For the next three days, Minato stayed by Naruto's side, helping him practice the Rasengan.
With the support of the Multi-Shadow Clone technique, Naruto's training progressed at an astonishing pace.
In just two and a half days, he managed to burst a water balloon with a single hand, completing the first stage of Rasengan training.
This was largely thanks to the Nine-Tails not disturbing his chakra. Otherwise, even two and a half more years might not have been enough to achieve this goal.
In Minato's opinion, Naruto's talent was not low. The underperforming, "dead last" performance in the original story was primarily due to the Nine-Tails.
Although Naruto hadn't fully inherited the Uzumaki Clan's talents, he had perfectly inherited his father's exceptional reflexes.
Speed and quick reflexes were two entirely different things.
As the saying went, "Anyone can floor it in a straight line! True speed shows on the curves!"
The original Naruto, upon first learning the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, could already perform extreme evasions against the Fourth Raikage's close-range attacks, demonstrating remarkable reactive talent.
Especially since his father was renowned throughout the Shinobi World for his speed. Even if he were just copying the blueprint, Minato should have at least tried to teach Naruto the Flying Thunder God Technique.
The result, however, was that Naruto ended up learning the useless Shadow Clone jutsu, which drained his main body's chakra and left him vulnerable to enemies running wild—
No need to think about it; this was definitely because of his Jinchūriki status.
"Naruto, come fight me. Let's see what your current strength is like."
Training requires a balance of work and rest. The Rasengan, in particular, requires chakra to spin at high speed through the wrists, and overtraining can put a great strain on the meridians.
After completing the first stage of training, Minato didn't immediately start Naruto on the second stage. Instead, he planned to coach Naruto's practical combat skills.
"Oh! Bring it on!"
Without hesitation, Naruto summoned dozens of Shadow Clones with a poof.
Seeing this, Minato sighed and raised his hand without hesitation. "Stop!"
"Huh? What's wrong?" Naruto asked, confused.
"Why did you summon so many Shadow Clones?"
Minato couldn't understand. He'd wanted to ask this question ever since he'd watched Hokage.
"More people means more power, of course!" Naruto replied without thinking, his face radiating confidence. "Fifty against one—the advantage is mine!"
"Who told you that more people automatically means more power?"
Minato sighed and rubbed his forehead in frustration. While Naruto's chakra control had improved, his theoretical understanding was practically non-existent.
"Listen carefully, Naruto," Minato explained. "The Shadow Clone Technique was originally invented to gather information more safely and conveniently through conscious transmission. However, Shadow Clones are generally unsuitable for combat because they have a fatal flaw: they divide your body's chakra! If you create a hundred Shadow Clones, your original body will be left with less than one percent of its chakra. Even though the chakra from destroyed clones returns to you, it dissipates quickly. Basically, you'd waste all your chakra right at the start of a battle."
"Huh? Is that true?" Naruto scratched his head. Still unable to distinguish between having too much chakra and wasting it, he found Minato's explanation a bit difficult to grasp.
This didn't mean Naruto was unintelligent. From his reactions in the original story, it was clear he had a keen mind, but he was simply held back by his lack of education.
"You rely too much on Shadow Clones," Minato said seriously. "You should avoid using techniques like Shadow Clones carelessly during combat. For a ninja, insufficient Chakra is fatal."
If Naruto fought like he did in the original story, he'd survive only thanks to the protagonist's plot armor. Anyone else would have died a hundred times over.
Take the Zabuza fight, for example. If Haku had truly intended to kill him, Naruto wouldn't have lasted long enough to unleash his berserk state.
A single Hidden Mist Technique followed by a basic slash would have slit his throat—
"Even a technique like Shadow Clone can be a trump card if used properly," Minato explained. "In frontal combat, especially against opponents of equal strength, it's best not to use more than four Shadow Clones. Even if you summon a thousand, each clone only possesses one-thousandth of your true power."
"While they can drain the enemy's Physical Energy to some extent, the fatigue they endure is reflected back onto you. This means you'll not only expend the same amount of Physical Energy but also suffer greater pain and mental strain than your opponent."
"Then what am I supposed to do? Shadow Clone is the only technique I know," Naruto pouted.
"Who told you not to pay attention in class?" Minato asked, a half-smile playing on his lips as he looked at Naruto.
The minimum requirement for graduating from the Ninja Academy was mastering the Three Body Technique.
This led many to mistakenly believe that the academy didn't teach any truly useful techniques.
In reality, the opposite was true. The academy offered numerous fundamental and practical D-rank Release Techniques.
In his past life, conspiracy theories online claimed that ninjutsu was monopolized by the major Ninja Villages and Shinobi Clans. While this was partly true, it wasn't the whole story.
Certain vital ninjutsu and Forbidden Techniques would never be publicly shared, regardless of any so-called monopoly. Ninjutsu was a strategic resource, and a crucial one at that.
However, obtaining less significant techniques like the ubiquitous Shadow Clone, Great Breakthrough, and Great Fireball was actually quite easy.
After all, ninety percent of the world's population lacked the aptitude to become ninjas, able to manipulate only small amounts of chakra. Even if these leaked techniques spread, they had no real impact.
Moreover, everyone had their own strengths. Among the Konoha 12, for example, none could use Earth Release.
Even basic ninjutsu like the Earth Flow Wall or Hiding in the Ground was missing. It's not as if Konoha lacked such techniques.
In truth, for ninjas who specialized in teamwork, someone like Minato, who insisted on learning everything just in case, was the real oddball.
With the Shadow Clone technique as his vessel, Minato was confident he could, in a short time, help Naruto master the Rasengan and Flying Thunder God Technique while also achieving at least one Chakra Nature Transformation.
As the father and son diligently trained,
a tall man with white hair and a red haori arrived at the Training Ground.
"It's been so long since I last returned..."
Watching the father and son train, Jiraiya's expression grew complex, his voice tinged with nostalgia. "Those faces... they bring back so many memories."
"Hmm? Jiraiya-senpai?"
As if sensing Jiraiya's gaze, Minato, who was teaching Naruto in the Training Ground, turned around. Upon seeing Jiraiya, he paused slightly, then displayed a perfectly measured look of surprise.
"Jiraiya...-senpai?"
Hearing Minato's address, Jiraiya froze.
Why 'senpai'?
"Aren't you my disciple?"
Jiraiya pointed at himself in confusion, then seemed to recall something and slapped his palm. "Ah, right! After graduation, you were assigned to my squad..."
"No, I graduated early."
Minato shook his head. "And my teacher was Tsunade."
"Huh?!"
Jiraiya stared dumbfounded.
Then, a thought flashed through his mind:
Konoha is doomed!
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