Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto/Big Trouble in Little China nor any characters or abilities created by Masashi Kishimoto or John Carpenter.
Date: 06/03/10
Summary: At the age of 5, Uzumaki Naruto world is turn upside down with the arrival of a power that makes the Kyuubi look like a stuffed animal. What do these new arrivals desire and how does Naruto fit in? With a completely different sensei and techniques, can Naruto finally put an end to a war that transends the ninja world, itself?
Reviews: Please review. Even bad reviews are welcome. It's better than nothing. But try to be gentle, it's my first time(pun intended). Enjoy!
Big Trouble in Little Konoha
Chapter 3: The Three Storms
Six months later, Naruto finds himself training, eating, and sleeping under the watchful eyes of Thunder. Naruto training consists of strength training and chakra control. Thunder rarely spoke, but when he did, he usually showed little to no emotion. Despite his ridiculously high chakra reserves, Naruto's chakra control had become quite impressive. Naruto's physical strength had also grown immensely within the last six months. Thunder had not cut Naruto any slack. If they were not eating or sleeping, they were training. Naruto had not seen Lo Pan or anyone else, other than Thunder, for these six months.
"Thunder-sensei, when am I gonna learn something new. I've only been doing chakra control exercises, conditioning, and katas, with these weights on. And as soon as I get used to the weights, you just add more weight. When do I get to learn some techniques?" asked a frustrated Naruto, while doing his katas.
"When you are ready, and not a moment before, now shut up and continue the katas." said Thunder, not budging an inch.
With that, Naruto continued the katas, annoyed with the fact that he wouldn't be learning anything new that day.
Though Thunder hadn't told Naruto, he had to admit that the boy had grasped the concepts and movements of the Shaolin style very quickly. He also noticed that Naruto's strength and chakra control had shot up drasticly, though his strength was nowhere close to where it needed to be.
Naruto continued his training for the remainder of the day, before eating, showering, reading from the books that were given to him to study, and going to bed.
The next day, Naruto started his daily routine of eating breakfast, washing his face, brushing his teeth, and training. However, when he arrived at his training area, he noticed that Thunder stood inside of the sparring area, as opposed to sitting in the corner of the training grounds, mediating.
"Today, we will be beginning a new regimen, Naruto. You will be doing taijutsu training until lunch time and ninjutsu training from lunch to dinner. And before you get too excited, you will kept the weights on, and I will still be increasing the amount of weights accordingly. Any question?"
"Yeah, how do you expect me to do actual taijutsu training with all of this weight?" asked Naruto.
"You have a mere 50 lbs on each limb and a 100 lb vest. That's only 300 lbs total. I have 500 lbs on each limbs, with a 1000 lb vest. Besides, you haven't earned the right to complain. My style is based on strength. Without it, you can not hope to master, or even be proficient at this style. Are there any more questions?"
"I guess not but-" was all Naruto was able to say before Thunder sprinted towards him, driving a knee into Naruto stomach.
Naruto doubled over, gasping for air. "If you have time to speak, you should be using it to plan a proper strategy."
Before Naruto could catch his breath, he felt Thunder grabbing the back of his head, planting another knee into Naruto's face. Naruto was unconcious before he even hit the ground. Thunder did nothing to help the boy. He only stood there, watching the boy.
Thirty minutes later...
Naruto started to awaken. As he opened his eyes, he was forced to turn over quickly and spin from his back, to his feet, in a break dancing type manuever. Naruto had missed his neck being stomped on by mere inches.
"What the fuck is wrong with you! You could've killed me!" yelled Naruto.
"How is that any different from what your enemies will attempt to do to you? This is not your villages' pathetic Academy, this is gladiator school. If you don't have what it takes...you will die here. From here on out, I suggest that you take this training seriously."
Naruto went into his thunder stance, glaring at his sensei. Suddenly, Naruto dashed towards his sensei, throwing a chambered punch towards his sensei with as much force as he could manage. The speed of the punch was incredibly fast for someone his age. Any chuunin would've been hard pressed to dodge a punch at that speed. Unfornately, Thunder was well above chuunin level.
