"Then it's settled, Naruto. Do you have anything else to add?"
Kakashi, feeling it wasn't stimulating enough, gave Naruto one last chance to object. Naturally, Naruto wouldn't let this final opportunity slip by and immediately raised his hand high.
"I have something to say! Big Brother Kakashi, I think learning at school is already enough. There's no need to train with you. I'm only six years old there's no need to rush, right?"
"Naruto, you can't say that. You've been alone since you were young, so you might not understand. The major clans in the village start educating their members very early. Take Itachi Uchiha from the Uchiha clan, for example—he was already on the battlefield at the age of four. You're six now, so you need to work twice as hard. Otherwise, how will you stand out among your peers and become an excellent ninja?"
"I..."
Naruto was immediately speechless, stunned into silence. He now regretted his earlier ambition to become an outstanding ninja. Wouldn't it be better to just laze around? After all, he was the protagonist. Following the plot would naturally lead him to marry a beautiful and wealthy woman like Hinata, reach the pinnacle of Ninja, and become the Hokage. He didn't need any extra effort.
Seeing Naruto was at loss for words, Kakashi's eyes curved into crescents, and even through his mask, his smile was evident.
"Since there are no objections, it's settled. There are two months left before school starts. Today, I'll complete all the procedures to leave the Anbu. Training will begin tomorrow. I'll come find you tomorrow morning, and we'll aim to cover the basics before you start school. Hokage-sama, I still need to handover at the Anbu, so I'll take my leave now."
Kakashi didn't give Naruto another chance to speak. After bowing to the Third Hokage, he disappeared. The Third Hokage also seemed very pleased with the outcome and stood up with a smile.
"Naruto Follow Kakashi from now on and learn diligently, striving to become an excellent ninja as soon as possible. Well, I'll take my leave now."
With that, the Third Hokage also vanished, never giving Naruto a chance to speak. It wasn't until both of them were gone that Naruto finally snapped out of it.
"Hey! Hey! I didn't agree to this! You can't do it like this!"
Naruto shouted at the empty space in front of him, but it was already meaningless. The two had long since left.
"Why did it turn out like this? Is this abnormal? Is it the butterfly effect? But I only transmigrated a few days ago and haven't done anything at all. How could the butterfly effect already be in play?"
Naruto instantly became dejected. The instant noodles in the pot no longer smelled good, the milk no longer tasted pure, and the bread felt like chewing wax.
.......
Early the next morning, while Naruto was still curled up in bed, there was a knock at the door. However, Naruto had been thinking about the training all night and slept late. Woken by the knocking, he felt a wave of irritation and simply covered his head with the blanket, not wanting to get up and answer the door at all.
Not long after, the knocking stopped, and Naruto began to drift back into sleep. Just as he was about to fall asleep, he suddenly felt a chill all over his body. Opening his eyes, he saw Kakashi standing by the bed with a long sword on his back, holding the blanket that had been covering Naruto.
"What the hell! How did you get in here? Wait! What are you going to do to me?"
Naruto immediately sat up, scooting toward the corner of the bed. Anyone who didn't know better would think Kakashi was about to do something terrible to him.
Kakashi, with his usual dead-fish eyes, casually tossed the blanket to the foot of the bed, acting as if he were in his own home. He pulled over a nearby chair, sat down, and crossed his legs.
"You have ten minutes to get up and wash up, ten minutes to eat breakfast, and then you're coming with me to train."
"Wait, seriously? You're really here to train me?"
Naruto's face immediately fell, but Kakashi remained completely unfazed. He pulled out his copy of 'Make-Out Paradise' and didn't even glance at Naruto.
"The timer's already started. I suggest you save some time for breakfast. Training is going to be physically demanding."
[Damn it, Kakashi! Just you wait! Once I master Sage Mode, I'm going to hang you up and beat the crap out of you!]
Naruto had already started imagining himself in Sage Mode, cornering Kakashi so thoroughly that he'd have no way to escape. But on the surface, he obediently got up and started getting dressed.
Kakashi, hearing Naruto's thoughts, couldn't help but feel a stir in his heart.
'Sage Mode? I remember the Fourth Hokage could use it too. It was something Jiraiya sama taught him. Will Naruto learn Sage Mode in the future? I'll have to think about that. If i could master it too, it could solve the issue with my insufficient chakra.'
Half an hour later, Kakashi brought Naruto to a beautiful training spot. The ground was covered in soft grass, and in front of them was a cascading waterfall that fed into a clear pool. Behind them was a lush forest. Just being there was enough to make one feel refreshed.
However, Naruto was still munching on a piece of bread, his eyes half-closed, clearly not fully awake. Kakashi didn't seem to mind and was instead full of determination.
"Alright, Naruto, from now on, we'll train here. First, I'll teach you the basics of being a ninja—how to refine your chakra. Take this and follow the steps written on it."
Kakashi tossed a scroll to Naruto and then walked toward the pool without looking back.
Naruto looked at the scroll in his hand, then at Kakashi's retreating figure, and stood there in stunned silence.
[What the hell? Is this your idea of teaching? I actually had some hope for you, but you're clearly not cut out to be a teacher. Oh well, I'm fine with taking it easy. Training? Screw that!]
Once Kakashi was out of sight, Naruto tossed the scroll to the ground and lay down on the soft grass.
The soft ground, the scent of fresh grass, and the gentle breeze quickly lulled Naruto back to sleep...
Sssshhhh!
Just as Naruto was about to fall asleep, a sharp, ear-piercing sound erupted right next to him. He quickly opened his eyes and saw a slash mark over two meters long and more than five centimeters deep, less than ten centimeters away from him. It startled him so much that he jumped, and Kakashi's voice rang out.
"Naruto, don't you think you can slack off right under my nose. I'm keeping a close eye on you."
Naruto turned towards the voice and saw Kakashi casually wiping the blade of his long sword. The distance between them was no more than a few dozen meters, yet Kakashi had managed to unleash such a powerful slash from that far away. This completely overturned Naruto's understanding of Kakashi.
[What's going on? Swordsmanship? Kakashi's training isn't ninjutsu, but in swordsmanship? Didn't he give up on swordsmanship after that setback? What on earth happened?]
"I, I didnt! I didnt slack off, i was meditating, right! Meditating! That's also one of the steps to refining chakra, isn't it!"