At the edge of the Valley of the End, a small clearing had been made in the forest.

  Under Masashi's watchful eye, the four little ones were enthusiastically shouting, "Hee-yah! Hee-yah!"

  Since he was teag, the first thing he worked on was ying a foundation for Yang Release. After all, it had no upper limit and was widely applicable.

  To build a foundation for Yang Release, of course, taijutsu came first.

  "Remember, focus on form first. Power es ter," he called out, adjusting Karin's stance slightly. "Eaent should flow naturally into the ."

  This was obviously a far cry from the fshy ninjutsu training ses the kids had envisioned. However, the vibrant and dazzling giant ice arm in the distanever failed to rekiheir motivation. Every few minutes, one of them would g it, their eyes shining with fire.

  From the start, the four kids demonstrated distinct differences in aptitude.

  As Masashi predicted, Naruto and Sasuke excelled, showing outstanding learning abilities—they were born to be ninjas.

  Karin performed slightly better than Haku in learning, making him seem like the weakest among the four. Yet Masashi noticed how Haku's movements, though slower to learn, were more precise once mastered.

  However, even Haku, eared to g behind, was still far ahead of most others.

  All four were undoubtedly genius-level talents, with two of them hiding overpowered potential beh their genius exterior.

  He silently admired them. The sight of their tired faces brought back memories of his own training days.

  He had also started training at the age of three, but pared to these four little ones, his own efforts seemed ckluster.

  "Alright, take a break."

  He cpped his hands to signal the four to pause and catch their breath.

  "Teacher, who's stronger, me or him?" Naruto and Sasuke immediately blurted out at the same time.

  The eager, expet looks in their eyes showed their strong sense of petition.

  That was a good thing.

  The Ninja Academy's team-based teag system was designed with this in mind.

  "You're both amazing in different ways," Masashi said, then turo Sasuke with a knowing look. "You're even strohan Itachi was at ye."

  "Really!? I'm better than my brother?" Sasuke's expression lit up like a small star igniting.

  It redictable that he would go home and demand praise from his family, and Itachi would probably respond with a resigned, "Ah, yes, yes."

  Naruto, oher hand, had no i in Itachi. His i was focused solely on Sasuke. So, being told he was "amazing too" didn't satisfy him; it didn't hit his sweet spot.

  His expression now was like, "Lame, tied with that annoying Sasuke again."

  He kicked at the ground, avoiding eye tact.

  "Take a good rest, and we'll tinue shortly," Masashi remihem sternly. "You have a bit more time, so no fooling around. Recover properly. Foundation matters more than speed at this stage."

  As soon as he fihe differeween children from ninja s and non-ninja s became apparent.

  Although today was their first day of training, Naruto and Sasuke had grown up surrounded by ninja life. Thanks to their upbringing and their parents' unscious guidahey already had a basiderstanding of how to recover effitly without further instru from Masashi.

  Karin and Haku, oher hand, were different. They either didn't uand recovery methods or didn't grasp them well enough, so he had to guide them. He k beside them, demonstrating the proper breathing teique.

  "Remember this feeling," he advised while demonstrating. "Yoing to be ninjas. Ninja recovery is different frur people's recovery. Think of it like recharging—every breath should have purpose. You o build this habit and make it instinctual now."

  Eainja developed its own recovery teiques tailored to their unique ninjutsu systems, optimizing endurance.

  Among them, the Senju 's recovery methods were particurly versatile and patible with most ninjutsu styles, thanks to their broad knowledge of jutsu.

  Since Masashi wasn't familiar with the recovery methods of the Uzumaki or Yuki s, he taught them the Senju teique, which he used himself.

  It didn't matter much—what mattered was that they had a method.

  After some time, he called them troup. Their breathing had steadied, and their eyes were clear again.

  "The first step to being a ninja is feeling chakra," Masashi said. "Let me expin what chakra is."

  "Teacher, I know this one!" Naruto eagerly raised his hand high, nearly jumping in pce. "Chakra is ihe body! With chakra, you be a ninja and use jutsu!"

  Sasuke gave Naruto a disdainful side gnce, saying nothing.

  His father had told him just the day before how amazing his teacher was and to study hard, so he was determio be the perfect student.

  And that jutsu his teacher used earlier? It was seriously impressive.

  "Oh, really?" Masashi smiled. "Then, Naruto, why don't you tell everyone—what is chakra?"

  "Yes! Chakra is… um…" Naruto's face gradually turned bnk, his earlier fidence evaporating.

  Huh? What was it again? Chakra is… chakra?

