Chapter 13 Kakashi: A Moment of Silence For This Child's Future Teacher

The next day, Naruto's figure once again appeared in the grove by the river.

Only this time, he used a portal to get there.

He walked up to a big tree and immediately started pounding on it with his fists.

Meanwhile, Hiruzen had just arrived at the Hokage's Office and wanted to check on Naruto's training progress for the day. As soon as he activated the crystal ball, he saw Naruto was beating on trees again.

This gave Hiruzen a massive headache.

He rubbed his temples, his mind full of the scene of Naruto using that ridiculous Tree Punch Style during his fight with Sasuke yesterday.

'Damn it!'

'Letting him win yesterday might've been a mistake…'

'Now Naruto probably thought all that tree-punching had actually produced results?!'

Thinking about how Naruto had managed to refine Chakra so quickly and learned the Shadow Clone Technique in just three days, Hiruzen didn't even know how to feel anymore.

Call Naruto a genius?

Which Shinobi needs tens of thousands of repetitions to learn Shadow Clone Technique?

But to say Naruto is dumb...

It just took him 3 days to learn a B-Rank Ninjutsu like Shadow Clone Technique.

The Shadow Clone Technique is actually not difficult to learn... but even average Chunin needed at least a week to get it down!

The only difference between them is that Naruto has far more Chakra than other Shinobi.

If it weren't for the large amount of Chakra in Naruto's body, he would have died from the Chakra exhaustion with this training method.

But what really worried Hiruzen now was Naruto's obsession with reckless Taijutsu training.

Just looking at his strikes and footwork, which are sloppy and unstable, he could tell Naruto wasn't even using half his strength properly.

But he still insisted on training here every day...

Every time Hiruzen looked at the image in the crystal ball, the blue vein on his forehead twitched.

In the end, he simply turned off the Telescope Technique. After all, out of sight, out of mind.

But he was really afraid that Naruto might do something reckless, so Hiruzen gave orders to the Anbu, "Let Guy and Kakashi come see me."

"Yes, Sandaime-sama!"

…

Bang…

Naruto was lost in thought as he punched the tree trunk with his fists.

Ever since he started using this tree as a training dummy, the bark had started to cave in visibly.

Every time Naruto punched, some wood chips would also flew everywhere.

It probably won't be long before Naruto need a new 'training partner'.

Not far away, Guy and Kakashi were silently watching Naruto's every move.

The two of them had been observing for about half an hour, and both of them were getting a headache just like Hiruzen.

"Guy… if he keeps training like this, he's going to wreck himself, right?"

"Uh… well, it's definitely passionate. But without proper form, he won't even make it to the part where he can 'burn with Youth'."

Guy felt so itchy when he saw Naruto's clumsy technique.

When he heard from Hiruzen that there was a hard-working kid in the village, he'd been genuinely excited.

He even started entertaining the idea of taking on a student.

But then…

Hiruzen told him that the kid is the Kyubi's Jinchuriki and the Yondaime Hokage's orphaned son.

After hearing this, Guy was suddenly silenced.

Although he is passionate, he wasn't brainless.

If he took the village's Kyubi's Jinchuriki as his student, Hiruzen would definitely tear him apart.

Moreover, Hiruzen specifically emphasized that Guy just needs to give Naruto some guidance on the incorrect physical training method, and must not let the child become interested in physical training.

Kakashi looked at Naruto's small figure, and for a moment, he saw his late teacher's image overlap with it.

His throat tightened, and his nose stung slightly.

All these emotions he'd locked away suddenly started to rise again.

'It's all because Sensei is not around...'

'Because there is no one to guide him, this kid is practicing randomly...'

The two looked at each other, nodded at the same time, and then casually started walking down the path, pretending to pass by.

None of them took the initiative to approach Naruto directly. To stay in line with Hiruzen's instructions, they had to play their roles: Two Taijutsu-skilled Jonin, randomly encountering a hard-working kid, and then, if the kid asked for help, then they'd give him guidance.

However, they circled past Naruto ten times without attracting his attention.

It seemed as if his entire mind was focused on the tree in front of him.

In fact, Naruto had noticed these two guys ages ago.

One has white hair and the other has green spandex, the features are so obvious that it was hard for him not to notice them.

If these two guys weren't Kakashi and Guy, Naruto would eat the tree in front of him.

