Naruto is highly unskilled, just mostly raw power... and so losing that makes his clone weaker...
For now.
"Hello?"
Niko asked as he walked into the training field he was directed to go to. Nervously, he brushed his hands over his hair, relishing in the length of it. As a result of his fast growth, his hair was far longer, reaching his mid back. He liked it, it separated him from Naruto just a little bit. He had no desire to mimic his past self any more than he had to. He even braided his hair, just to hit home that he was not Naruto. He also wore a mask like Kakashi's, to mask his whisker marks from view. He was not Naruto, he would not allow himself to be called Naruto by anyone.
The cold steel of a blade at his throat stopped Niko from asking once more. "Not that impressive, you senses are dull." It was a woman's voice, soft and sweet but very tired.
Turning once she let go of him, he saw a purple haired beauty with a pointed nose looking at him. "You are Yugao sensei?"
She nodded. "That would be me, I will be training you for the next six months, until you can become a Chunin and fight without aid. Now, let's start with a spar, then I will asses your overall powers. Come at me with the intent to kill, but only using Taijutsu. Shadow clones would kill you if you used them without any training in chakra control with your chakra levels." Niko nodded and charged her... only to be dodged at every turn. He punches and kicked, and elbowed, but she dodged it all. After a few minutes, she kicked him away with great strength. " Barely Genin level... not surprising, Naruto was not a great ninja... and you have no real experience as you were in a tube up until recently... show me your throwing skills... and then you will show me your stamina, speed, strength and chakra control, oh and your mastery of the academy jutsu. I brought your kunai and shuriken." She tossed him a pouch filled with said equipment.
Niko nodded. "Yes ma'am." Two hours passed and he was on the ground. "How'd... I... do?"
Yugao sighed. "I think we need to have Naruto evaluated. Your taijutsu is sloppy and wastes energy, and your throwing skills are subpar, your transformation is exceptional and your replacement is... meh... but your control is good, better than I would expect given your chakra levels. I think I can work with this... Lady Tsunade said you knew the rasengan, can you do it now?"
Niko frowned, standing. " Naruto always used the shadow clones to do it... but maybe?" He focused on the memories imprinted into his brain and moved his chakra and hands like Naruto would to create the rasengan. To his amazement, a smaller rasengan formed in his hands. "This is smaller but it works!"
She smiled. "At least you have a powerful attack if things get tricky, but you need a vast increase in speed. You are very, very slow... and not as strong as Naruto. Good thing, you heal fast, not as fast as Naruto but still, fast. You can gain strength and speed far faster than average." She pulled out weights and then handed him bag filled with scrolls. " I reviewed Naruto's graduation results, he didn't even know what chakra was. I want to rectify that with you, the academy's failings will not be yours. Read those scrolls in order of number, they will catch you up. I want you to read number one and two tonight. One in on chakra, two is on taijutsu. I will be teaching you the Leaf Taijutsu style, both the advanced version and the academy style. I want you to wear those weights as well... and we will be putting you on a strict diet to build up your muscles. No ramen every damn day, like your... brother."
"Yes ma'am."
"Good... now, I will not always be here on time, I have guard duty at times, as do all Jonin and Chunin. I will show you the proper exercises to do while you wait, If I am still not here by the time you finish, move on to throwing weapons and then if I am still not here, meditate for at least an hour to recover physically from the strain of effort."
"What is that?"
She sighed. "I will show you."
:::
"Is Naruto this behind? How strong can Niko get in two years..." Tsunade said as she looked into her mentor's crystal orb. "I am concerned Jiraiya is not teaching him enough if he is this behind. I might have to speak with Kakashi, and Iruka... and Sakura. Speaking of, I need to tell Jiraiya about this, and Kakashi so no one thinks he is a fraud and try to capture him..."
Groaning the long list of things she had to do, Tsunade quickly got started, hoping to have time for a nap soon enough.
Only for the Elder's to burst into her office like they owned the place. "When were you going to tell us there is a clone of Naruto in the village?" Homura said.
Sighing, she rubbed her temples. "I am handling it, he is getting trained and monitored as we speak. Inoichi is sure he is no mole, and I am sure he can be a major asset to the village. Now enough, I have quite a lot of things to get to."
They scowled at her but nodded. "We will be watching, always watching. Remember, he could produce a whole new line of Jinchuuriki's or Uzumaki's greatly serving the village."
"I know, why do you think I got him on training almost immediately? I will speak to the council about it tomorrow, during our weekly meeting, I was waiting for Niko's skills to be evaluated... and his resolve tested."
Koharu nodded. "I see... very well, we will look forward to all you have to say, tomorrow."
And with that, they left, walking away, leaving Tsunade regretting her life choices.
Chapter end, tell me what you think in the reviews.
This was a joy to write.
Love, your Ninja Overlord,
Mika.