CH 60 - One Week
One week remained.
Naruto stared at the calendar hanging crookedly beside his refrigerator.
Seven days until the Chūnin Exam Finals.
Twenty-three days had disappeared faster than he'd expected.
Training.
Sasuke.
Jiraiya.
More training.
Getting yelled at by Jiraiya.
Getting hit by Jiraiya.
Getting yelled at for getting hit by Jiraiya.
Naruto was beginning to suspect legendary shinobi were terrible teachers.
Unfortunately, it was working.
THUNK!
A kunai buried itself in a tree.
The sealing tag wrapped around its handle flashed.
Naruto landed twenty feet away.
Three more tags activated simultaneously.
WHUM!
A barrier appeared between two trees.
A gravity formula activated against its surface.
The training log inside the formation ripped sideways and slammed against the barrier.
CRACK!
Naruto didn't stop.
Two Shadow Clones were already moving.
One slapped a tag against the ground.
The other threw another tagged kunai.
Naruto ducked beneath it.
His fingers formed a single activation seal.
Both formulas flashed.
The ground beneath the target became heavy at the exact moment a second barrier formed above it.
The log was trapped between them.
Naruto grinned.
"Done."
Jiraiya looked over the formation.
Naruto waited.
Ten seconds passed.
His grin weakened.
"Well?"
Jiraiya walked toward the nearest tag.
He inspected it.
Then the next.
Then the barrier.
Naruto crossed his arms.
"Come on."
Jiraiya finally looked at him.
"Passable."
Naruto's eye twitched.
"PASSABLE?!"
"Your upper containment line is slightly uneven."
Naruto looked.
It was.
Barely.
"You can barely see that!"
"I can see it."
"You're doing that on purpose!"
"Of course I am."
Naruto started yelling.
Jiraiya ignored him.
But as he turned away, he smiled.
The brat had gotten good.
Not master-level.
Not even close.
But good.
More importantly, Naruto wasn't just copying formulas anymore.
He understood them.
The last two weeks had been brutal.
Storage.
Containment.
Barriers.
Suppression formulas.
Chakra pathways.
Trigger mechanisms.
Formula interference.
How seals failed.
Why they failed.
And what happened when two perfectly functional formulas interacted in ways their creator hadn't expected.
That last lesson had cost Naruto an eyebrow.
It had grown back.
Mostly.
The System had noticed.
PING!
Advanced Fūinjutsu training milestone achieved!
Your understanding of formula construction, containment, activation mechanisms, linked formulas, and combat deployment has greatly increased!
Advanced Fūinjutsu LVL 3 (4/30) → LVL 4 (17/40)
Naruto had stared at that notification for almost a minute.
Jiraiya had smacked him with a scroll for zoning out.
That hadn't been the only thing changing.
Sasuke had apparently decided sleep was optional.
Naruto knew because the System wouldn't leave him alone.
Three days earlier—
PING!
Naruto nearly stabbed through the sealing tag he'd been drawing.
"GAH!"
Jiraiya looked over.
"What?"
"Nothing!"
Naruto looked toward the window.
Rival Growth Link Activated!
Sasuke Uchiha has experienced meaningful growth!
Your rival has substantially improved his physical conditioning while training high-speed combat!
+2 Agility
+1 Endurance
Naruto stared.
Then smiled.
"Keep running, duckbutt."
Jiraiya threw an eraser at him.
Two days later—
Naruto was eating ramen.
PING!
He froze with noodles hanging from his mouth.
Teuchi watched him.
"You alright, Naruto?"
Naruto slowly slurped the noodles.
"Yep."
Rival Growth Link Activated!
Sasuke Uchiha has experienced meaningful growth!
Your rival's proficiency with Lightning-natured chakra has increased through repeated Chidori training!
+1 Agility
+1 Intelligence
Naruto grinned.
"Thanks, Sasuke."
Ayame looked around.
"...Sasuke isn't here."
"I know."
She stared at him.
Naruto continued eating.
Yesterday had been different.
PING!
Rival Growth Link Activated!
Sasuke Uchiha has experienced a significant combat breakthrough!
Your rival has successfully incorporated Chidori's required acceleration into his existing taijutsu without sacrificing control!
Advanced/Stable Growth Link Bonus!
+2 Strength
+2 Agility
+1 Endurance
Naruto had stopped smiling at that one.
Not because he was worried.
Because now he really wanted to fight Sasuke again.
Kakashi continued refusing.
Naruto considered this cowardice.
Jiraiya wasn't only teaching seals.
Naruto discovered that when the old man punched him in the face.
THUMP!
Naruto rolled across the clearing.
"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"
"Training."
"You could've said that!"
"Would've ruined the training."
Naruto sprang up.
Jiraiya attacked again.
Naruto blocked.
Or tried.
Jiraiya's fist changed direction halfway through.
His palm struck Naruto's shoulder.
Naruto stumbled.
A foot hooked his ankle.
Naruto hit the ground.
Jiraiya looked down at him.
"Your taijutsu sucks."
Naruto's eye twitched.
"My taijutsu is max level!"
Jiraiya stared.
Naruto realized what he'd said.
"...In my heart."
Jiraiya stared a little longer.
"Your heart's an idiot."
"HEY!"
Jiraiya's problem wasn't that Naruto couldn't fight.
Naruto could.
