A new day had begun.Kakashi-sensei led us toward the forest to start our training. However, before we left, I decided to create a couple of shadow clones and send them to accompany Tazuna.
Even though our instructor said that we didn't have to worry about an attack from Zabuza in the near future, I still chose to play it safe. At the same time, I told Kakashi about a "discovery" I had supposedly made regarding a useful feature of shadow clones. I managed to surprise him—and even earned some praise.
Sakura was shocked when she learned that once dispelled, shadow clones pass all the information they gathered back to the user. I could feel her attitude toward me slowly changing for the better.
Our client was also pleased that he was being escorted by my shadow clones. He no longer saw me as a naive and annoying brat. Witnessing with his own eyes what I was capable of, Tazuna was ready to entrust his life to me without hesitation.
When we reached a suitable location, Kakashi-sensei explained the tree-walking technique to us. It teaches young shinobi how to properly control the flow of their chakra and direct it to a specific part of the body. The jutsu itself is used to climb trees without using one's hands. To do that, a shinobi concentrates chakra in the soles of their feet.
After demonstrating the technique, our instructor tossed each of us a kunai so that we could make cuts in the tree trunk to mark our progress.
Taking the kunai in hand, I carefully looked at the tree I was supposed to climb. Channeling chakra into my feet, I took a running start and tried to climb as high as I could. Unfortunately, I failed on my first attempt… My feet slipped before I even made it two meters up! In the end, I fell flat on my back. It didn't hurt much, but it was frustrating to realize just how far behind Sasuke and Sakura I was…
While the Uchiha managed to reach four or five meters, Haruno climbed almost to the top on her very first damn try. Sitting comfortably on a thick branch, she looked down at us with a smug smile.
"Hm, looks like Sakura-chan picks up new techniques much faster than a certain future Hokage," Kakashi-sensei teased me with good-natured mockery.
I know why this technique is hard for me, but it still stings… I thought.
"And it seems the Uchiha's so-called genius was exaggerated, if he got beaten by a girl," Kakashi added, this time trolling Sasuke.
"Tch…"My teammate's pride had been successfully wounded.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura protested, afraid her idol might end up hating her.
"Wait. I have a question, Kakashi-sensei," I suddenly spoke up.
"I'm listening, Naruto," the instructor said, turning toward me with interest.
"Could the difficulty of mastering this technique be related to the amount of chakra a person has? It just seems to me that Sasuke and I have more chakra than Sakura does. No offense, Sakura-chan," I asked, even though I already knew the answer.
So why did I ask? There were two reasons. First, to snap Sasuke out of his gloomy mood—I felt that emotional agitation made it harder for him to control his chakra. Second, to put an end to Kakashi's trolling, which was starting to get on my nerves. There was also a third reason: I was genuinely curious about what answer our instructor would give. It felt like Kakashi-sensei was deliberately leaving out a lot of details.
"…Interesting. And where did you get that idea from?" Kakashi replied with a question of his own, slightly surprised.
"…?"Sasuke and Sakura were also watching me closely.
"I got a similar feeling when I tried to use the regular Clone Technique. As for Shadow Clones, I can create over a hundred of them. That's why I decided to ask," I answered, quickly coming up with a plausible excuse.
"Hm… All right. I didn't plan on explaining this just yet, but you're right, Naruto. To put it simply—yes. The more chakra you have, the harder it is to master tree-walking. You're surprisingly observant, I have to admit," Kakashi said, confirming my "theory" and praising my "insight."
"More than a hundred shadow clones?" Sasuke asked, making sure he heard correctly.
"Yeah. Why are you looking at me like that?" I replied, throwing the question back at him.
"…"Sasuke didn't answer. His reaction spoke for itself.
"…There's no need to be jealous, Sasuke-kun. To be honest, Naruto has more chakra than all of us combined. That's not surprising, considering he's a member of the now-extinct Uzumaki clan. Its members were known for their enormous chakra reserves and incredible life force," our instructor added, apparently trying to cheer Sasuke up while partially revealing my origins.
What the hell? I didn't expect that from Kakashi-sensei! Still… this is a huge step forward! I thought.
"Wait, sensei! Does that mean… Naruto is a clan heir too, just like Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked in disbelief.
"…?"Even Sasuke looked at me differently now.
