Return to The Past : Naruto Fic

18

Chapter 17 - Dawn

Konohamaru and Suiren were practicing the new katas under the strict supervision of a clone of Naruto when Karin and Tsunade approached them with interest gleaming in their eyes.

"Yo Bā-chan, Karin-chan! Come to watch ninshu practice?" Naruto asked causing a confused look to grace both their faces.

"Ninshu? Is this what this style of Taijutsu called?" Tsunade asked with curiosity causing Naruto, Suiren and Konohamaru to laugh.

Tsunade and her red haired companion just looked even more confused as a vein throbbed on Tsunade's forehead. Calming themselves, Naruto said, "Sorry about that. I forget that the concept of ninshu has not been heard since the time of the Rikudō Sennin. Ninjutsu is a bastardized version of ninshu. Ninshu is the art of communication through action. It is both a physical art as well as spiritual. While ninjutsu requires a large amount of chakra being expelled from the body after moulding, ninshu uses the chakra to forge a connection with the very elements themselves. An adept user like Sakura-chan can use their connection to the elements to perform impressive feats of healing or harm. Let me show you. Konohamaru, Suiren, come at me with the intent to kill!"

Without even hesitating, the duo charged at Naruto. Fire spilling from Konohamaru's fists while crystals and rocks floated about Suiren. Jumping up, Konohamaru kicked towards Naruto causing a wave of blistering hot flames. The interesting fact was that the flame was predominantly yellow but with streaks of different colours flowing through them.

At the same time, Suiren slammed a fist into the ground causing a jagged wave of rock spikes to fly towards Naruto.

Tsunade and Karin watched in awe and shock at the skill on display, not to mention the ability to use the elements without hand seals. Both were concerned when the flames engulfed Naruto right before the spikes flew through the flames. There was a small explosion causing both Karin and Tsunade to cry out in shock.

Suiren dropped her guard and feared that she had hurt Naruto, even if it was only a clone, but Konohamaru narrowed his eyes before jumping back and throwing his arms out in a circular motion releasing waves of blue electricity. The three girls gasped in horror at the young Sarutobi's audacity when the electricity was redirected towards the boy.

The three girls looked shocked at the sequence of events as Konohamaru raised a block of earth to intercept the redirected lightning. As the block exploded Konohamaru tried to jump back only to find that his body didn't obey.

Beside him, Suiren found herself in a similar quandary, only in her case, it was the very air that was holding her captive a couple of inches above the earth.

A clapping sound filled the training field as the smoke and dust obscuring Naruto cleared to reveal him completely untouched. Naruto had a massive grin on his face as he said, "Good job you two. Suiren, your habit of lowering your guard is a very dangerous habit. You need to break it. Otherwise, you did well for someone with very little formal training."

Suiren nodded as Naruto gently let her down before turning his attention to Konohamaru. "Excellent job Konohamaru. Your mastery of fire is coming along nicely. A true prodigy in both skill and hard work. Lightning generation is something I have yet to teach you, but that didn't stop you from learning it. While it was a good attempt, you need to learn to direct the lightning I to a more focused beam. It was too spread out and easy to redirected. Keep practicing. You focus on earth more from now on. You did well in your first true attempt during a fight but the speed needs to improve. Now get practicing the katas. They are for a style of defensive earth bending. I can already see you favoring it."

"Sure thing boss!" Konohamaru said with a bow as be felt control of his body return to him.

"How? You should have not escaped unscathed!" Karin asked with confusion. "The flames were hot enough to instantly barbeque a human body! And how did you three manipulate the elements without chakra usage?"