Understand the Immortal
The training field was silent when Konohamaru arrived accompanied by a tall man with dark glasses and a stern expression: Ebisu.
Naruto watched from a distance, leaning against a tree.
His eyes—eyes that had seen dynasties rise and fall—narrowed for just an instant.
This one… is not a warrior. He is a bureaucrat who teaches techniques.
Ebisu crossed his arms and spoke in a cold tone:
"Konohamaru-sama, from today onward I will be in charge of your training. You must stop following this…" —he glanced at Naruto with disdain— "…troublemaker."
Konohamaru hesitated.
For the first time, he did not respond with childish pride.
"Naruto-niisan… he's strong."
Ebisu let out a nasal laugh.
"Strong? He's just a talentless genin, famous for making a fool of himself."
Naruto did not react immediately.
In the immortal world, words like those did not even deserve attention. But here… Konohamaru was listening.
Naruto stepped forward.
"Hey, four-eyes," he said calmly. "If you're going to talk about strength, at least make sure you know what you're talking about."
Ebisu frowned.
"Are you provoking me?"
Naruto smiled. Not a childish smile, but a serene and dangerous one.
"No. I'm just confirming something."
Ebisu formed hand seals quickly.
"Earth Style: Rock Wall!"
A wall of stone rose, separating Konohamaru from Naruto.
"Konohamaru-sama, observe carefully. This is what separates real shinobi from clowns."
Naruto closed his eyes.
Inside him, chakra moved… not like a violent river, but like a deep, ancient sea.
He released not even a tenth of it.
He took a step.
The barrier trembled.
Ebisu's eyes widened in shock.
"What…?"
Naruto gently placed his palm against the wall.
In the immortal world, this would be called a children's technique.
The barrier shattered like glass—no explosion, no drama. It simply came apart.
Ebisu staggered back.
"H-how did you do that?!"
Naruto did not answer. He looked at Konohamaru.
"You decide," he said calmly. "Follow someone who repeats techniques… or learn to understand what true strength is."
Konohamaru clenched his fists.
"I… I want to learn from you."
Ebisu shouted:
"Konohamaru-sama, that is madness!"
Naruto turned away.
"Then observe me closely, Ebisu," he said without looking back. "Because one day, when this child stands above everyone else, you will remember this moment."
The wind passed through the trees.
Ebisu, for the first time in his career, felt something he could not explain.
Fear.
The silence that followed was heavy, almost suffocating.
Konohamaru felt his heart pounding in his chest—not from fear, but from an emotion he had never felt so clearly before.
Naruto walked a few steps away and stopped beside a fallen log. He sat down calmly, as if nothing extraordinary had happened.
"If you want to learn from me," he said without looking at him, "the first thing you must understand is this: strength is not in the hands… not even in chakra."
Konohamaru turned fully toward him.
"Then where is it?"
Naruto opened his eyes. For an instant, his gaze did not belong to a child.
"In the will that does not break when no one is watching."
Ebisu clenched his teeth. Everything in his training, in his years as an elite instructor, screamed that this was heresy.
And yet… the barrier that had fallen without an explosion still haunted his mind.
"Enough," he ordered tensely. "Konohamaru-sama, return immediately. This individual is dangerous."
Naruto inclined his head slightly.
"You're right about one thing."
Ebisu tensed.
"Oh, really?"
"I am dangerous," Naruto continued calmly. "To rigid ideas. To paths that do not evolve."
Konohamaru took a step forward—hesitant, but firm.
"Ebisu… I want to try learning from him. Just a little."
Ebisu looked at him in surprise. He saw no whim in his eyes.
He saw determination.
"…Very well," he said at last, restraining himself. "But I will observe. If this goes wrong, I will intervene."
Naruto nodded.
"Observe all you want."
He stood and walked to the center of the field, drawing a circle in the dirt with the tip of his foot.
"Sit here," he instructed Konohamaru.
The boy obeyed.
"Close your eyes."
Konohamaru swallowed and did so.
"Now listen," Naruto continued. "Your chakra is like a group of children running without direction. It's not that you have little… it's that no one has taught them how to walk."
Ebisu frowned. That description… was uncomfortably precise.
"Breathe," Naruto said. "Not the way you were taught. Breathe as if the air were part of you."
Konohamaru tried. At first it was clumsy, uneven. Then… something changed.
His breathing stabilized.
Ebisu opened his eyes in shock.
The boy's chakra… was calming down.
"Good," Naruto said. "This is the first step. No jutsu. No hand seals. Control."
Konohamaru opened his eyes, excited.
"I felt it! I really felt something!"
Naruto smiled faintly.
"That is the beginning of the path."
Ebisu stepped forward, unable to remain silent.
"What you did just now… that is not a standard method."
Naruto looked at him directly for the first time.
"Standard methods create standard results."
Ebisu clenched his fists.
"And what do you think you're creating?"
Naruto held his gaze—without defiance, without pride.
"Someone who will not depend on titles.
Someone who will not live under shadows.
Someone who will not need approval to move forward."
The wind passed through the trees once more.
Ebisu felt a chill run through him.
It was not arrogance.
It was not rebellion.
It was certainty.
And in that instant, he understood.
He was not facing a problematic genin.
He was facing something that did not yet have a name.
As the sun slowly moved across the sky, Konohamaru continued breathing, learning, taking the first step on a different path.
And for the first time, Ebisu doubted.
Not Naruto.
But everything he believed he knew about strength.