Naruto stood in a clearing of training ground 44, otherwise known as the Forest of Death. The morning sun cast long shadows across the training ground. The Third Hokage had chosen this place for training as only a few Shinobi ever trained there, and it was easy to prevent anyone from spying on Naruto's training. He even had ANBU and Jiraiya's summons set up a perimeter since they had to be wary of Orochimaru.
Naruto felt a mixture of excitement and apprehension as he faced both Jiraiya and the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. The two legendary shinobi had decided to train him together for today, as they had to make sure that Naruto could understand and control the Rinnegan in the shortest time possible. The Hokage would leave tomorrow after imparting him some basics, and Jiraiya would take over the training fully for the remaining two days. Naruto suspected that the old man wanted to keep an eye on Jiraiya's training methods. He wasn't too happy to learn that Naruto was thrown off a cliff.
"Naruto, create a few shadow clones." Hiruzen ordered.
Naruto nodded and made the familiar hand signs. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he shouted, and several identical copies of himself appeared around him.
"Whoa..." Naruto swayed a little. "The heck is this?"
"What happened?" Jiraiya asked, concerned.
"Um... I'm seeing double? I can see myself, and both of you from different angles..." Naruto trailed off, struggling to explain what he was seeing.
Hiruzen furrowed his brow, deep in thought. "It seems your connection with the clones has intensified. The Rinnegan's influence might be enhancing your sensory abilities, allowing you to perceive through your clones more acutely."
Jiraiya nodded, crossing his arms. "That makes sense. The Rinnegan grants heightened perception and abilities. I can already imagine the potential of this technique, but it could also be overwhelming at first."
Naruto blinked rapidly, trying to focus. "So, I just need to get used to it, right?"
"Exactly," Hiruzen said. "Start by focussing on your own perspective first, then slowly expand your awareness to include the clones. It will take time, but you'll adapt."
Naruto took a deep breath, focussing on himself. Gradually, the dizzying sensation eased, and he began to manage the multiple perspectives. It was still extremely confusing, but he felt he could now move about without stumbling.
"Jiraiya, take the clones with you and get them used to sparring and dodging. I suspect Naruto will lose his connection with the clones once you are far enough away. I can then focus on training his elemental affinity."
Jiraiya nodded and motioned the clones to follow him.
Hiruzen waited for a few moments and observed that Naruto started furrowing his brows. "Are you no longer connected to the clones?"
"Yeah, I felt like my vision through them was blurry for a moment and then I couldn't see anything from them."
"How far away did they get?" Hiruzen asked curiously.
"A couple hundred meters I guess." Naruto estimated.
"Good. We will now begin elemental training. Create eight more clones."
"Okaay..." Naruto was confused. "Why are we using shadow clones, old man? And what's the use of pervy sage sparring with my clones? I'm not even there with them..." He trailed off uncertainly.
Hiruzen looked at Naruto incredulously. "Naruto, haven't you realized the unique advantage of your Shadow Clone Jutsu?"
Naruto blinked, still unsure. "Uh, what do you mean?"
Hiruzen sighed, but there was a hint of a smile on his face. "When your shadow clones disperse, all the experiences and knowledge they gained return to you. This means that every clone can train separately, and you'll gain the benefit of all their training as if you had done it yourself."
Naruto's eyes widened as realization dawned on him. "Oh! So, even if I'm not there, I'll still learn from everything my clones do?"
"Exactly," Hiruzen confirmed. He created two shadow clones himself. "Now, let's focus. Divide into groups of three. We shall practice three elemental affinities simultaneously. Earth, Water, and Fire styles are said to be relatively easier to master, and we shall start with them. One group will practice Earth Style with me, another will work on Water Style, and the third on Fire Style."
The clones nodded in unison, splitting into three groups. Hiruzen led his group consisting of the original Naruto to one side of the clearing.
Hiruzen began his lesson. "Naruto, controlling earth chakra requires patience and precision. I think with your Rinnegan, it would help if you watch me perform a few earth-style techniques that highlight the different applications. Understand how the normal chakra is converted to attain the change of nature and watch how the hand seals influence this change. This is an unconventional way of teaching this, but it may be more beneficial for you. Now, watch closely."