  "Idiot," Sasuke muttered "quietly," though everyone could hear him clearly.

  "Sorry, teacher, I think I don't actually know," Naruto admitted sheepishly, scratg his head.

  "That's fine. I didn't know at first either—that's why we o learn," Masashi said nostalgically. "When you get to the Academy, don't disregard what the teachers teach, even if it's just textbook knowledge. Knowledge you think is useless might just be something you don't need right now."

  The kids hough Naruto still looked slightly embarrassed.

  "Now the's talk about chakra. inally, this world didn't have chakra. You've heard the story of the Sage of Six Paths, right?"

  "Yes! The Sage created chakra!" Naruto's quick reflexes for answering questions were unmatched. His enthusiasm hadn't dimmed despite his earlier mistake.

  "Who told you that?"

  "My dad said so."

  "Then remember to tell your mom tonight that your dad has hidden money behind the wedding photo in the living room."

  "Got it!"

  After giving the Hokage the punishment he deserved, Masashi resumed the lesson.

  "The Sage of Six Paths revealed the truth of chakra, including its position. This allowed everyone, in theory, to feel and use chakra, which also led to the existence of ninja beasts. Even animals use chakra." Masashi held up one finger.

  "First, uand this: how much chakra a person use depends on their ability to access it, while the maximum amount of chakra they have depends on their physical aal energy. Think of chakra like the fibers in your muscles—you have two main types."

  "Slow-twitch fibers are like your physical energy—they work live you endurance, keep you going. Fast-twitch fibers are like your mental energy—they give you quick bursts of power, sharp and intense. Your chakra is what happens when both types work together."

  "Just like how a museeds both types of fibers to work at its best, you need both physical aal energy bao create strong chakra. That's why some ninjas who only train their bodies 't use plex jutsu, and why others who only study scrolls 't maintaieiques for long. You need both, w together."

  At this point, he praised Naruto, noting how the boy's earlier embarrassment had made him more attentive.

  "Naruto has the best stamina among you, so he will have the most chakra."

  "Yeah!" Naruto cheered, finally getting the reition he wanted.

  "Don't get too excited yet," Masashi doused him with a metaphorical bucket of cold water. "Having a lot doesn't mean you'll be strong. trol and usage are a whole different matter."

  In the inal timeline, Naruto's chakra trol and usage were disastrous befraduation, earning him the title of "dead st."

  "Don't worry about that for now. First, I'll teach you how to mold chakra, then how to build your chakra reserves. The more you practice molding and trolling it, the stronger you'll bee iure."

  "Teacher," Haku raised his hand this time, "what happens to our chakra when we don't use it? Does it just disappear?"

  "Good question," Masashi nodded, pleased by the thoughtful inquiry. "Chakra naturally flows bato your system when not being used, replenishing your stamina. This is why knowing how to bance chakra usage and stamina recovery during battle is a fual skill for ninjas. Without a solid foundation in chakra trol, you 't bee a strong ninja."

  Human learning ability was truly amazing, which was why the cept of tales.

  It was like how some people weren't great at academics but were naturally skilled at fighting, relying purely on their instincts to outmatch others' intellect.

  As for who that might be, Masashi wasn't going to name names.

  As the sun was setting, the four children under his training had almost reached their physical limits. Through his experienced eyes, he could see the varying levels of exhaustion.

  They were panting heavily, their tongues practically hanging out like dogs from the Inuzuka would when exhausted. Sweat dripped from their faces, creating small dark spots oraining grouh them.

  "That's enough for today," he said, and the four childre like they had just heard the voice of an angel.

  The teacher was handsome, the teacher was strong, but the teacher was brutal.

  That was Sasuke's impression of Masashi after a day of training. The young Uchiha's legs trembled slightly, but his eyes still held that characteristic fire.

  Oher hand, Naruto didn't think too muaturally eic, he felt invigorated after pushing his stamina to its absolute limit.

  Karin and Haku, however, were both exhausted and happy.

  When they first mao feel chakra, they were so excited they wao jump for joy.

  Molding chakra on the very first day of training would probably earhe bel ies elsewhere. But for Masashi, having feniuses hao him meant that failing to mold chakra on the first day would almost feel like an insult to his skills.

  Generally, there were two reasons why someone failed to mold chakra: either they cked talent, or their teacher's methods were poor, leaving the student to figure it out on their own.

  But these four—each of them had talent so extraordinary it would make any other ninja vious.

  Onaruto and Kariered the Ninja Academy and showcased their abilities, coupled with Kushina being the wife of the Hokage, the Uzumaki might even sider rebuilding their legacy.

