Naruto stood to the side, his eyes fixed on Satsuki's fingers. Serpent, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger—he memorized the hand seal sequence, feeling a slight surprise.
He hadn't expected that when he casually asked, "Can you teach me this Ninjutsu?" Satsuki would unhesitatingly tell him the training method for the Great Fireball Technique.
The reason was simple: although the Uchiha Clan always touted this technique as their fundamental Ninjutsu.
In reality, the Great Fireball Technique was only a C-rank Ninjutsu. In Konoha Village's system, Chunin and Jonin could learn it by accumulating a bit of merit. If a Ninja had Fire Release talent, their squad leader Jonin could even directly teach it.
Watching Satsuki's earnest profile as she practiced, Naruto gradually figured out the trick to getting along with her. The Uchiha Clan inherently admired strength, but he absolutely couldn't appear too much stronger than her—he needed to make her feel the pressure of competition, yet keep it at a level where she could "catch up if she worked harder."
If he put too much pressure on her...
Naruto glanced at Satsuki's tightly pursed lips. According to the original story, Sasuke fell into obsession and self-doubt precisely because the gap between him and Itachi was too great. The current Satsuki didn't have that kind of vengeful obsession yet; she probably wouldn't repeat the same mistakes.
Naruto slowly formed hand seals with both hands. As the last seal was completed, he clearly felt the Chakra within his body begin to flow, gathering towards his mouth like a docile stream.
Too smooth...
This fluid Chakra circulation surprised Naruto. He instinctively realized that if he exerted his full power at this moment, the Great Fireball Technique he expelled would definitely form a fireball far exceeding the normal size. This was clearly not what a beginner should be capable of.
In the Ninja World, most Ninja only had an affinity for a single Chakra nature. Just like in the original story, he excelled in Wind Release, and Sasuke was proficient in Fire Release and Lightning Release. Theoretically, Ninjutsu of all natures could be learned, but talent determined the upper limit.
In the vast Konoha Village, there were currently only two Ninja who could master all five natures: Hiruzen Sarutobi and Kakashi Hatake.
And at this moment, the Chakra within Naruto's body was extraordinarily obediently transforming into the Fire nature, as if this were his innate talent. He immediately understood the reason—
It was the system's reward, "Fire Nature Chakra Adaptation and Mastery of Nature Transformation" was at work.
Naruto quickly adjusted the output of his Chakra, deliberately suppressing most of its power. He took a sharp breath, then—
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
A basketball-sized fireball erupted from his mouth, solidifying for a moment in the air before slowly dissipating. Although he deliberately controlled its power, this Ninjutsu, which he successfully activated on his first attempt, had already made Satsuki's eyes widen.
Satsuki's expression gradually grew serious. Indeed... was this person a genius?
Although Naruto's successful activation of the Ninjutsu on his first try made her feel frustrated, what concerned her more were the rumors within the clan—when her older sister first used the Great Fireball Technique, the fireball she expelled had a diameter of dozens of meters.
After returning home, her mother gently comforted her, saying that under normal circumstances, Ninja needed a long time to practice before they could successfully cast Ninjutsu. Satsuki's success on her first attempt was already genius-level, but... her older sister was an even more special genius.
Thinking of this, Satsuki's small chest rose and fell slightly, and her fingers once again assumed the hand seal posture. A stubborn light flickered in her eyes, determined to successfully cast the complete Great Fireball Technique through practice.
Naruto observed Satsuki's serious profile. He knew it was his turn to act.
To become an excellent Ninjutsu cannon, the key lay in the proper use of Chakra within the body.
Naruto recalled the experience from the original story: first sense, second extract, third control flow, with nature transformation coming later. Sensing the existence of Chakra, extracting a sufficient amount, and precisely controlling its flow—the essence of all Ninjutsu was precise control of Chakra. And to practice this control, that classic method was naturally needed.
"Satsuki." Naruto suddenly spoke, "I have a way to speed up learning Ninjutsu. Do you want to try it with me?"
"A way?" Satsuki stopped her hand seal movements, turned her head, her eyes full of confusion.
Naruto nodded mysteriously: "Yes, this is something I secretly learned by observing Ninja in the Konoha Village. It's an excellent method for practicing flexible Chakra use."
Satsuki's eyes instantly lit up. The throwing training Naruto taught her last time had indeed been very effective. With this successful experience, her trust in Naruto's suggestion increased.
"Really?" Satsuki unconsciously leaned forward, "Then... how do we do it?"
"This method requires your body to remember the feeling of using Chakra; it might be very hard."
"However, if it's a genius of the Uchiha Clan, this level certainly won't stump you, right?"
"Hmph!" Satsuki immediately straightened her back, her small hands on her hips. "Of course! No matter what kind of training, it's effortless for the power of the Uchiha Clan!"
Satsuki's eyes sparkled with confidence, her lips slightly upturned, revealing a slightly childish smile.
Looking at Satsuki like this, complex emotions arose in Naruto's heart. If he didn't know she was actually a gender-bent Sasuke... he would simply find this child very endearing.
Unlike the aloof Sasuke in the original story, this girl was lively and tsundere. The reason was obvious—the current Satsuki lived in a happy family, while the original Sasuke had experienced the clan massacre right after his debut, witnessing his most beloved older brother slaughter the entire clan...
To merely become aloof under such a blow, and not a psychopath, should he be said to have too strong a stress resistance?
Naruto shook off these thoughts and led Satsuki into the forest.
"Watch closely, it's like this." Naruto formed the Tiger hand seal with both hands, closing his eyes to feel the flow of Chakra within his body. He imagined the energy flowing like a trickling stream, slowly gathering towards his feet.
As a small wave of air rippled from Naruto's feet, he slowly lifted his foot and steadily stepped onto the vertical tree trunk, to Satsuki's shocked gaze—Naruto actually walked straight up the tree trunk!
"Wh-what?!" Satsuki's eyes widened. "He actually... climbed vertically just using his feet?!"
Naruto steadily ascended the thick tree trunk. When he reached about one-third of the height, he suddenly drew a kunai from his Ninja tool pouch and deftly carved a mark on the tree bark.
"Alright!" He pushed off the tree trunk with both feet and landed steadily with a graceful backflip.
Satsuki stared intently at the fresh mark on the tree, then looked at the relaxed Naruto. "You can only last that far?"
"That's right," Naruto explained. "The key is to precisely concentrate Chakra at the soles of your feet, making them stick to the tree trunk like suction cups. As long as you flexibly control the flow of Chakra, anyone can do it."
"Does doing this tree-climbing exercise really make one stronger?"
Naruto decided to borrow Kakashi Hatake's explanation from the original story. "Of course. Simply put, this training allows you to learn precise Chakra control. The Chakra extracted by ordinary Ninja often gets wasted in unnecessary places. This exercise is about using the most appropriate amount in the necessary places..."
Watching Satsuki's expression gradually become focused, he continued, "Even excellent Ninja find it difficult to perfectly control Chakra. The amount of Chakra needed for tree climbing is particularly subtle, and the soles of the feet... it's said that this is the most difficult part of the body to gather Chakra."
"As long as you master this control," Naruto showed a confident smile, "learning any Ninjutsu in the future will be twice as effective!"
Children's minds were still relatively simple. Satsuki didn't consider how he could have learned such detailed training methods just by eavesdropping.
"Okay! Then I'll try too!"
Satsuki's clear voice echoed in the forest. She drew a kunai from her Ninja tool pouch, formed hand seals with her fingers, and focused intently on feeling the flow of Chakra within her body.
Naruto reminded her from the side. "First, let your body remember this feeling. You can start by practicing with a running start."