Chapter 427: Progress
Naruto, who was about to throw a shuriken, stopped and turned around. He asked, "Why?"
Fujin said, "It's already evening. The academy starts tomorrow. You need to prepare for it. Also, since you have to attend the academy, you won't be able to train with me from tomorrow."
Naruto became a bit dejected. He asked, "Can't I skip the academy? I learnt a lot more from you than from the Academy in the past 5 years, you know."
Fujin chuckled and said, "What you learn in the Academy is important as well. Ninjutsu isn't everything. Even more so if you want to become the Hokage."
Naruto nodded unwillingly and said, "I'll go to the Academy."
Fujin smiled and said, "Besides, just because you won't be able to train with me doesn't mean that you shouldn't train. Keep working on the Projectile Control jutsu along with Leaf Concentration and Leaf Cutting exercises.
Your Leaf Concentration has improved rapidly in the last 2 weeks. Keep up that speed. As for Leaf Cutting, you can carry a few leaves to a classroom and do that exercise there in your free time or if a lecture becomes too boring. As for the Projectile control jutsu, you are already able to slightly change the directions of flying objects. Try using it to prank and you'll get plenty of practice for it."
Naruto got several ideas from Fujin's words. He looked at Fujin with stars in his eyes. It was as if Fujin had become his idol. He said, "Ideas to train in the classroom. Plus being able to use these jutsus to prank. You are the best, Fujin!"
Fujin smiled and said, "Of course, just because you can't train with me all the time doesn't mean you shouldn't come visit me. Feel free to come when you want more supplies or some help in training or just to hang around and relax if you want."
Naruto smiled and said, "I will."
Fujin nodded and took out a seal from a pocket. He handed it to Naruto and said, "In the past couple of months, you have trained with dedication. I am impressed, Naruto. This is a gift for you."
Naruto grabbed the seal and inspected it. He asked curiously, "What is this?"
Fujin said, "It's a training seal I created for you. Place it on your chest."
Naruto was intrigued. He followed Fujin's instructions while asking, "Training seal? What is a training seal?"
Fujin answered, "As its name says, it is a seal that helps you in training your body. By activating the seal, you can increase the pressure on your body and the resistance you face. So moving around will become very difficult. It is an excellent way to train our body.
The seal I gave you can apply a maximum pressure of 50 kilograms. So don't dare activate it to 100%. You'll hurt yourself if you do that."
Naruto's eyes sparkled. He said, "That sounds great! How do I use it?"
Fujin answered, "Just close your eyes and feel the seal on your chest. Use the confrontation hand seal to concentrate on your chakra and insert your chakra into the seal. You will be able to increase or decrease the pressure. For now, try to activate 2% pressure."
Naruto followed Fujin's instructions. In a few seconds, he managed to increase the pressure to 2%. He tried moving and jumping around and said, "It's true. Walking and jumping have become difficult!"
Fujin said, "Yes, it is a result of the seal. Trying to move, or better yet, train while using this seal will make the training even more difficult for you. As a result, this seal will help you train your body. It will help you increase your speed and power. You can use it while walking, training, doing normal daily activities or even when you sit in classrooms.
However, only increase it gradually. If you hurt yourself by mindlessly increasing the pressure, I'll take the seal away. Also, don't leave the seal on while sleeping or sparing. And leave the seal in your home whenever you leave the village in the future for missions."
Naruto nodded and said, "Understood. But why should I not use this seal during sparring? Won't it help me fight better when I deactivate the seal?"
Fujin shook his head and explained, "If you keep the seal activated while sparring, then your body's instincts will get confused and will adjust to when you are under a lot of pressure. When you suddenly deactivate the seal, your body will need some time to readjust to normal pressure and resistance.
Besides, if you use this seal during a fight, someone like me will kill you before you even have a chance to deactivate the seal and adjust your body. The same also applies when you are out of the village and can be sneak attacked anytime. Even I don't dare to keep my training seal activated when I am outside the village or sparring with someone."
Naruto nodded and said, "Alright. Thank You, Fujin."
The two talked for some more time before Naruto left. Fujin saw him leaving as he thought, 'Will he really listen to warnings? Oh well, it doesn't matter much. He should listen to not controlling sharp objects with Projectile Control jutsu. Though he is known to prank a lot, there isn't any instance of his pranks actually harming anyone.
As for the training seal, I purposefully made something that applies less pressure. Even if he raises it to 100% in order to push himself, he won't suffer any serious injuries. With Kurama's chakra, It'll heal in no time. All that will happen is that he will have to rest for some time. As for during the missions, any Jounin would be able to see it activated at first glance and make him deactivate him.
Anyway, a few basic wind jutsus, training to improve wind manipulation, better chakra control, a slightly stronger body and some sparring practice… This is all the help I'll give Naruto before he graduates.
Though it is lacklustre when compared to what he could have achieved had I taught him the Multi Shadow Clone jutsu now and spammed it for a year, this should still improve his basics considerably. More importantly, this improvement shouldn't have much of an impact on major events in the future. So, I don't need to worry about the future changing too drastically.
Regardless, I'm looking forward to seeing how Naruto progresses after getting a good foundation. His basics in the original story were just too lacking. The only thing he had going for him was numerical superiority due to having a large chakra reserve and the Multi Shadow Clone jutsu.
If he shows some promise with the Wind Release, I'll teach him the Infinite Breakthrough jutsu at some point in the future and teach him how to supercharge it. I also wonder if his improved chakra control will help him learn the Clone jutsu within the next 10 months… If he does so and doesn't get the scroll, I will have to teach him the Multi Shadow Clone jutsu as a gift for graduating.
Oh well, there is still some time for that. Time to get back to my training.'
Fujin returned to his training. The last couple of months of training had brought him great results in the three areas that he was focusing on. His biggest improvement was obviously in the Flying Thunder God. He had completed the first two steps and had a feeling that he would experience some breakthrough in the last step soon.
His Wind Domain was also developing rapidly. Fujin felt that it was good enough to deal with normal Jounins. Even Elite Jounins could suffer heavily if they didn't have any prior information. However, it was the third area where he would reach the critical point the earliest.
A new year in the academy started and life in Konoha went as normal. Fujin continued training in solitude. Hiruzen didn't disturb him. Danzo wanted to make some moves, but Fujin's monotonous lifestyle didn't give him any opportunity to do so. Apart from Naruto occasionally visiting him, no one bothered Fujin.
One day, while he was in between his deadly physical training routine, a smile appeared on Fujin's face. Excitement could be seen in his eyes. He stopped training and deactivated his training seal.
He closed his eyes and focused his mind on his body. A second later, his chakra flared. However, it wasn't what he normally did. Instead, the chakra had infused into his entire body. It even infused into his vital organs.
Fujin smiled and thought, 'The insane training plan has finally given the result I wanted. To train so hard that chakra infuses into your body naturally… What a crazy training plan.'