Chapter 177: The Spark of Talent
The late afternoon sun cast long, warm shadows across the Uchiha training ground. Naruto was panting, leaning against the massive, scarred tree trunk, pulling a fresh splinter from his palm.
"Naruto. Hinata. Come here."
Uchiha Akira's voice was calm, but it cut through the air with an authority that made Naruto instantly straighten up.
Naruto, who was still struggling and fuming, immediately stopped his grumbling and scurried over. "Yes, Teacher!"
Hinata, who had been practicing her own ascent on a different tree, descended lightly. She landed without a sound, a perfect, balanced stop, and walked in front of Akira. She lowered her head slightly, waiting for her teacher's instructions.
Uchiha Akira's thoughts stirred slightly.
In the air before him, a light blue, translucent panel appeared, visible only to him.
[System Prompt: Do you want to consume Honor Points to provide cultivation assistance for your disciples?]
[Inorin's Note: This 'System' and 'Honor Points' are a non-canon element, part of Akira's unique abilities in this fanfiction, allowing him to 'buff' or accelerate his students' training.]
"Yes," Akira affirmed silently in his mind.
[Disciple (Uzumaki Naruto) tree climbing cultivation efficiency bonus 100% (lasts 24 hours). Honor Points consumed: 500.]
[Disciple (Hyūga Hinata) tree climbing cultivation efficiency bonus 100% (lasts 24 hours). Honor Points consumed: 500.]
Akira extended both hands and placed them on Naruto's and Hinata's heads respectively.
His palms were warm, a dry, steady heat that was surprisingly comforting.
A mysterious power, imperceptible to others, slowly flowed from his palms into their bodies. It wasn't chakra, but something... different. Something conceptual.
Naruto shivered all over, his bright blue eyes instantly widening in recognition.
"Wow! It's this! It's this feeling!"
He jumped up excitedly, his previous exhaustion gone. He pointed at Akira's hand and shouted loudly.
"Teacher's unique secret technique! It felt just like this when I practiced shuriken throwing last time!"
"After you did that, I felt like I suddenly... like my brain just got it! Everything became clear!"
Naruto gesticulated wildly, his face full of undisguised admiration and pure, unfiltered joy.
Uchiha Akira withdrew his hands, his expression impassive.
A thousand Honor Points to solidify the foundations of my two disciples. A highly profitable deal.
"Go."
Akira said indifferently.
"Try again."
"Yes! Teacher!"
Naruto was already impatient. He was a blur of orange as he rushed back towards the giant tree—a tree that he had already ravaged, its bark scarred and gouged beyond recognition from his countless failures.
This time, the feeling was completely different.
Before, "control" was just a word Akira kept yelling. Now, as Naruto focused, he could feel the chakra in his tenketsu points.
He concentrated Chakra at the soles of his feet. He could sense the exact amount needed, not too much, not too little. It was like a mental "click."
Buzz.
A faint, satisfying sound of Chakra adhesion.
Naruto's feet stuck firmly to the tree trunk. He didn't slip.
He was standing perpendicular to the ground. He was doing it.
He succeeded!
A light of pure, unadulterated surprise burst forth in Naruto's eyes.
He didn't rush to take the second step. He wiggled his foot, carefully feeling the strange, magnetic suction coming from the soles of his feet.
Then, cautiously, heart in his throat, he lifted his other foot... and placed it.
It stuck.
"I… I did it!" Naruto shouted, his voice cracking with sheer excitement.
"Teacher! Hinata-chan! Look! I did it! I'm doing it!"
Hinata, standing beside Akira, was genuinely happy for him. A gentle, relieved smile appeared on her fair face.
"Naruto-kun, you're amazing!" she called out, her voice soft but encouraging.
Uchiha Akira merely watched calmly.
"Don't get distracted, Naruto."
"This is just the first step. Walk."
"Yes! Yes, sir!"
Naruto immediately composed himself, his face scrunched in fierce concentration. He began to try to step upwards.
One step.
Two steps.
His movements, initially clumsy and awkward, became more and more skilled. More and more steady.
Although his speed was slow, every step he took was incredibly firm. He wasn't falling.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Hinata also began her attempt.
She had already mastered the basic tree-climbing technique and was only a short distance from reaching the top, but her speed was still hesitant and careful.
And now, after receiving Akira's "secret technique" enhancement...
Hinata felt... different. Her control over her chakra, already precise from her Hyūga training, now felt... perfect. It was like a well-oiled machine had just become frictionless.
She took a deep breath, concentrated Chakra at the soles of her feet, and with a light, graceful leap, she landed on the tree trunk.
But Hinata didn't walk step by step like Naruto.
Instinctively, she began to try to speed up.
Hinata's legs alternated, her feet tapping the vertical trunk as if it were flat ground.
Her speed became faster and faster.
In the end, she wasn't just walking. She was running directly up the tree trunk!
Her white skirt fluttered in the wind, and her long, dark-blue hair traced graceful arcs in the air. She was a picture of effortless, impossible grace.
"Wow… Wha... WAH AH AH AH!"