"Hm… not exactly. The Uzumaki clan wasn't part of Konoha. They had their own hidden ninja village and were our allies. Uzushiogakure was destroyed during the Second Shinobi World War. In memory of them, you can still often see their symbol—the whirlpool. By the way, Naruto, the symbol on your jacket's shoulders belongs to your clan."
"That's awesome! I'll have to ask the Third Hokage more about it!" I exclaimed excitedly.
"…In any case, back to training. Tree-walking is a fundamental skill for shinobi. Without mastering it, learning any other jutsu will be incredibly difficult. So get to it, you two," Kakashi-sensei said, giving me a tired look.
"Let's do this!" I shouted, taking off once again to climb that damn tree.
Half an hour passed. Sasuke had reached six meters, while I was stuck at three or four. As for Sakura, she had already mastered the technique, so Kakashi-sensei told her to head back to Tazuna. She was a bit disappointed—she clearly wanted to stay near Sasuke a little longer—but she didn't argue. After all, we were on a mission.
"…"After another failed attempt, I sat down in front of my tree and started thinking about using my shadow clones to speed up my progress.
"…"Kakashi-sensei silently observed me, analyzing my behavior.
"…? Don't tell me you're giving up," Sasuke said after a minute, noticing my inactivity as he walked over. He clearly didn't like the idea of me stopping.
"No, I just had a thought. Not sure if it'll work, though," I replied with a fake thoughtful expression.
"And what brilliant idea came to you this time, Naruto?" Kakashi asked.
"I was thinking… what if I used Shadow Clones to train faster? Since they pass information back to me, I might be able to master this technique much quicker," I suggested.
"…That could work in your case. All right, you can try—but no more than twenty clones. If you dispel too many at once, you'll flood your mind with information," Kakashi said after thinking it over for a few seconds, giving his approval but setting a limit.
"Got it! Shadow Clone Jutsu!"With permission granted, I immediately formed the hand seals and created twenty shadow clones.
"…Then I will too," Sasuke said, not wanting to fall behind.
"Not so fast, Sasuke. As I said, Naruto is a special case. He has massive chakra reserves and exceptional vitality, which allows him to maintain twenty clones without trouble. Shadow Clone Jutsu is classified as a forbidden B-rank technique for a reason. Many shinobi have died from miscalculating their chakra usage. In your case, you can handle a maximum of five clones. Don't exceed that, or your body won't withstand the strain," Kakashi stopped him in time and set his limit.
"…Shadow Clone Jutsu."Though he wasn't thrilled to hear that, Sasuke listened and created only five clones.
"All right, let's begin!"Fueled by enthusiasm, we resumed our training.
Meanwhile, at the bridge under construction…PoV: one of the shadow clones
I carefully observed the progress of my bridge alongside another clone just like me. At first, the locals were slightly surprised to see the two of us, but Tazuna explained that we were clones of one of the shinobi he had hired for protection. He even added with a smile, "That kid may not look like much, but I'd trust my life to him without a second thought."
The work was going smoothly. Still, we noticed that some of the workers weren't putting much effort into it—and it wasn't laziness. They seemed distracted, as if something weighed heavily on their minds. Tazuna, on the other hand, not only supervised the construction but also worked alongside the builders, helping wherever he could. I had to admit—the old man was genuinely impressive.
"Hm? Oh, hey, Sakura-chan! What are you doing here?" we asked in unison as our teammate approached.
"…?"Tazuna was surprised too, but he was busy working.
"Didn't you hear? Kakashi-sensei said I successfully mastered the tree-walking technique. Now I just need more practice to improve," she replied, feeling awkward as both of us addressed her at once.
"…We couldn't know that. We were created before the training started, so we didn't even know what technique you were learning," I said after exchanging a glance with the other clone, letting me handle the conversation so we wouldn't speak simultaneously.
"I see… You know… you've really changed, Naruto," Sakura said after sitting down beside us and shifting the topic.
"…I hope for the better," we replied with a smile.
"Yes… Sometimes it even feels like you're a completely different person," she admitted awkwardly.
"No. You just thought you knew me. Over the years I tried to get your attention, you formed a bad opinion of me. I don't blame you… I'm sorry. Sometimes I went too far, but I couldn't help myself," I said, trying to explain.
