Overall, despite all of Hagoromo's rather… creative methods of "education," Mirai was still, at heart, a kind child.
Having personally witnessed some rather unpleasant things, she subconsciously classified Sasuke as someone deserving of sympathy. To put it bluntly—during taijutsu classes, she didn't even have the heart to hit that poker-faced boy too hard.
Unfortunately, the human heart was an exceedingly complex thing, and at her age, Mirai simply couldn't understand that yet.
When emotions were conveyed from one person to another, the recipient didn't always interpret them correctly.
At the Ninja Academy, Mirai had already become something of a classroom tyrant.
She was too violent.
As a result, most students avoided sparring with her whenever possible. Being beaten up wasn't fun, after all—unless someone had awakened a masochistic streak at an early age.
But that absolutely did not include Sasuke.
As the strongest fighter in the class, yet completely ignored by Mirai, how was Sasuke supposed to feel?
Did she disdain fighting him?
Was the Uchiha name worth so little?
Sasuke lived in an extreme psychological state. Though his face rarely showed emotion, his inner world was highly volatile.
And so, he was prone to mistaking goodwill for contempt.
But what if the situation were reversed?
If Mirai did fight him and won—and at this stage, she absolutely could—what then?
A proud Uchiha losing to a little girl?
How was he supposed to talk about revenge or reviving his clan after that?
Either way, it was a lose-lose situation.
Naturally, Hagoromo had no intention of getting involved in this kind of emotional soap opera.
As far as he was concerned, worrying about the lone surviving Uchiha was far less important than checking whether Naruto could finally cut through that ice wall.
Before Mirai's lessons began, Hagoromo decided to give Naruto a small reward.
His teaching style was rather Spartan, and Naruto had recently developed a habit of constant complaining. That said, when it came time to train, Naruto was extremely serious.
Or rather—just the word training alone instantly boosted his concentration.
To cut through the ice wall and complete Wind Release nature transformation training, Naruto kept his hands pressed against the ice almost without pause.
No matter the season, ice was always ice-cold. Prolonged direct contact naturally carried the risk of frostbite, and Naruto's hands were already bright red.
Judging by his sensations, they were probably half numb by now.
Although the ice wall was covered with uneven slashes from Wind Release, it was still far from being split cleanly through its ten-centimeter thickness.
Still, work and rest had to be balanced.
It was time to let Naruto take a break.
"Naruto, come here for a moment," Hagoromo called.
"What is it? I'm in the middle of training…"
Naruto sounded rather reluctant—had Hagoromo interrupted his Wind Release practice?
"It's nothing important. I just thought, seeing how serious you've been, I might teach you a new technique early as a reward. But if you're busy—"
"Stuff like that shouldn't interrupt—"
Naruto froze mid-sentence.
"…A new technique?! Really?!"
This was exactly what he'd been begging for.
Since when was Hagoromo this easygoing?
"Of course. Do I have any reason to lie to you?"
"What kind of jutsu is it? Is it strong?"
Naruto was visibly overexcited.
"Extremely strong," Hagoromo replied inwardly satisfied.
If he didn't dangle something impressive, how else was he supposed to motivate Naruto to keep grinding Wind Release? It was time to hand out a piece of candy.
"This technique is rated C-rank. It's something even a genin can master. The difficulty itself isn't high, but its true power depends on whether you can release a large amount of chakra at once. Without that, you simply won't be able to summon anything powerful."
Of course, in reality, if the user lacked sufficient willpower, even with a valid contract, a summoned beast might simply refuse to respond.
This situation was commonly known as:
'The summon doesn't give a damn.'
"I'll demonstrate first," Hagoromo said.
Too much explanation would just overload Naruto's brain.
From that alone, it was clear that the first jutsu Hagoromo planned to teach Naruto was—
Summoning Technique.
In terms of hand seals, it wasn't complicated at all—only five.
As long as someone wanted to learn it, any ninja could. The real prerequisite, however, was having a summoning contract.