Hiruzen performed a series of hand seals with deliberate precision. "Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bullet!" he declared. The ground shook as a massive earthen dragon emerged, opening its massive jaws before launching multiple earth projectiles.
"Notice how I convert my chakra into earth nature," Hiruzen explained. "The hand seals channel and shape the chakra, allowing it to transform into the earth nature. The dragon and its projectiles are a result of this precise manipulation."
Naruto nodded, his Rinnegan picking up on the flow of chakra and the subtle changes during each hand seal. "I see it... the way your chakra changes as you form each seal. I see it change color, sort of? And your chakra became a lot denser and spread into the ground through your feet."
Hiruzen smiled. "Exactly. Now, let's move on to another technique. This one focuses on defence. Earth Style: Mud Wall!" He quickly formed the necessary seals, and a sturdy wall of earth rose from the ground, solid and imposing.
"Again, observe the conversion of chakra and the difference from my previous attempt," Hiruzen instructed. "Feel the stability and strength of the wall. It's all about merging your chakra with the earth."
Naruto concentrated, watching the chakra transformation with his Rinnegan. He could see how it merged with the earth to form a solid barrier.
Hiruzen demonstrated a few more techniques, each with deliberate precision, while going into more detail on each jutsu each time. He explained the importance of each hand seal, how chakra can be concentrated or dispersed, how the timing of the seals could affect the jutsu's power and stability, and how different combinations of seals could produce varied effects. He was enjoying the resumption of his teaching after such a long time. He was also amazed at some of the insights Naruto gained regarding his techniques thanks to his Rinnegan.
"Now, it's time to put it into practice. Try to create a small mud wall, which is the easiest earth-style technique to learn." Hiruzen instructed.
Naruto and his clones nodded, excited at the prospect of finally learning a cool jutsu after the summoning technique.
Meanwhile, Jiraiya had instructed a couple of Naruto clones to focus on floating above the ground without moving. He reasoned that this would be a good exercise in chakra control, which would help Naruto in the long run. He turned to the remaining clones and grinned.
"Alright. Now, all of you come at me and try to land a hit on me. I will not use my hands at any point." He grinned, seeing Naruto's insulted expression.
Three clones charged at him abruptly, their fists aiming for his torso. Jiraiya dodged effortlessly, using his legs and body to evade their attacks.
"Come on, is that all you've got?" Jiraiya taunted, a taunting smirk on his face.
The clones regrouped and attacked again, this time coordinating their efforts. One aimed high while the other two went low, trying to corner Jiraiya. He leaped into the air, flipping over their heads and landing gracefully behind them.
"Nice try, but you'll have to do better than that," he said, still grinning.
The clones were having a hard time absorbing the influx of information from multiple perspectives. He could see Jiraiya from six different angles, but he still couldn't land a hit. It was frustrating, to say the least.
"Alright, guys, let's change tactics," the designated lead clone of the group muttered to himself. They spread out, attacking from different angles and using feints to try and catch Jiraiya off guard.
Despite their improved strategy, Jiraiya continued to dodge their attacks with ease. His experience showed when he used every opportunity to teach Naruto through action. "Focus on reading my movements, not just reacting. Anticipate where I'll be," he advised, effortlessly sidestepping another punch.
The clones persisted, their movements becoming a little more coordinated and precise with each attempt. Jiraiya had started aiming kicks at them, slow enough that they could barely dodge. His unpredictable style kept them on their toes, forcing him to anticipate and adapt.
"Remember," Jiraiya called out as he spun away from a clone's attack, "your enemies won't just stand still. You need to be ready for anything." He arched his leg back, his feet touching one of the clones that was sneaking up behind him. He was deliberately gentle with his Taijutsu so that the clones could be dispersed only after absorbing a significant amount of his teachings.
One clone tried to sweep his legs from behind, while another aimed for his midsection. Jiraiya jumped, narrowly avoiding both attacks and landed with a graceful roll. He was about to offer more advice when a third clone came from his blind spot, its fist aimed at his side.
