Morning in Konoha was crisp and bright. A light mist clung to the grass, but the patchy frost at the training grounds didn't come from the weather.
It came from Naruto.
He stood in the middle of Training Ground, jacket off, sleeves rolled, frost dusting the dirt around his boots. His breath steamed faintly. A thin trail of ice traced along his arm and down his glove.
It was unstable.
But it was his.
"Alright," he said, cracking his knuckles. "Let's do this."
Twelve shadow clones appeared in a puff of smoke.
He pulled out a short scroll and waved it.
"Spent half my system currency on this thing, so don't waste it," he said. "Basic chakra theory—water flow, chakra shaping, elemental fusion, blah blah blah. You four—study it."
Four clones groaned as they moved to a dry spot under a tree.
"Can't believe we're spending a perfect training day on reading…"
"Try not to set it on fire with boredom," Naruto called.
He pointed at the next four. "Physical training. Sprints, strength, balance—go hard."
One clone gave him a tired look. "You mean go hard until we pop and leave you with all the soreness."
"Exactly," Naruto grinned.
The rest stayed with him.
"Time to figure out how to not freeze my own toes off."
---
The study clones cracked open the scroll and muttered through its content.
"Chakra coil diagram…"
"This one says ice chakra is advanced."
"We're advanced now?"
"Nope."
They kept reading anyway.
---
The physical batch hit the field hard. Sprint drills. Pushups. Squat holds. Leap-stances.
"I hate cold muscles," one clone growled.
"Good. Freeze them harder!"
---
Back in the center, Naruto and his ninjutsu batch tested the basics.
Frost curled across the ground. Thin, unsteady, but spreading further with every attempt.
One clone slipped and smacked into a tree. Another froze his fingers together by accident.
Naruto pressed his palms together and focused.
The ice came slower this time. Less crack, more glide.
"That's better," he muttered. "Still ugly, but not exploding."
---
The moment the study clones poofed, Naruto stumbled.
A wave of information hit like an avalanche—chakra flow models, water-nature affinity, theoretical stuff with way too many diagrams.
He dropped to his knees.
"Gah—why does everything have so many labels?!"
He flopped backward onto the grass and groaned.
"Who writes like this?! Just say 'ice is cold, go slow' and be done with it!"
He sat up, blinking blearily. Some of it stuck. Not much. A few principles—water chakra had to be fluid, not forced. Ice needed steadiness. Shape mattered more than power.
Useful.
But his brain still felt like scrambled eggs.
He sighed.
"No shortcuts."
He tucked the scroll back into his pouch.
"I still hate studying."
---
The physical clones dispelled next.
Naruto immediately groaned.
His muscles screamed. His calves cramped. His shoulders ached.
"Ugh… feels like I lost a fistfight with training weights."
He tried one of the clone-learned drills—a pivot kick.
His balance tipped sideways and he nearly fell.
He tried a stance reset. His legs wobbled.
"…Oh, come on. I remember it, but my body's still a wet noodle?"
He dropped to his knees.
"So I get the soreness… but none of the skill."
He laid flat on his back and stared at the sky.
"Shadow clones are a scam."
---
After a rest (and a snack), Naruto stood again with the ninjutsu batch.
He raised his hands.
The cold chakra flowed—not smooth, but steady. This time, it followed his motion.
A frost ring spun from his palms and spread in a perfect circle.
He blinked. "No cracks?"
A clone grinned. "Only took five hours."
Naruto grinned back.
They shaped more—arcs, swirls, frozen trails. The flow was clumsy, but it moved where he wanted.
One clone slipped and shouted, "Still slippery!"
"Means it's working!"
---
By sundown, the training ground was covered in uneven rings of frost and half-frozen footprints.
Naruto stood at the edge of the field, jacket slung over his shoulder. His arms throbbed. His legs burned. His brain felt like it had been through a blender.
But he was smiling.
Because the field was proof of something.
He was getting somewhere.
Slowly.
He turned to leave.
And stopped.
That feeling again—like someone was watching him.
He scanned the treeline.
Nothing.
No movement. No chakra spike.
Still…
He slid his hand toward a kunai. Just in case.
After a long pause, he turned and started walking.
But he didn't relax.
And he didn't forget the feeling.
---
High above, half-shadowed in the branches, a woman crouched, her coat blending into the leaves, a long collar hiding her mouth.
She'd watched everything.
The training. The mistakes. The cold chakra twisting along the ground.
It wasn't refined.
But it wasn't wild, either.
Just controlled enough to be dangerous.
She watched him leave.
Then flicked a barbed kunai into the frost-covered earth near where he'd trained.
Deliberate.
Silent.
Gone.
---
Naruto stopped mid-step.
There—half-buried in the dirt—was a kunai he didn't remember dropping.
Barbed. Wired. Strange.
He stared at it for a long second.
Didn't touch it.
Just looked toward the trees once more.
Then walked away without a word.
But now his steps were quieter.
And his eyes sharper.
---