Naruto had successfully mastered the Rasengan, and he had completed his Wind Release chakra nature transformation long ago.
Naturally, training the Wind Style: Rasenshuriken was placed next on Naruto’s agenda.
Of course, the new academic year had just begun, and he had only recently mastered the Rasengan.
So Naruto calmly decided to give himself a week off.
He would take the opportunity to properly enjoy the start of the new school year.
Not that there was really anything worth enjoying, but at least it would give him a decent rest.
“Damn those Uchiha!”
On his way to the Ninja Academy, aside from receiving the usual cold and venomous gazes, Naruto also heard plenty of people cursing the Uchiha.
Clearly, the conflict between the village and the Uchiha Clan had already become extremely severe.
In the original story, the Uchiha Clan Massacre had occurred sometime between Sasuke’s second and third years at the Academy.
From then on, Sasuke became an avenger.
Eventually, in pursuit of greater power, he defected from Konoha and went to Otogakure, where he accepted Orochimaru’s training and became one of Orochimaru’s prospective vessels.
Truthfully, the current Naruto did possess some ability now.
If he interfered, perhaps he could create a few ripples.
But he still did not possess enough power to change the final outcome.
The conflict between the Uchiha and the village was the result of years upon years of accumulated resentment.
For years, the village had continuously suppressed the shinobi clans, and the Uchiha just happened to be the most prominent representative of those clans.
Naturally, they were bound to become a primary target of suppression.
Worse still, the Uchiha themselves were far from united.
There were hawks, doves, centrists, surrenderists, pro-village factions…
Every imaginable faction existed within the clan.
Even more absurdly, among the Uchiha’s strongest fighters—Shisui Uchiha, Itachi Uchiha, and Fugaku Uchiha—two of them placed the village above the Uchiha.
Even Fugaku Uchiha, who could still be considered relatively neutral, remained extremely willing to compromise with the village.
Aside from all that, there had to be spies from the village inside the Uchiha Clan.
Otherwise, how could a planned coup have become something that practically every Jōnin with even a little status in Konoha knew about?
Never mind the major shinobi clans.
Naruto was not his counterpart from the original story.
He could not even Talk-no-Jutsu the Nine-Tails, much less Talk-no-Jutsu an entire clan of lunatics like the Uchiha.
So those internet experts from his previous life really had summed it up well.
Sasuke truly was the most normal person in the Uchiha Clan.
But precisely because he was normal, his youth also made him far too impulsive.
He simply could not shoulder the responsibility of saving the Uchiha.
Telling him the truth would probably only make the Uchiha die even faster.
And drag Naruto down with them.
That was all.
After all, even now, the ANBU’s surveillance of Naruto had never relaxed for a single day.
“Everyone, did you enjoy your winter break?”
After Naruto arrived at school and the bell rang, Iruka, who had now spent a full year as a Ninja Academy teacher, spoke with noticeably greater ease and confidence.
“Yes!”
“Then did anyone manage to master all Three Basic Techniques during winter break?” Iruka asked with a smile.
The entire class immediately looked around at one another.
Most of them wore embarrassed expressions.
Only Sasuke, whose clan had yet to be massacred and who had not yet become cold and aloof, proudly raised his hand.
“Wow! Amazing! As expected of Sasuke-kun!”
The moment Sasuke raised his hand, all the girls immediately became infatuated.
“Tch. What a pain.”
Shikamaru muttered listlessly.
It was hard to tell whether he was annoyed at Sasuke for showing off or annoyed that he himself had not completely mastered the Three Basic Techniques.
“Damn it! Sasuke actually mastered the Substitution Technique too!”
Kiba gritted his teeth.
“As expected of the genius Sasuke,” Shino said with admiration.
In truth, Shino had also mastered all Three Basic Techniques.
However, most of his versions relied on his insect-control secret techniques, making them considerably easier than the orthodox Three Basic Techniques.
If limited purely to standard techniques performed with his own body, he was still slightly short of mastering the Substitution Technique.