Thunder blocked the punch with his left hand, using his right hand to punch. Honestly, Thunder had various options, as far as counterattacks, but he made the most obvious of them. There was a reason that he used the most obvious forms of counterattacks. He use this method to gradually strengthen Naruto's own reactions, thus decreasing the amount of opening Naruto had in his defense until they were practically nonexistent.
The punch connected with Naruto's jaw, sending him flying. Naruto managed to flip onto his feet before crashing into the ground. Instead of complaining, he continued to attack Thunder, with little to no progress, until lunch time.
Naruto was physically exhausted. He had spent almost six hours being utterly beaten by Thunder and he was sure that he had suffered from a couple of broken bones, not to mention the heavy bruising all over his body. But Naruto ate his lunch anyway, because he knew that he was only halfway done with the new regimen. Also, Naruto had been looking forward to the next part of the training since he found out that Thunder was going to be his sensei.
Naruto felt re-energized after he finished eating his lunch. What was even more surprising was the fact that he felt great, not one broken. Naruto realized that it was probably a side effect of the kyuubi. "It about damn time that fox started helping out." thought Naruto.
"OK, Naruto, break time is over. For the remainder of the day, I will be helping you master your first jutsu. Before that, I want you to go over all of the basic hand seals required to use jutsu, though your first jutsu won't require hand seals. Now, do you remember the number of basic seals and their name?"
"Hai, Thunder-sensei. There are twelve basic seals. Ne(rat), Ushi(ox), Tora(tiger), U(hare), Tatsu(dragon), Mi(snake), Uma(horse), Hitsuji(ram), Saru(monkey), Tori(rooster), Inu(dog), and I(boar)." answered Naruto, while doing each hand seal.
"It seems that you have been studying the reading material that I instructed you to read."
"Hai, sensei."
"Very well. This first jutsu I will be teaching you will require you to draw the maximum amount of chakra that your body can handle and expel it from your body, all at once."
"OK, I'll try" said Naruto.
After twenty minutes of trying, Naruto had made no progress.
"Thunder-sensei, I don't understand what I'm doing wrong."
"You have to visualize yourself pulling your chakra in, before expelling it. Think of it like inhaling air, as opposed to chakra. Once you've inhaled as much as you possibly can, you exhale sharply, releasing all of the collected air at once. If you use this principle, it will become much easier for you to do."
Naruto started to grasp the idea behind the jutsu and started practicing. Two hour later, Naruto had made dramatic progress. Naruto was able to expel chakra from his body, but only in a small breeze.
"OK, Naruto. That's enough. You have grasped the basics of the jutsu. Now, you just need to increase your chakra control, which, in turn, will increase your chakra output. We will stop two hour early, everyday, and you will continue to work on your chakra control until it is up to par."
"Hai, sensei. But what will we be doing until then?" asked Naruto.
"Well, I specialize in wind elemental jutsu, so, along with basic jutsu, you will be learning wind element based jutsu. I will now teach you the Fuuton - Daitoppa (Great Breakthrough)." Thunder then goes on to demonstrate the jutsu. "Now, the hand-"
"Sensei, how come you don't use any hand?" asked Naruto.
"Ah, so you noticed. I am able to manipulate wind naturally. Unfortunately, it is the only element that I can use, but my manipulation of wind more than makes up for it. It is the same for Rain and Lightning, hence our names and the title as the Three Storms."
"Wow! Will I be able to use an element without hand seals too?" asked an excited Naruto.
"No, nor will you ever be as proficient as us in our specialized element. But you also have the advantage of using multiple elements. Now, back to the hand seals. They are U(hare), Ushi(ox), Mi(snake), and Tatsu(dragon). Every wind jutsu you will be learning will end with Tatsu(dragon), much like fire jutsu always ends with the Tora(tiger) seal or lightning jutsu end with the U(hare) seal. Now practice the combination of seals. When you are confident that you that you can do them without fail, add your chakra to them."
