"Boom!"

  In the seventh training ground, with a soft sound, Jiraiya's shadow clone vanished in front of Minato. The tter hadn’t even had time to smile before he colpsed to the ground, exhausted.

  "Ha... Ha, as expected of Sensei..."

  Minato had been fighting Jiraiya’s shadow clone for a long time. Even though he hadn't broken it, he had managed to deplete its chakra until it disappeared. In the process, Minato's own chakra was nearly drained as well.

  Swish!

  Jiraiya's real body appeared in front of him, extending his hand.

  Minato reached out, using it for support to stand up.

  "After just one year, you're really terrifying, kid..."

  Jiraiya sighed. A year ago, his shadow clone could easily handle Minato with just taijutsu, but today, the clone had been forced to use chakra and ninjutsu to stay in the fight.

  Even so, Minato had dodged every attack with his Body Flicker technique, showing just how incredible his growth had been.

  It was clear that Minato was progressing in the exact direction Jiraiya had hoped, and a proud smile spread across Jiraiya’s face.

  "This is all thanks to your guidance, Sensei. If I were doing this alone, it would probably take me much longer to get this far."

  Over the past year, Jiraiya had made him focus on the most basic training. It seemed simple at first, but the results were obvious now. Minato could effortlessly dodge rge-scale C-rank ninjutsu using nothing but his physical speed, and even counterattack.

  Though he didn’t know many jutsu yet, that didn't hinder his progress.

  "Heh," Jiraiya chuckled in response.

  "Sensei, are we continuing with basic training today?" Minato asked, his face full of determination.

  Seeing the fire in his eyes, Jiraiya smiled slightly, then pced his hand on Minato’s head, ruffling his hair. "You’re getting a little too cocky, kid. Did you forget what I told you?"

  Minato awkwardly smiled. Given how much chakra he’d burned through, he wasn’t in a good condition for further training today.

  Seeing this, Jiraiya said, "Since you managed to defeat my shadow clone, starting today, I’ll teach you some ninjutsu."

  A year ago, Jiraiya hadn't taught Minato any ninjutsu, not just because Minato wasn’t ready to grasp the timing of releasing them, but also because his chakra reserves weren’t sufficient to use even C-rank ninjutsu.

  Jiraiya had focused on strengthening Minato’s physical foundation, but also to increase his chakra capacity.

  Chakra was a combination of physical and mental energy, so the stronger the body, the rger the chakra reserves.

  Right now, Minato’s chakra reserves had already reached the level of a Chūnin, which was something Jiraiya hadn't expected.

  When Jiraiya was Minato’s age, his chakra reserves were actually a bit smaller.

  It wasn’t a matter of pride, but among the current elite ninjas in Konoha, no one had more chakra than Minato.

  It seemed that, like Jiraiya, Minato wasn’t from a prestigious family, but he had all the natural qualities to become a powerful ninja.

  Upon hearing that Sensei would teach him ninjutsu, Minato’s eyes gradually brightened, though he wasn’t jumping for joy.

  Through Jiraiya's training, Minato had learned that being a strong ninja didn’t necessarily mean mastering many different jutsu.

  What was more important was finding the path that suited him best.

  "You should already have enough theoretical knowledge of ninjutsu from the academy. Now, I’ll tell you some important points about learning ninjutsu."

  "First, ignoring the more obscure techniques, the mainstream ninjutsu correspond to the five chakra elements: Wind, Fire, Lightning, Earth, and Water. To learn ninjutsu effectively, you need to understand which chakra elements you possess. Only then can you make efficient progress. It's like choosing a path you excel at."

  Jiraiya continued, while Minato had also gotten a glimpse of this concept from Sensei Uchida.

  By focusing on the ninjutsu corresponding to one's own chakra attributes, not only would their power increase, but the chakra cost would be lower compared to someone who didn’t possess those elements.

  For example, the Uchiha cn was known for their proficiency in Fire Style because almost all of them had Fire chakra attributes.

  With that, Jiraiya took out a few pieces of paper from his pouch and handed one to Minato.

  "This is chakra paper made from trees that absorb chakra. It can be used to test your chakra attribute. Just inject some of your chakra into it."

  "This is chakra testing paper, right?" Minato asked as he took the paper.

  "It seems like you’ve got a good grasp of the theory," Jiraiya ughed. Indeed, from the moment Minato became his student, Jiraiya had noticed how much he enjoyed reading.

  While ninjas prioritized action, having solid theoretical knowledge was still important.

  Even though Jiraiya wasn’t particurly skilled in that area.

  Minato then injected the little remaining chakra he had left into the chakra paper, focusing all his attention on it.

  The paper crinkled slightly, then suddenly split down the middle, as if it had been sliced evenly. Finally, fmes erupted from it, burning the two halves of the paper.

  Minato was a bit surprised. He didn’t understand what these phenomena meant, but when he looked up, he saw a hint of shock in Jiraiya’s eyes.

  "You were able to manifest all your chakra attributes at once..." Jiraiya muttered, then looked at Minato and said, "You have three chakra attributes: Lightning, Wind, and Fire."

  When Jiraiya said this, his tone was still filled with astonishment. It was rare for a ninja to possess two or three chakra attributes at once, but Minato had only been training for a year and hadn’t even focused on chakra cultivation.

  Yet, he had managed to manifest all three chakra attributes at once, which was impressive...

  Considering Minato had also learned the Body Flicker technique on his own, Jiraiya began to understand that his student was a natural-born ninja.

  Minato, however, wasn’t entirely sure what it meant to possess three chakra attributes at once.

  Generally, even high-ranking ninjas needed years of training to unlock two chakra attributes at once!

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