Aside from Sasuke, the only other person who had mastered all Three Basic Techniques was Hinata.
Naruto excluded, of course.
Hinata wanted to raise her hand, but the moment it barely left her desk, embarrassment overwhelmed her and she shyly lowered it again.
Her face, however, had already turned bright red.
“Very good, Sasuke. Come up and demonstrate them for everyone,” Iruka said.
Sasuke proudly walked to the front and demonstrated all Three Basic Techniques.
Iruka led the applause.
The classroom immediately thundered with clapping.
“Excellent, Sasuke. Your mastery of the Three Basic Techniques is practically perfect. Do you have any tips you can share with everyone?” Iruka asked.
“That’s right, Sasuke-kun! You’re so good at the Three Basic Techniques. You must have some kind of secret, right?”
The lovestruck girls immediately began questioning him excitedly.
“There’s no secret. It’s nothing more than diligent training.”
Sasuke spoke proudly.
“Especially the Substitution Technique. It works by replacing your body with a nearby concealed object, so you have to complete the substitution faster than your opponent’s eyes can follow.”
“The technique itself does provide an enhancement, but that enhancement is built on top of the user’s own strength and speed.”
“If your base speed and strength don’t reach the minimum requirement, you won’t be able to use the Substitution Technique at all.”
“So if I had to name a secret, it would simply be diligent training.”
“Sasuke explained it very well. He covered all the key points,” Iruka said.
“The reason the Transformation Technique is the easiest of the Three Basic Techniques is because its chakra remains attached to our bodies.”
“With the Clone Technique, however, chakra leaves the body to create an illusion.”
“As for the Substitution Technique, that goes without saying. You must instantly exchange your body with another object and immediately conceal yourself afterward. It requires high-speed taijutsu.”
Iruka continued explaining at length.
Having completed his role, Sasuke turned around and stepped down from the platform.
“We’ll strengthen your bodies, practice basic taijutsu, basic swordsmanship, survival exercises, combat training, concealing your presence, setting traps, and other genuine ninja skills.”
“Once your fundamentals improve, coming back to master the Three Basic Techniques will naturally become much easier.”
“So I recommend that everyone focus most of their energy on these new courses.”
“Now, everyone follow me to the training field.”
Iruka waved them onward.
The students immediately filed out of the classroom and followed him outside.
“Everyone, assemble! Four rows of four!”
Seeing the students scattered around loosely, Iruka immediately gave the order.
The children capable of entering the Ninja Academy were still fairly disciplined.
They quickly formed their lines.
“As I explained in the classroom, strong physical fitness improves your ability to perform the Three Basic Techniques.”
“So now, all of you are going to start running laps.”
“Ten kilometers first. Twenty-five laps.”
“Begin!”
Iruka pulled out a whistle.
Tweet!
“No way! Ten kilometers?!”
The weaker students immediately wailed.
But confident students like Sasuke, Kiba, and Shino had already started running according to Iruka’s instructions.
“Damn it! It’s only ten kilometers! I’m not losing!”
Seeing others already running, the students who had been complaining gritted their teeth.
Without even needing Iruka to urge them, they hurried after the others.
“All right. Rest for ten minutes.”
“After ten minutes, we’ll begin shuriken training. While you rest, listen carefully as I explain the key points of throwing shuriken.”
Iruka picked up a shuriken and began his explanation.
As shuriken were one of the standard weapons of the shinobi world, Naruto listened very carefully.
Combined with his mental state of constant absorption, Naruto not only fully absorbed every important point Iruka explained, but could even draw further conclusions from them.
He discovered additional training methods and several ways to catch opponents off guard.
On a fundamental level, his understanding had already surpassed Iruka’s.
All that remained was practice.
Naruto was confident that within three days, his throwing ability would surpass Iruka’s.
“And those are the key points of shuriken training.”
“Now, listen for your names. You’ll come up one at a time and practice according to what I just explained.”
Iruka led the class toward the nearby target range.
The shuriken had already been prepared there.
Naturally, they were not real weapons.
They were training shuriken made from ironwood.