"Hai, sensei." said Naruto. Naruto went on to practice the hand seals until it seemed like second nature to him. Adding chakra, Naruto performed the jutsu but didn't get the same results as Thunder did.
"OK, for the remainder of the day, you will work on your chakra control. Your chakra control needs to be perfect for you to utilize these jutsu to their full capacity. It can be the difference between a breeze and a hurricane. For now, I want you to focus on your leaf exercises. Once you are able to make the leaves stick to multiple parts of your body simultaneously, then we will move up to rock. From rock, we'll move up to stones, and so on and so forth. Now, get to work."
And so Naruto worked on his chakra control for the rest of the day. Once he finished, he ate dinner, studied his reading material, and went to bed.
Six months later...
Naruto and Thunder are engaged in a brutal bout of taijutsu, one that couldn't even be defined as a spar. Naruto charged, throwing a palm strike to Thunder's face. Thunder ducked inside of Naruto, aiming a right hooking palm strike towards Naruto's stomach. Naruto used Thunder's shoulder for leverage, flipping over his back.
Naruto realized during their first sparring session that he would never be able to match Thunder's strength, so he decided to use his agility instead of trying to overpower Thunder.
Not even bothering to look over his shoulder, Naruto threw a spinning backfist, aimed at Thunder's head. Thunder ducked and attempted to sweep Naruto's legs from under him. As soon as Naruto felt Thunder's feet, he twisted his body. The force of the twist, added with the leg sweep, increase Naruto's momentum, sending him spinning in the air, only to land on his feet. After landing on his feet, Naruto went through a series of hand seals before ending with the Tatsu(dragon) seal.
"Wind Element - Wind Slicer no jutsu" Naruto yelled.
Thunder didn't even move. Thunder used his wind manipulation to destroy the jutsu. Since Naruto had learned all the jutsu Thunder could teach him, they started implementing them into their sparrind sessions to give Naruto more experience them. Now they spent there whole day sparring, though Naruto still had his reading material to study every night.
The two went back and forth for an hour, until Naruto finally managed to land a butterfly kick to the side of Thunder's face. To be honest, Naruto thought that Thunder was going to literally kill him, judging from the look in his eyes. And he was. It had been a long time since someone had hit him that hard, so his first instinct was to slaughter the kid. But Lo Pan would not tolerate anyone ruining his plans, even one of the Three Storms.
After Thunder calmed down a bit, he spoke to Naruto, though he still had an annoyed look on his face. "Very good, Naruto. You've come a long way, and actually managed to get a hit in."
"Well, that's only because you still have a whole lot more weight than I have on. I only have 150 lbs on each limb and a 300 lbs vest. You have at least 500 lbs on each limb, with a 1000 lb vest." said Naruto
"Still, it is not everyday that a kid your age manages to strike me, even with the training weights. You have learned everything I have to teach you. From this day forward, I am no longer your sensei. Take the rest of the day to reflect over your training. Starting tomorrow, You will be training with Rain."
With a bow, Naruto and Thunder parted ways. Naruto spent the rest of the day going over his training, practicing his katas for the Shaolin style of taijutsu that Thunder beat into him, the wind jutsu that he had learned, and the even the basic jutsu that he had learned from Thunder. Naruto also thought about his new sensei.
Naruto had a bad vibe about Rain since he first met him. At least Thunder seemed to be indifferent about Naruto. Rain seemed to despise Naruto for some reason, and Naruto would be lying if he said that he was looking forward to training with him.
After Naruto finished, he ate dinner, read his books on the history of his multiple villages, and went to bed.
Naruto was awakened with a bucket of ice water. "WHAT THE HELL!" screamed a disoriented Naruto.
"Get your ass up, boy. It's time to began your training." said Rain, with an evil smile on his face.
"But it's only three in the morning!" yelled Naruto.
"I don't care what time it is, I said get your ass UP!" Rain said, kicking Naruto out of his bed with the last word. "Meet me at the training grounds in five minutes, boy."