Jiraiya smirked, spinning to evade and counter with a gentle tap of his foot to the clone's shoulder. "Nice try, but you need to coordinate better and understand exactly when the opponent is off guard. Sneak attacks are good, but doing them frequently will just help your opponent anticipate it."
The light sparring continued for an hour before Jiraiya dispersed all three clones in a roundhouse kick after telling them to inform the original to send more. A few disgruntled clones arrived a minute later, fresh and ready to take a beating.
"I think I've given you enough time to acclimatise with your Rinnegan. I will now stop holding back, so ask the original to keep sending clones each time I pop one of you." The clones shivered at Jiraiya's positively gleeful expression.
At the end of the day, Naruto had exhausted all his chakra reserves from continuously spawning clones for Jiraiya to take down. The elemental training had taken a toll on him too, as the clones dispelled by themselves once they used up the chakra that was allotted to them.
By the second day of training, Naruto had made significant progress with earth manipulation, mastering the mud wall and the mud river techniques to an extent that allowed their use in battle. He had also learned to spit small bouts of fire and form a small stream of water from his mouth. He was training by a river to make the water-style training easier.
His gravity manipulation, or floating skills as he liked to call it, now allowed him to move short distances in the air. This skill drained the chakra of his clones quite fast, and Jiraiya decided to deprioritize it.
"I heard you are good enough with the basics of earth manipulation now." Jiraiya began. "I'll teach you a technique that's a pain in the ass for Hyuuga to handle, as I heard your first opponent is one. Consider that as an apology for my earlier... admittedly harsh training method."
Naruto twitched. Harsh was too mild a word, but he refrained from saying anything. He was eager to learn the new Jutsu, after all. And kick Neji's ass.
"Watch carefully. Earth style: Swamp of the underworld!"
Instantly, a large chunk of the ground around Naruto turned into viscous, sticky mud. Naruto tried in vain to make himself stand on top of the newly created swamp using chakra, but his efforts were futile. The swamp was too unpredictable and his chakra could not find a way to stabilise on top of it. He was slowly sinking down, and his flailing only served to worsen the situation.
"Fuck this. Shinra Tensei!" Naruto ejected himself out of the swamp. He grinned and made a face at Jiraiya, who sighed.
"That's cheating..." He muttered. "Anyway, you can't be sure the Hyuuga kid can't do that. So as long as you practice this today and tomorrow, there will be very few opponents of the genin level you can't handle."
"Really?" Naruto was excited. This seemed like a super neat jutsu.
"Yeah, it's A ranked for a reason. It's my own original Jutsu, you know. The only catch is that you need a lot of chakra to make it work and you need to be quick enough to execute it. The chakra will not a problem for you. Those without elemental ninjutsu would find it hard to escape from this."
"Let me try! Earth style: Swamp of the underworld!" Naruto exclaimed, imitating what he had seen Jiraiya do. A miniature puddle formed in front of him. Naruto cursed out loud.
"Ha! You'll need a lot more chakra than that, kid! This isn't a mud river, it's a swamp filled with thick chakra!"
"Earth style: Swamp of the underworld!" Naruto repeated, amassing as much chakra as he could control at the moment. Jiraiya swiftly jumped back as his immediate surroundings turned into a marshland. A few nearby trees toppled over as the swamp began to gradually increase in size. Naruto once again felt the familiar sensation of the swamp pulling him down.
"You need to strengthen the ground beneath you, obviously!" Jiraiya tsked. "And then work on the speed of the Jutsu. The Hyuga would have disabled you by the time you pull this off if that's the best you can do."
"Gee, did you get this far on your second try, pervy sage?" Naruto asked, sarcasm dripping in his voice.
"I didn't have a legendary eye with me, kid. And I invented it, so it took longer." Jiraiya crossed his arms. "Now, on with it!"
Naruto grumbled as he created a few clones and started working on the new technique. A bit further away, his other clones were practising fire and water manipulation while a few others were sparring with each other to hammer in the lessons from the previous day. Jiraiya was sure the final stage of the Chunin exams was going to be very interesting this time around.
He didn't know how right he was.