Without one, there was nothing to summon—unless one planned to summon fresh air.
Because this was only a demonstration, Hagoromo deliberately slowed down his hand seals so Naruto could see clearly.
Even so, Naruto's eyes still went dizzy.
When Hagoromo finished the seals, thick white smoke erupted—
And a massive summoned beast appeared.
The ANBU ninja secretly observing nearby began to twitch.
Why did this man insist on deploying massive summons inside the village? Was Konoha's terror index not high enough already?
Hagoromo had summoned the Ninja Dogs.
Among his summons, aside from the Yatagarasu used for transport, this one had the most screen time.
Frankly speaking, its sheer size made the ANBU's reaction understandable—Hagoromo's yard could barely contain it.
Naruto's mouth hung wide open.
If he didn't open his mouth, how else could he express his shock?
He'd seen the Yatagarasu before, but flying creatures lacked the same oppressive presence as massive land-based beasts.
And in terms of appearance—
The Ninja Dogs was terrifying.
Three heads, three maws, six eyes, four legs, one tail—and rows of sharp fangs.
This was Naruto's first time encountering a large mammalian summon. Just by looking at it, one could imagine its destructive power.
"So… so cool!"
Naruto actually walked up and placed his hand on one of the hound's legs—his first close encounter.
Feeling a strange little creature touching it, the Ninja Dogs bared its teeth—
Then immediately stopped when Hagoromo raised a hand.
Seeing that it didn't resist, Naruto suddenly had an idea.
"Hey, Hagoromo… can I touch its paw pads?"
…Was this the legendary unpredictability?
What an oddly specific request.
This time, Hagoromo was genuinely stunned.
After all these years of commanding the Ninja Dogs, the phrase 'paw pads' had never once crossed his mind.
A giant dog's paw pads—absolute heaven for paw-pad enthusiasts.
"You can," Hagoromo said flatly.
"If you're not afraid of getting crushed to death."
Naruto had scored a rare moment of completely flustering Hagoromo.
But Naruto soon realized something important.
Wait—was he here to tour a zoo?
No, damn it, he was here to learn ninjutsu!
"Can you really teach me this jutsu, Hagoromo? Will I be able to summon something like this too?"
"If you can learn it, then yes."
"That's awesome! Teach me, now!"
"Not so fast."
Hagoromo took out a scroll from his ninja pouch. After forming seals, the normally sized scroll rapidly expanded.
Placing it on the ground, he said,
"Open it."
Naruto squatted and unrolled the scroll, revealing rows of names.
"This is the summoning contract passed down through the Uzumaki—though so far, it's only gone through one generation," Hagoromo explained.
"To learn Summoning Technique, you first need to sign your name here and leave your handprint."
Yes—there was such a thing as the Uzumaki.
That statement was perfectly valid.
After all, the Uchiha had only one member left and were still considered a clan.
Before Hagoromo even finished speaking, Naruto had already sprawled over the scroll and started signing.
Copying a format didn't require much thinking.
"Then what?" Naruto asked eagerly once he finished.
"Then I'll teach you the hand seals. There are only five—Boar, Dog, Rooster, Monkey, Ram. While forming them, you need to gather as much chakra as possible and release it all at once. Got it?"
Hagoromo explained simply and directly.
Naruto's brain promptly went offline again.
"Uh… what are those seals you mentioned?"
Hagoromo: "..."
He turned to the three spectators.
"Has the Ninja Academy not taught the Twelve Hand Seals yet?"
Mirai nodded. "They have."
Haku nodded as well. "They definitely have."
Kimimaro nodded too. "Very thoroughly."
Then why did Naruto look completely clueless?
"…Fine," Hagoromo sighed.
"Haku, you teach him again."
His head hurt.
They were about to hit the highway, and it turned out Naruto didn't even know what a bicycle was.
That said, Naruto zoning out in class was… entirely understandable.
In a class of thirty students, if twenty-five listened attentively and five spaced out—
Which side would Naruto be on?
The answer was obvious.
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