After the two had circled past him several times, looking all preoccupied and mysterious, Naruto had already guessed they were sent by Hiruzen.

As for their actual purpose...

It is still unclear for now.

But their constant pacing back and forth in front of him was starting to get on Naruto's nerves.

"Hey! Uncles, what on earth are you doing?!"

"Can you please stop pacing around in front of me?"

"I'm trying to train here!"

When Guy and Kakashi heard what Naruto said, the corners of their mouths twitched.

'Train?? Really??'

Looking at that poor tree with a hole in the middle, and then looking at that sloppy punching form...

'Kid, are you sure you're not just chopping tree??'

However, the two were shocked by Naruto's abnormal physique...

After all, Naruto was only six years old.

His punching form was all wrong, and yet, he was straight-up about to knock that tree down with his bare hands.

Neither of them had that kind of strength when they were his age!

Even Guy, a Taijutsu fanatic, had never pushed himself this recklessly when he was a kid.

If you punched like that all day long, your hands would be crippled by the next morning. Forget about being a Shinobi… you'd be lucky to pick up a spoon.

And they'd heard from Hiruzen...

That the Kyubi's Jinchuriki had been pounding trees like this for several days now...

When Kakashi looked at Naruto's tiny fists and saw that there was no blood on them, he was instantly speechless.

'What kind of abnormal physique is this??'

"Yo! Young man!"

"My best friend and I just happened to be passing by and noticed something off about your form."

"If you keep training like that, you'll..."

As Guy was talking, he glanced at Naruto, who looked like he was in perfect condition, and immediately shut up.

"Young man! Let me show you the proper way to throw a punch!"

Naruto was stunned, his eyes full of confusion.

'My punching form was off??'

'That couldn't be right...'

'I had watched plenty of pro boxing matches in my previous life, and also saw Master Ip fighting like this with his Wing Chun.'

'Just look at Sasuke who was beaten by me yesterday and had no chance to fight back. That was proof it worked.'

Just as he was wondering, the green bowl-cut next to him let out a war cry and launched a punch at a nearby tree.

"Young man! Real power comes from the feet, then the hips, and finally the waist drives the fist."

Bang…

Guy demonstrated again, then followed up with a flurry of punches and kicks on the tree, clearly laying out the fundamentals of Taijutsu for Naruto to watch.

Kakashi showed deadpan expression and said indifferently, "Do you understand now?"

'What Guy demonstrated just now should not be difficult.'

"I understand!"

When Naruto saw the Taijutsu-specialist Jonin demonstrating his technique, Naruto immediately understood it.

He recalled Guy's movements in his mind and then imitated him by throwing a punch.

Boom…

With a thunderous crash, the tree finally gave out and collapsed, sending a cloud of dust flying.

The tree finally couldn't bear the power of the Kyubi's Jinchuriki's fist.

Kakashi's eyelid twitched when he saw Naruto knock down a tree with one punch.

'This child shouldn't have learned Tsunade-sama's monstrous strength, right?'

Even if the tree had already been damaged by earlier pounding, knocking it down in one go was still terrifying!

Kakashi figured if that punch had landed on him, it definitely would've hurt.

The most important thing is… Naruto is still a six-year-old child.

Kakashi was at a loss for words.

All he could do was offer a moment of silence for whatever poor Jonin ended up leading this kid's team in the future.

"Excellent! That form was perfect!"

Guy waved his right hand vigorously, then gave Naruto a thumbs up. The sunlight hit his bowl-cut just right, casting a strange, dazzling glow, and his rows of bright white teeth gleamed like a mirror.

Naruto awkwardly scratched his toes into the ground in embarrassment.

"Young man! Keep pushing forward!"

"The flame of Youth must not be allowed to fade!"

Guy's passionate speech made Kakashi facepalm and he couldn't even bear to look.

'Did he really have to go that far?'

'If this kid starts obsessing over Taijutsu from now on, just wait until Sandaime-sama comes down on your head.'

Maybe inspired by Naruto's effort and tenacity, Guy dragged Kakashi off to the training ground for a Youthful duel.

After the two left, Naruto once again pondered the power-transference technique he had just learned.

At this point, he could punch a fist-sized dent into a tree with a single strike.

It's just…

Naruto was starting to think this grove might not have enough trees left for him to punch through.