  When that time came, the one most awkwardly caught in the middle might very well be Kushina herself.

  Overall, the resurgence of the Uzumaki would be the ninja s of Konoha, but it wouldn't be as simple as it seemed. There would iably be fas trying to obstruct it.

  Even within the Hokage fa, some would resist.

  However, none of that ed Masashi. He had finally decided to teaeone and didn't care about anything else.

  "Teacher, we start learning ninjutsu tomorrow?" Haku, the most eager of the group, asked.

  Having personally experiehe night of his 's massacre, he yearned for power more than anyone.

  In this regard, he was very simir to the Sasuke from the inal timeline.

  The difference was that Haku sought power not for reve for prote.

  "What are you thinking? You've only just started molding chakra, and you're already talking about using it?" Masashi flicked Haku's forehead lightly. "Today, you were just standing still, but tomorrow, you'll have to start running."

  "Running?"

  "Do you see real ninjas standing still while fighting?" Masashi vely ighe fact that he often fought while standing still inside Susanoo.

  "Ninjas move while using ninjutsu. Building and molding chakra while moving is a basic requirement. Onaster that, you move on to chakra trol. Only after achieving suffit trol you start using teiques."

  "Oh!" Haku nodded in sudden realization. "I uand. I'll work hard!"

  Good—eager to learn, with the right attitude. Masashi was very satisfied. Unlike certain other students I could name from my past life.

  "Don't worry. As your teacher, I will teach you well and won't abandon you midway. I'll not only teach you ninjutsu but also many important life lessons."

  "Life lessons?"

  "The ninja world isn't just about ninjutsu," Masashi said, calling over the other three kids. Their faces turtentive, even Naruto's usual restlessness settling into focus. "Ninjas are still human. Most of the time, dealing with people and situations is the norm. Some missions even require handling things without using ninjutsu at all."

  "Eh?" Naruto sounded visibly disappointed, his shoulders slumping. "That doesn't sound cool at all."

  "You're wrong, Naruto," Masashi gave him a side gnce, remembering a certain e-inja who ged the world more with his words than his jutsu. "Sometimes, a ninja be even cooler without ninjutsu."

  "Really?"

  "I'm your teacher. Would I lie to you? Especially to you three boys—remember this early on. Think of it like walking through a field of mud without getting dirty. Do you know what that means? It means that as you grow up, you'll face maations. But you must learn to hahem wisely. This is one of my most valuable life lessons from years as a ninja."

  "I know! I know!" Naruto raised his hand eagerly. "I've heard Mom tell Dad about the three taboos for ninjas. But she never said what they are."

  "That's too shallow," Masashi shook his head, lookiful. "The taboos are just the surface. The deeper lessons are beyond what you o know at ye." Let's save those particur life lessons for much, much ter.

  The kids didn't fully uand, but they figured that siheir teacher was so amazing, whatever he said must be right.

  So, they silently itted it to memory.

  "Alright, that's it for today. Go home, rest well, and refle what you learoday. Remember the feeling of molding chakra, but don't do it at home," Masashi said. "If you try molding chakra secretly, I'll know. And if you disobey, I won't teach you anymore."

  Haku froze, armed, as he had been pnning to practice more tonight. His slight tension didn't escape Masashi's notice.

  "Don't think you endlessly push your stamina without sequences," Masashi tinued, reading their expressions with precision. "The cost of overexertion is something you 't afford yet. In a ninja's life, there are things you must never do unless you're in a life-or-death situation."

  This was a mistake he had made in his earlier life and didn't want these kids to repeat.

  His stern expression intimidated the children. The three boys immediately pouheir chests, swearing they would be the most obedient.

  Karin, uo mimic their gestures, ched her fists to show her resolve.

  Masashi leased. He patted her head to praise her, and the little girl shyly buried her head into his stomach, giggling.

  "It's getting te. Hold hands and form a circle," Masashi said, returning to his usual gentle demeanor. He took Karin's hand first and called for the others.

  Haku quickly grabbed Masashi's other hand.

  Naruto and Sasuke, awkwardly holding hands, were more straightforward when it came to pig a third partner.

  Activating the Flying Thunder God, Masashi first appeared at the Namikaze resideo drop off Naruto and Karin. There, Naruto and Sasuke exged an embarrassingly gy decration of rivalry that they would one day look ba with mortification.

  Don't ask. Just know it involved a duel at the Valley of the End.

  Masashi thought that if he had friends like these, he'd have dug an underground bunker for Minato on the spot.

  Finally, after the two fiheir theatrics, he grabbed Sasuke and Haku, quickly telep away.