"…"An awkward silence followed.
"Hey, Tazuna!" one of the workers suddenly called out.
"Hm? What is it, Giichi?" Tazuna asked, setting down his materials.
"You know… I've been thinking, and I've decided… I'm done working on this bridge," Giichi said. Thinking back, he was one of those who hadn't been working very hard. Now it was clear why.
"But… but why?! Just like that?! Are you leaving too?" Tazuna asked in disbelief.
"Tazuna… I've known you for years. I want to help, but if we keep working, Gato will find us. And if we're killed, what good will the bridge be?" Giichi replied.
"…"Tazuna fell silent, disappointment clearly visible in his eyes.
"Let's stop… stop the construction while we're still alive," Giichi added.
"…"Sakura watched closely, trying to understand what was going on.
"…"The other workers stopped and looked toward Tazuna and Giichi.
"…I thought the people of this country would be braver. Turns out only one drunk builder has any guts," I said after exchanging a glance with the other clone, stepping forward beside Tazuna.
"What do you know, brat?!" Giichi snapped, but I didn't let him finish.
"Enough to know who actually has balls on this bridge!" I cut him off firmly.
"Naruto!" Sakura blurted out, embarrassed by my words.
"Kid…"Tazuna placed a hand on my shoulder, trying to calm me down.
"This so-called drunk old man risked everything by standing up to Gato. He even deceived our team by hiding the true details of the mission. At first, I agreed to continue out of pity and impulse. But after getting to know him better—and meeting his family—I understood something. Unable to watch his grandson lose his future and hope, he's willing to risk his life. That's why he deserves far more respect than you!" I continued without stopping.
"…!"Sakura was stunned.
"…!"As for Giichi and the others, my words silenced them. They were angry—but their pride and conscience had been struck.
"Thank you, kid," Tazuna said, then turned to the workers. "I can't stop the construction. This is our bridge. We started it together with hope… hope that it would bring prosperity to our country."
"But we'll all be killed!" Giichi protested again.
"It's already noon. We're done for today. You don't have to come back, Giichi. As for me—I believe in this kid's team," Tazuna declared, ending the day's work.
After the argument on the bridge, Sakura-chan and I followed Tazuna to the market. The sight before us was bleak.
There were far too many poor people. Some sat by the roadside, stretching out trembling hands in hope of alms. Others walked around with crude signs reading, "Will do any job." And some, seeing no other way out, turned to theft.
One such "entrepreneur" was especially unlucky.
Someone tried to snatch Sakura's pouch from behind. Instead of a clean grab, the thief accidentally touched something he definitely shouldn't have.
"Pervert!" Sakura shouted.
A spinning kick sent the unfortunate thief flying. He landed somewhere off to the side, while we continued on as if nothing had happened.
Soon, hands reached for Sakura again—this time, small ones. Children. Beggars. Thin, hollow-eyed. Starving.
It was painful to watch. We did what we could, buying some food and sharing it with those nearby. It didn't solve the problem, but at least it gave the children a reason to smile—if only briefly.
Noticing our expressions, Tazuna sighed heavily and explained that since Gato's arrival, the country had slowly but surely fallen into poverty, losing its last traces of hope. Monopoly, fear, and unemployment had done their work.
Still, he believed that once the bridge was completed, things would change. That the Land of Waves would have a future.
After escorting Tazuna-san home, the clone and I dispersed at the same time, passing all gathered information to the original and leaving Sakura-chan to guard our client.
PoV: Original
Receiving the memories from my clones about what happened on the bridge, I couldn't help but smile. But there was no time to dwell on it—the training continued.
With each new attempt, my progress became more noticeable. My chakra control grew sharper, my movements more confident. Stopping now wasn't an option.
After another hour of training, Kakashi-sensei declared that we'd done enough for the day. Our progress was obvious. Thanks to the clones' experience, I managed to climb halfway up the tree. Sasuke was still ahead, but the distance between us had shrunk to just a few meters.
One look at his face told me he didn't like that. An unspoken rivalry had formed between us. Neither of us intended to give way. And honestly… it was fun.
Even with my chakra reserves, the training was exhausting. So I was glad when Kakashi-sensei decided to stop there. Tired and slightly battered, we headed back toward Tazuna's house.