After getting dressed, Naruto walked out to the training area to find Rain leaning against a tree, with two swords across his back and one sword in his hand, wearing the same sadistic smirk on his face. Needless to say, Naruto wanted to knock that smirk off his face.
"OK, boy, take this." Rain said, throwing a sword at Naruto's feet.
"What's this for?" asked Naruto.
"Stupid too, huh?" said Rain, as Naruto glared at him. "What do you think it's for?"
"But shouldn't we start training with wooden ones first?" asked Naruto.
"Oh? The little baby's wants to play with little wooden swords first."
"FUCK YOU!" yelled Naruto.
Before Naruto could even tell what was going on, he had a cut on his cheek.
"Stings, doesn't it, boy?" said Rain, from behind Naruto.
Before Naruto could reply, Rain plunged the sword into his shoulder. Naruto immediately passed out, upon feeling the sword exit out the back of his shoulder.
Two hours later...
Naruto's eyes fluttered open, revealing the smirking Rain standing over him. "About time you woke up, boy."
Naruto suddenly remembered what happened and jump to his feet. "YOU BASTARD! YOU STABBED ME!"
"Why, yes I did. Get used to it. I will continue to stab and slice at you until your time with me is over. After hearing about your 'special' healing abilities, I've been waiting patiently for your time with me to arrive. I'll make your time with Thunder seem like a day at the beach. Prepare yourself, your torture session starts, now."
And with that, Naruto began his year long torture session with Rain. True to his word, Rain stabbed and sliced Naruto daily, during their sparring sessions. Rain only used one of his swords during their spars, but that meant nothing for Naruto. Rain avoided cutting off limbs and hitting vital organs, but that was the only break that Rain gave to Naruto. Rain taunted and demeaned the young boy during their "sparring" sessions, almost reminiscent of the way the villagers of Konoha treated him. During the jutsu portion of the regimen, Rain fired water based jutsu at Naruto instead of just showing him how to do them. Though Rain had just intended on this training to be torture, Naruto ended up improving at a much faster pace than he did when training with Thunder. With finally being able to inflict damage on Rain as his motivation, Naruto soaked up every move Rain made like a sponge. Eventually, Naruto was able to immulate Rain's movements and jutsu, proving that he was much better at learning when he had the proper motivation. Every night after eating dinner, instead of reading, Naruto went back to the training grounds to practice his kenjutsu. Because of the extra training, Naruto was able to use modify Rain's style to suit his own. Naruto even manage master the Dance of the Crescent Moon, a move that not even Rain could do. Naruto planned on using it as his trump card when he thought that he could successfully defeat Rain. Until that time, Naruto thought it wise not to show any of the progress that he made during his extra training sessions, at least until he knew that he could defeat Rain. And so, Naruto went to sleep and mentally prepared himself for the next day, the day that he would exact his revenge for the months of torture. Needless to say, he slept like a baby.
Rain poured the bucket of ice water on 'Naruto' and waited for Naruto's reaction. Rain noticed that Naruto didn't budge. "Maybe I should start using boiling water." Rain said, ripping the blanket off of 'Naruto'.
"What the hell!" Rain said. In the place of Naruto was a figure made out of pillows, with a note reading 'You're late' on its face. "Little arrogant punk. I'll just beat him twice as hard today" said a peeved Rain, as he made his way to the training grounds.
As he arrived, he noticed Naruto leaning on the same tree that he leaned on during the first day of training.
"What are you doing up so early, boy?" asked Rain
"Stupid too, huh? said Naruto. "What do you think I'm up for?" Naruto asked walking over to Rain.
Naruto stood in front of Rain, with emotionless eyes. He was looking forward to this day since the training began.
"You seem extra sprited today, boy."
Naruto gave no reply, which royally pissed Rain off.