He was fast, unpredictable, stronger than most shinobi his age, and extremely comfortable fighting alongside clones.
But his actual foundation was still Academy taijutsu.
Punch.
Kick.
Block.
Dodge.
Naruto had simply gotten very good at doing basic things creatively.
So Jiraiya changed it.
Not into something graceful.
That would've been hopeless.
Instead, he taught Naruto something built around constant movement.
Short steps.
Changing angles.
Open palms.
Elbows.
Low kicks.
Redirecting attacks instead of meeting them directly.
Most importantly—
Never staying where the opponent expected him to be.
Jiraiya called it Basic Toad Fist
Naruto called it awesome.
PING
Basic Toad Fist LVL 1 (1/10) Learned! Academy taijutsu has been replaced by a more advanced form of taijutsu!
Jiraiya punched.
Naruto shifted outside the strike.
His palm caught Jiraiya's wrist without trying to stop it.
He pulled.
Jiraiya's momentum continued forward.
Naruto stepped around him.
His elbow drove toward Jiraiya's ribs.
Jiraiya blocked.
Naruto didn't fight the block.
He rotated with it.
His foot swept toward Jiraiya's ankle.
Jiraiya jumped.
Naruto disappeared.
No sound.
Jiraiya's eyes shifted.
A faint Naruto continued moving right.
The real Naruto changed direction.
Phantom Dash.
He appeared on Jiraiya's left.
His palm shot forward.
Jiraiya caught it.
Naruto grinned.
A Shadow Clone erupted from behind him.
Jiraiya's eyebrow rose.
The clone kicked.
Jiraiya disappeared.
Naruto and his clone hit each other.
THUMP!
Both went down.
Jiraiya appeared ten feet away.
"Better."
Naruto sat up.
The clone disappeared.
"Did you see that?!"
"I was there."
"I almost got you!"
"No."
"You moved!"
"Because that's how fighting works."
Naruto pointed accusingly.
"You were scared."
Jiraiya stared at him.
Then smacked him upside the head.
Later that afternoon, Naruto expected another stack of sealing tags.
Jiraiya threw him a massive scroll instead.
Naruto caught it with both arms outstretched.
"What's this?"
"Your training for the last week."
Naruto looked down.
There was a large symbol written across the front.
He didn't recognize the formula.
Which immediately made him interested.
"A seal?"
"Sort of."
Naruto looked up.
Jiraiya bit his thumb.
Blood appeared.
Naruto frowned.
"What are you doing?"
Jiraiya slammed his palm against the ground.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Black markings exploded outward.
Naruto's eyes widened.
POOF!
Smoke swallowed the clearing.
Something enormous moved inside it.
Naruto slowly looked upward.
And upward.
And upward.
A massive blue and green toad with a broad sword stared down at him.
Naruto's mouth fell open.
"...I want one."
Jiraiya smiled.
"I figured."
Naruto pointed.
"Teach me."
"That's why we're here."
Naruto immediately opened the scroll.
Jiraiya stopped him.
"Not yet."
Naruto frowned.
"What now?!"
Jiraiya's expression changed.
The joking disappeared.
"There are two things we're doing this week."
Naruto lowered the scroll.
"Summoning is the first."
"And the second?"
Jiraiya studied him.
Then his eyes moved toward Naruto's stomach.
Naruto followed his gaze.
His expression slowly changed.
"Oh."
Jiraiya crossed his arms.
"You've spent most of your life using your own chakra."
Naruto remained quiet.
"And occasionally, when you're angry enough, something else's."
Naruto's hand moved toward his stomach.
The Nine-Tails.
Jiraiya continued.
"That's a problem."
Naruto looked up.
"Because I can't control it."
"Because you don't understand it."
Jiraiya crouched in front of him.
"The seal isn't just a prison, Naruto."
Naruto's eyes narrowed.
Jiraiya tapped two fingers against his stomach.
"It's designed to allow the fox's chakra to mix with yours."
Naruto looked down.
He knew that.
At least partly.
He'd studied the Shiki Fūin enough to understand pieces of what it did.
But knowing a formula and deliberately reaching for what was behind it were very different things.
Naruto looked back toward Jiraiya.
"You want me to use its chakra."
"A little."
Naruto raised an eyebrow.
"How little?"
Jiraiya smiled.
Naruto immediately became suspicious.
"Why are you smiling like that?"
"No reason."
"That's your lying face."
"I have many lying faces."
"THAT DOESN'T MAKE IT BETTER!"
Jiraiya stood.
"Summoning first."
Naruto looked at the scroll.
Then his stomach.
Then the giant toad.
Seven days.
Learn the Summoning Jutsu.
Learn to deliberately touch the Nine-Tails' chakra without losing himself.
Keep improving his seals.
Improve his new taijutsu.
And somehow prepare for Neji.
Naruto slowly grinned.
"Okay."
Jiraiya recognized that expression.
It was the same one Naruto had worn before fighting Sasuke.
The old Sannin sighed.
This was going to be a long week.
Naruto opened the summoning scroll.
"Let's do it."
One week remained.
Name: Naruto Uzumaki
Village: Konohagakure
Rank: Experienced Genin
Stats
Strength: 76
Agility: 98
Endurance: 91 (+20%)
Intelligence: 92
Charisma: 62
Luck: 12
System Points: 445