c7: Practice Ninja
"Give me a bowl of large pork miso ramen, with extra chashu, please," Chiba said after glancing over the familiar menu.
"Alright, one moment!" Teuchi, the owner of Ichiraku Ramen, replied cheerfully as he turned to prepare the order.
In under five minutes, a steaming hot bowl of Ichiraku Ramen was set down in front of Chiba. A rich, savory aroma wafted up with the steam, instantly making his mouth water.
"I haven't eaten anything all day… smells amazing. This has to be delicious." Chiba's eyes gleamed as he picked up his chopsticks and began to eat.
From the first bite, Chiba was hooked. The rich pork broth, the perfectly tender noodles, and the soft-boiled egg were bursting with flavor. He couldn't help but offer an approving thumbs-up mid-slurp.
No wonder Naruto was always obsessed with Ichiraku Ramen, eating bowl after bowl even during missions. It wasn't just about taste it felt like home.
If Chiba had a larger stomach, he would've definitely gone for seconds, maybe even thirds. But one large bowl was already pushing his limit for now.
Within ten minutes, Chiba had polished off the ramen and left the shop, stomach satisfied and energy restored.
With nothing urgent left to do, he took the familiar path home through Konoha's quiet side streets, watching the sunset light dance through the trees.
Later that evening, Chiba sat cross-legged in the living room with Kakashi, discussing training methods.
As his older brother, Kakashi had always been supportive of Chiba. Even though he was already a jonin at such a young age, Kakashi made time to help Chiba whenever possible, patiently guiding him in the fundamentals of ninjutsu.
Chiba, while possessing the power of the Mera Mera no Mi, had not yet formally trained in the basic Leaf Village jutsu. That evening, he focused on learning about the Body Replacement Technique (Kawarimi no Jutsu) and Clone Technique (Bunshin no Jutsu).
Though the concepts were basic, Chiba was focused and attentive, absorbing every word. He didn't complain about the repetitive practice or the slow results. His seriousness was unusual for someone only four years old.
Kakashi noticed this and was silently proud of him.
"Alright, it's getting late. You should get some rest. You've got plenty of time to practice again tomorrow," Kakashi said, stretching and standing from the tatami mat. "Ninjutsu isn't easy, you'll need patience. Don't give up after a few failures."
"Yeah, yeah, I know, big bro. You're starting to nag like Rin used to," Chiba teased with a smirk.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow but let it slide, waving him off before heading to his room.
Chiba didn't stay up much longer either. After washing up, he went to bed, knowing tomorrow would be another intense day.
When the warm sunlight poured into his room the next morning, Chiba was already up and washing his face, mentally preparing for the day ahead.
"I could totally live off my looks, but here I am grinding. Tch." He stared into the mirror with a grin.
Despite his age, Chiba's silver hair and sharp eyes gave him a striking appearance. If he had grown up in the modern world, he would've turned heads everywhere he went.
After sighing dramatically, he pulled on a clean set of violet-blue training gear and joined Kakashi for a quick breakfast. Neither of them talked much they both understood the rhythm of each other's training routines.
Chiba headed to the same training ground from the previous day, determined to succeed with the substitution jutsu.
He stood in the grassy clearing beside a wooden training dummy, slowly channeling chakra and forming the hand seals.
"Kawarimi no Jutsu!"
As he shouted, his hands snapped together in the final seal.
Nothing happened. The wooden dummy remained unchanged.
Chiba didn't flinch. "As expected. This stuff's not going to work on the first try."
He wiped his palms, took a deep breath, and tried again. Over and over. More than twenty failed attempts followed.
"Kawarimi no Jutsu!"
Suddenly pop!
The wooden dummy shimmered, and a log appeared in Chiba's place for an instant before flickering out.
He grinned. "Tch, finally. That's thirty tries. Not bad."
Mastering substitution jutsu in such a short time would've impressed even Kakashi, who had taken days when he was a kid. Chiba's quick learning ability was clearly beyond average.
But he didn't rush into the Clone Technique yet. He sat down on the grass, took out a protein bar from his pouch, and munched slowly, restoring his energy and letting his chakra settle.
An hour later, he stood up, dusted off his pants, and faced the training dummy again.
Now came the hard part Bunshin no Jutsu, the Clone Technique.
This technique was notoriously tricky for beginners. Unlike substitution, it required the user to evenly divide their chakra and create an intangible duplicate that mimicked their appearance.
In the original timeline, Naruto had struggled greatly with this technique due to his massive chakra reserves and lack of control. Ironically, it was this weakness that led him to learn the Forbidden Shadow Clone Technique (Kage Bunshin no Jutsu) from the Scroll of Seals.
Chiba didn't have that scroll, but he knew the benefits of mastering the standard version.
He formed the necessary hand signs and focused his chakra.
"Bunshin no Jutsu!"
A puff of smoke appeared beside him—but the result was a misshapen copy, slumped over and unfocused, barely standing upright.
Chiba exhaled through his nose. "Yeah… I figured this one'd be harder."
He tried again. And again. His clones were either too distorted or collapsed instantly. But he didn't give up. This was the same tenacity that had helped Naruto become a ninja against all odds.
"Bunshin no Jutsu!"
After dozens of attempts, he finally produced a proper, though imperfect, clone. It didn't move, didn't talk but it looked like him and didn't instantly collapse.
"Let's go! That's progress!" Chiba said, wiping sweat from his brow, lips curled into a satisfied grin.
Once he mastered Bunshin no Jutsu, he could attempt Shadow Clones in the future a technique with tremendous potential in combat, reconnaissance, and accelerated learning.
For now, he knew it was time to rest, but also that he was just getting started.
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