Without warning, Rain went on the offensive. Their blades clashed, sending sparks into the morning air. To Rain's surprise, Naruto was able to keep up with him, even counterattacking. "It seems like you were holding back before. It still doesn't make a difference, boy. You'll need 20 more years before you could even be half as good as me."
"You know, if you have time to speak, you should be using it to plan a proper strategy." said Naruto in a serious tone.
"THE DAY I TAKE LESSONS FROM A LITTLE SHIT LIKE YOU IS-"
"Water Release: Great Waterfall no Jutsu" Naruto yelled, sending a huge waterfall towards Rain.
Rain was cut off, completely caught off guard, as the kage bushin sent the waterfall toward him. Rain turned, facing the waterfall, and manipulated the water, sending it over him and directly at Naruto.
"Good, but not good enough, boy."
When the water cleared, Naruto was gone.
"What a dumbass. Using that jutsu agai-"
Rain was cut off again, when he felt the presence of Naruto closing in from behind. Rain dove to the side, avoiding a slash the would've easily taken his head off.
"Who's the dumbass now? You just attacked the kage bushin. I was the one that used the water jutsu."
Rain was furious at this. "Enough of this bullshit! Your dead!"
Both Rain and Naruto charged at each other. Just as Rain was about to attacked, Naruto split into three, each attacking from a different angles. Each Naruto moved so fast that there were after-images, giving the appearance of more than three clones.
As the three attacked simultaneously, the original Naruto was able to slash Rain's cheek with a horizontal slash, giving him a light cut on the cheek as he passed by. Rain touched his cheek and felt the blood running down it. Though Rain seemed to have calmed down, it was quite the opposite.
"Stings, doesn't it?" Naruto taunted.
Rain unsheathed his second swords and went into a stance that Naruto was completely unfamiliar with.
"Looks like Lo Pan-sama will have to find a new replacement for you, boy." Rain said, in a frighteningly calm voice.
Just as Rain was about to attack, someone appeared and grabbed his wrist.
"What do you think you're doing?" asked Lightning.
"I was just planning on showing the boy some manners." said Rain.
"Well, since his training with you is officially over, that will not be necessary." said Lightning.
Rain didn't seem to be paying attention, staring at Naruto with bloodlust in his eyes.
"Rain! I said you are dismissed! If you attempt to attack, I will kill you without remorse. Do you understand me!"
Rain seemed to come to his senses after being threatened by Lightning.
"Hai." Rain said. After taking one last long look at Naruto, Rain vanished from the training area.
"Sorry about that, Naruto-kun. He can be a bit of an ass sometimes." said Lightning.
"I really wish that you wouldn't have done that. He's been torturing me for a entire year, and all I get is a scratch on his face." said Naruto.
"If I wouldn't have interfered, he would have killed you. While you have improved at an astounding rate, you have a long way to go before you'll be able to beat him."
"Apparently, you didn't watch the sparring session that we just had." said Naruto.
"Oh, but I did. Actually, I've been monitoring your progress during your solitary training as well. However, Rain is one of the best swordsman you'll ever meet. He is overwhelmingly good with two swords. And because he doesn't need to use hand seals to manipulate water, he can become a number of times more deadly. Also, Rain clearly has the advantage in terms of experience. As far as his water manipulation, not even your Hokages could match his talent in that area. He's easily on the level of the Legendary Sannin, as are Thunder and myself."
"Well, I'll get my revenge eventually." said Naruto.
"So serious, Naruto-kun. Lighten up, he's no longer your sensei. Starting tomorrow, you will be my new student. But, until then, why don't we spend the rest of the day getting to know each other?"
"...why?" asked a skeptical Naruto.
"Why not? Relax, little bro. All work and no play makes Naruto-kun a dull boy. I guess Thunder and Rain did a number on you, for you to be so defensive."
"Well, Thunder-sensei was seemed more neutral than anything else. But Rain is a sadistic asshole." said Naruto.
"Well, our training will be tough but I think we'll still have fun. Now, how about we go get some breakfast? Unfortunately, all I can make is ramen."
"What's ramen?" asked Naruto.