Naruto, who was struggling to take his fifth consecutive step, was so surprised by this sight that his jaw almost dropped off his face.
"Se… Senior Sister! You… you're too exaggerated!" he yelled, his voice squeaking.
"Running?! You're RUNNING on a tree trunk?!"
What kind of divine, unfair technique was this!
Hinata, hearing his shout, blushed. She gracefully flipped on the tree trunk, pushed off, and landed steadily back on the ground in front of Akira, her cheeks flushed with excitement and a hint of shyness.
"I… I don't know what happened, Teacher," she said, her voice breathy.
"I just felt… my body became very light, and my Chakra control also… also became particularly easy. It just... did what I wanted it to."
Uchiha Akira watched Hinata's performance and nodded, a rare, faint hint of satisfaction in his eyes.
The Hyūga Clan's Jūken (Gentle Fist) itself had extremely high demands on chakra control. It was their specialty.
The buff hadn't given her anything new; it had just unlocked what was already there.
Hinata's latent talent was fully unleashed at this moment.
"Very good, Hinata."
He then looked at Naruto, who was still frozen to the spot on the tree trunk, looking like a stunned snail.
"Naruto. What are you waiting for?"
"Oh… Oh! Right!"
Naruto was greatly, massively stimulated by Hinata's performance.
A powerful surge of unwillingness to admit defeat welled up from the bottom of his heart. She was his teammate! He couldn't be this far behind!
"I can do it too! Believe it!"
He roared, and the Chakra output from his feet suddenly, uncontrollably, increased in a burst of jealous energy.
Bang!
The bark under his feet exploded into splinters.
As a result, due to excessive, uncontrolled force, the Chakra at his feet instantly went out of control. He lost his grip.
He fell from the tree again, landing flat on his back with a loud thud.
"Ow! Ow, ow, ow…"
Naruto rubbed his bottom and his head, tears of pure, unadulterated frustration welling up in his eyes.
Uchiha Akira's voice came coldly.
"Did you forget what I just said?"
"Control. Not a burst. You are not a bomb. You are a shinobi."
Naruto shivered. The coldness in the voice cut right through his frustration.
He immediately got up from the ground, brushing off the dirt.
"Yes! Teacher! I remember! Control!"
He took another deep breath, forcibly suppressing that burning unwillingness to admit defeat. He had to be smart, not just loud.
Naruto closed his eyes, carefully feeling the flow of Chakra within his body.
He felt the thin, yet crucial, Chakra film at the soles of his feet.
He tried again. Stuck to the tree. Walked.
He fell.
Once.
Twice.
Ten times. Fifty times.
The large, sturdy tree in the Uchiha backyard became Naruto's best, and most brutal, teacher.
Naruto fell.
He got up, rubbing a new bruise on his elbow.
He fell again.
He got up, his knuckles white with determination.
The sun began to set. The orange-red afterglow of the evening colored the entire Uchiha Residence with a warm, peaceful hue. The sounds of crickets began to replace the sounds of the day.
"Ah... Ah... AAAAAH AH AH!"
Accompanied by a joyful, characteristic, and utterly exhausted shout...
Naruto... finally... like Hinata... took steps... and began to run on the vertical tree trunk!
Although his movements were far from as light and graceful as Hinata's. He was, in fact, somewhat stumbling, his arms flailing for balance. He looked like a drunken, ecstatic monkey.
But he ultimately succeeded! He was running!
Naruto rushed to the treetop, stood on the highest, thinnest branch, and raised his arms, shouting towards the setting sun.
"I DID IT!!"
"HAHAHA! I FINALLY DID IT! LOOK AT ME!"
Uchiha Akira stood beneath the tree, hands clasped behind his back, calmly watching the scene. The orange light caught the side of his face.
Hinata had already lightly descended from her own tree and stood quietly beside Akira, her Byakugan gently gazing at the figure scrambling like a monkey on the treetop. A gentle, proud smile graced her lips.
"Teacher! Teacher! I did it! I really did it!"
Naruto, having finally vented his excitement, leaped down from the treetop.
Due to his excessive excitement and pure exhaustion, he stumbled upon landing and almost face-planted again, but he caught himself at the last second.
Naruto nonchalantly patted the dust from his bottom and ran to Akira, stopping right in front of him.
He looked up, his bright blue eyes, shining with sweat and pride, sparkling with anticipation.
He looked, for all the world, like a puppy waiting for its master's praise.
"Hmm. Not bad."
Uchiha Akira reached out and, in a rare, almost habitual gesture, placed his hand on Naruto's messy, golden-yellow hair, ruffling it.
"You didn't disappoint my expectations after all."
Receiving his teacher's direct affirmation—and the rare physical contact—Naruto smiled even wider. His mouth practically stretched to his ears, and he let out a happy, exhausted laugh.
[Inorin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me and keeps these daily updates flowing!
Want to read 50 chapters ahead or just want to help keep a shameless translator alive? (My livelihood actually depends on this, haha 😭). You can support me directly here:
(P.S. Just remove the brackets and replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters): patreon[.]com/InorinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/InorinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]