2 TRAINING
"Time to lock in."
...
Half an hour had passed. After taking a bath and changing into the OG orange and blue tracksuit, Naruto sat cross-legged on his mattress, a notebook and pen in hand, thinking about how he should approach his training.
"Alright," he muttered to himself, glancing around the messy room. "First thing I need to figure out is what I am working with from my original memories: Shadow Clone Jutsu, Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu, and the Rasengan."
While he wrote this down, his mind replayed everything he remembered about Naruto's journey—the techniques, the wasted potential, and all the power that should have been unlocked much sooner.
He needed a plan.
Chakra Control
That was Naruto's biggest weakness early on; he was terrible at chakra control. Sure, it wasn't exactly his fault that the Nine-Tails was messing with his chakra network, but the amount of chakra he wasted on simple techniques was absurd. If he could refine that, everything else would fall into place. Mastering control would mean stronger jutsu, faster healing, and longer endurance. Tree climbing and water walking were the first steps, followed by forming the Rasengan with one hand, and then meditation.
Chakra Nature
He wouldn't discover his natural affinity for Wind Release until much later, which was a massive advantage he couldn't afford to ignore. If he started experimenting right now, he might actually unlock wind manipulation early. He could even combine it with the Rasengan much sooner than in the canon timeline.
Physical Conditioning
Even though Naruto had incredible stamina, his taijutsu was too sloppy—relying on brutal strength without any real refinement. From what he could gather from his memories, Naruto did some basic taijutsu training daily from the start of the trip. It wasn't great, but it was a foundation. He needed to test out his current reaction times and work on his speed and control. Shadow clones would be incredibly useful for this.
Mental and Tactical Growth
Naruto's heart was always his greatest strength, but his mind definitely needed some work. Luckily, it was his mind now, so he didn't have to worry about reverting to his old mentality. However, in his previous life, he wasn't exactly a fighter. From what he remembered of Naruto's battles, the kid relied entirely on instinct and emotion, with zero strategy. That had to change. Sure, he had been in a scuffle here and there back in his old world, but nothing major. To counter his lack of combat IQ, he was definitely going to learn sealing jutsu, or Fuinjutsu. If a skill like that could seal a Tailed Beast and summon the Shinigami itself, it was absolutely worth learning. Plus, he was fifty percent Uzumaki, so he had to have a knack for it.
"Alright," he said, putting the pen down. "This is what I need to focus on right now. I can add more things later, but the major priorities are improving my control and my physical conditioning."
He closed the journal and put it away. Grabbing his water bottle and a few soldier pills, he left the room to grab a quick breakfast before heading to the training grounds.
…..
Another half hour passed. Having finished his breakfast, Naruto stood in the middle of a secluded training ground, finishing up his stretches.
Once he was warmed up, he smirked. "Alright, let's start by testing what I can already do, just to get a feel for my limits before I start breaking them."
He crossed his fingers into that iconic cross-shaped seal, took a deep breath, and called out, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Poof!!
A thick cloud of smoke erupted beside him. When it cleared, a perfect copy of himself stood there, grinning.
"What's up?" the clone asked.
"Nothing much," the original replied, stretching his arms. "So, are you ready?"
"Yeah, I'm ready," the clone confirmed.
"Okay," the original said, a spark of excitement in his eyes. "Let's do something fun first. Rasengan."
The clone nodded, already stepping closer. Naruto extended his hand, his fingers spread and his palm open, keeping his stance steady and precise. The clone placed his hands over Naruto's palm, swirling his chakra in tightly controlled circles.
The familiar hum of energy filled the air as blue light began to twist and spin, forming a swirling sphere of raw power. Dust lifted from the ground around them, and leaves rustled wildly in the sudden, violent current.
The sphere grew bright, its rotation accelerating into a perfectly dense ball of chakra spinning violently in his grasp.
Still cool as ever, he thought, absolutely mesmerized by the power crackling in his palm.
Turning toward a thick tree, he took a short step forward and thrust his palm out with a massive grin on his face.
"Rasengan!"
BOOM!!
The blast erupted with a sharp, grinding screech. The impact tore straight through the bark, cleanly shredding the trunk. The heavy tree groaned loudly before toppling to the side with a heavy thud, scattering leaves into the wind.
Naruto whistled, staring at the destroyed tree. "Man, seeing it in a memory is one thing, but doing it yourself is on a whole other level."
"Okay, now that the fun is over, let's get to real training," Naruto said, his expression turning serious.
He crossed his fingers back into the cross seal, took a deep breath, and shouted, "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Poof! Poof! Poof! Poof! Poof!
The ground was instantly covered in a thick blanket of white smoke. When the air cleared, fifty-one exact copies of himself were standing in front of him, waiting for orders.
"Alright!" the original called out. "Eleven of you stay here. The rest of you, divide yourselves into two groups! One group is going to practice water walking, and the other is going to practice forming the Rasengan with one hand."
Following his orders, the two large groups of clones scattered to different parts of the training ground, leaving the remaining eleven behind.
"Alright, now that they've left," the original said, dropping low into a fighting stance, "the rest of you are going to fight me. Help me get a good grasp on our taijutsu."
"TO BE CONTINUED"
Give me the power stones.