"WHAT! You don't know what ramen is!"
"Afraid not." answered Naruto, nonchalantly.
"Come with me, now!"
They both left the training area and Lightning brought Naruto into the kitchen. Both, Naruto and Lightning, conversed as Lightning made the noodles from scratch. After makking the noodle and cooking the pork, Lightning added the pork to the noodle and broth mixture, pouring up two bowls. "Here you go, Naruto-kun, try this."
There was a moment of silence before Naruto decided to give it a try. After taking the first bite, Naruto's eyes went wide. "This is INCREDIBLE!" yelled Naruto.
"That, my friend, is pork ramen. There are many different kinds of ramen, all of them just as good, if not better."
"I want to try them all!" said an excited Naruto.
"It's nice to have a fellow ramen lover around here. Rain and Lightning detest ramen, and Lo Pan-sama doesn't eat."
"Who could hate this!"
"I ask myself the same thing every time I eat it. Anyway, Naruto-kun, I wanted to ask you a question."
"Go ahead." said Naruto, with noodles hanging out of his mouth.
"Well, I wanted to know what your dreams are. What do you want to be? What do you want to accomplish in life?"
Naruto stopped eating and turned to look at Lightning. "To be honest, I never really thought of it."
"Of course you have, everyone has their own goals in life."
Hearing that, Naruto took a deep breath before speaking. "Well, to be honest, ever since I found out who my father was, my goal has been to surpass him in all aspects, so that one day I can be just as respected and feared as he was."
"So, you seek to be respected and feared?"
"Hai, but I also seek to one day have a family."
"OK, Naruto-kun, I shall help you with your dream. From this day forth, I will be your nii-san, and I wiil also train you to become stronger, so that one day you shall surpass theYondaime Hokage and all of the Hokages before him."
"Hai, Lightning...nii-san." Naruto said, a bit shyly. Lightning smiled at Naruto, which made Naruto smile as well.
"Now, how about we get another bowl?"
And so began Naruto's training with his new sensei and big brother, Lightning. Unlike, his previous instructors, Naruto felt an actual bond growing between himself and Lightning. True to his word, Lightning had become the brother that Naruto had always wanted. Even after training, Naruto still hung around Lightning like a second shadow. Ironically, Lightning's tiger style taijutsu and lightning jutsu were the hardest for Naruto to grasp, in comparison to Rain and Thunder's teachings. Slowly, but surely, Naruto began to understand how much more complex Lightning's style and jutsu were. He also learned how much more powerful Lightning was than his previous instructors, which was also ironic, considering that he seemed to be the more gentle of the Three Storms. Besides training Naruto, Lightning also gave Naruto tips on how to become stronger, even revealing why he was the strongest of the Three Storms. Apparently, Thunder had sacrificed his speed for immeasurable strength. Rain did the opposite, sacrificing strength for blinding speed. However, Lightning did neither. Lightning concentrated on his style and jutsu, while giving an equal amount of effort to increase his speed and strength. Naruto decided that he would do the same, in hopes of one day surpassing his father and brother. Two years after the beginning of his training with Lightning...
"Alright, little bro, this is the last test. You ready?"
"Of course!" said an excited Naruto.
"Then, show me whatcha got!"
Naruto and Lightning vanished, clashing within a fraction of a second in the middle of the sparring grounds. The sounds of combat rang throughout the training grounds. From the shadows, Rain and Thunder conversed about the sparring session taking place.
"He seems to have taken to Lightning's style just as well as he has both our styles, though it seems that he has come as far as he can using our styles. He will need to develop his own style if he wishes to progress any further" said Thunder.
"That little punk doesn't deserve the title of a 'storm'. Lo Pan-sama should've left that little weakling where he found him" said Rain.
"Maybe, but I trust Lo Pan-sama's judgement. If he sees something special in Naruto, maybe there is something special about him. Or maybe there isn't" said Thunder.
"You know, Thunder, your indifference is really starting to piss me off! Is there anything that you aren't completely indecisive about!" said an annoyed Rain.
