suits the caster himself and is useless on others.
Otherwise, the Second Hokage-sama's many simplified ninjutsu wouldn't have only one or two passed down..."
In the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi murmured to himself as he watched the three on the crystal ball.
"Well, it seems it's as I expected... Then, Hokage-sama, starting tomorrow, give Team Seven more D-rank missions.
I want them to participate in this joint Chunin Exam!"
Kakashi, who had been lounging beside him, sobered up and earnestly requested Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"Have you decided?
Kakashi..."
Seeing Kakashi's rare serious demeanor, Sarutobi Hiruzen also looked grave.
Letting freshly graduated genin participate in the exam, especially a jinchuriki like Naruto!
Was it a bit too hasty...
"Of course... With Sasuke's strength, he is fully qualified to be promoted to Chunin.
As for Naruto and Sakura, they are at most assisting in the exam and gaining experience this time!
To accumulate experience for the next exam... So, I'll leave these next few days to you, Hokage-sama."
Kakashi nodded without hesitation, also giving the Third Hokage a reassurance.
"I see, it's because of Sasuke... Sasuke is a child who lacks neither wisdom nor strength, and his talent certainly shouldn't be buried... That incident's blow didn't lead him astray; he is a junior who can be trusted.
Then let it be so, Kakashi... Whenever I think of the young sprouts inheriting the Will of Fire already beginning to grow, as Hokage, I feel incredibly expectant.
I hope this old man can see them become jonin and witness them shoulder the next era of Konoha..."
Hearing this well-reasoned analysis, Sarutobi Hiruzen's old face smiled like a chrysanthemum, filled with satisfaction.
His gaze shifted, and he looked at the Hokage Rock bathed in the sunset, a smile playing on his lips... Former Hokage, this is the inheritance of bonds!