"...I can't really say." said Thunder, as emotionless as ever.
"Goddammit, Thunder!" said a more than annoyed Rain.
As Rain continued to rant, Naruto and Lightning continued their sparring session.
"He has to have some kind of weakness. Think, Naruto" thought Naruto, while avoiding lightning bolts from Lightning.
Just because Naruto and Lightning got along did not mean that Lightning pulled any punches. Lightning was easily the hardest to defeat in a spar. It was going to take everything Naruto had to actual defeat Lightning.
"That's it!" Naruto said out loud.
"Shit! Whenever he says that, it normally spells trouble in one way or another." thought Lightning.
Naruto sprinted to the trees, using them as cover from Lightning's jutsu. Just as Lightning was about to turn the tree into splinters, three Naruto's emerged from the trees.
"Kage bushin, huh? That won't work on me, little bro."
Suddenly, two of the clones ran behind Lightning and attacked, the last one staying behind. Before Lightning was able to disperse the clones, the Naruto that stayed in front of him went into some hand seals, ending in Tatsu(dragon).
"Wind Element: Great Breakthrough no jutsu" Naruto mentally shouted.
Lightning was forced off balance, giving the clones a chance to reach Lightning. However, Lightning quickly gained his footing and was prepared to counterattack.
"Nice one, but you'll have to do better than that." said Lightning, as he buried his a a claw strike directly into the chest of both clones. Lightning eyes widened when the clones grabbed pulled Lightning towards them even further, smirking before dispersing.
What happened next was a complete surprise to all parties witnessing the spar. One of the clones dispersed into water, the other into lightning. Now, though Lightning is able to manipulate lightning based jutsu, he would also need the ability to manipulate water to come out of this completely unscathed.
Although no serious damage was taken, Lightning had to admit that it did sting a bit. "Good one, little bro. I would have never thought that you would use three separate elements simultaneously. And to actually manage to hit me with two hundred lb weights on your limbs and 400 on your vest. You never cease to amaze me."
"Thanks, nii-san" said Naruto.
"Well, I guess we'll have a special feast of ramen to celebrate your completion of the training."
"Yatta!" yelled Naruto.
An hour later...
"Hey, little bro, there's one last thing that I need to tell you."
"What is it, nii-san?" asked a curious Naruto, nooddles hanging from his mouth.
"Well, it's about your fighting style."
"What about it?"
"Well, the truth is that you have come as far as you possibly can with Thunder's Shaolin style and my Tiger Style. Even your kenjutsu is as good as it's gonna get under our tutelage."
"What are you talking about, nii-san? I thought that you said that I did pretty good." said Naruto.
"Indeed, you have. However, you need your own separate style, one that compliments your personality and strengths. Let me explain it so that you can understand exactly what I mean. Let's say that I gave you one of my older shirts and you wore it. It will never fit you like a shirt that has been made specifically for you. Did you understand what I mean, Naruto-nii-san?"
"Hai. But why did you train me if your style if you knew I wouldn't be able to master it?" asked Naruto, a bit disappointed.
"That's easy. We trained you in our styles because it will help you master your own in the future. Make no mistake, what you have learned will be implemented into your own style, making you even stronger. You will understand when the time comes."
"Well, I'm glad I got to train with you anyway." said Naruto.
"Me too, little bro. However, you start your training with Lo Pan-sama tomorrow. Make sure you pay attention because Lo Pan-sama is far more powerful than us in, both, strength and knowledge. This is where your true training begins."
"Will I still get to see you, nii-san?" said a teary-eyed Naruto.
"Tell ya what, I'll come by once a week to check up on you while your training with Lo Pan-sama. How's that sound?"
"Great!"
"OK. You should get you some rest today. Your new training will be unlike anything you've ever had to do and you'll need the rest."
"Hai".
A/N: And that's the end of this chapter. I will pick up at the conclusion of the spar with Sasuke next chapter. Also, Egg Shen will be formally introduced next chapter.