His figure gradually faded before Naruto Uzumaki's eyes.
The dreamscape around him began to dissolve into mist.
Naruto called out to the Fourth Hokage, but the environment grew darker.
On his bed, Naruto's eyes fluttered open. Startled awake, he sat up abruptly.
Looking around, his expression was one of disbelief.
"It was just a dream…"
"I knew it."
A flicker of disappointment crossed Naruto's eyes as he lay back down.
The dream felt so vivid, every moment etched in his memory.
Yet, he had no proof he was the Fourth Hokage's son.
If he truly were, wouldn't he have inherited some talent?
After all these years, his attempts to master the Flying Thunder God Technique had yielded nothing.
"What a realistic dream. If only it were real."
Naruto sighed, staring at the ceiling, lost in thought.
He'd always longed for a father to teach him ninjutsu, just like in the dream.
But it was only a dream.
[What if it's real?]
[Trying it out wouldn't hurt.]
Sensing Naruto's doubt, Chu Ran's voice emerged in his subconscious, nudging him.
Naruto wasn't a toddler anymore. With one year left before graduating from the Ninja Academy and becoming a Genin, he was growing up.
"Yeah, I'll try."
A spark of memory lit Naruto's eyes. He began forming hand signs slowly.
Following the sequence Chu Ran taught, he clapped his palms together.
Boom!
Unprepared, Naruto's uncontrolled chakra erupted. A fierce gust exploded from his hands.
Wind Release: Gale Palm, though a basic technique, unleashed chaos in the small room.
A whirlwind swept through, shifting everything except the bed.
The noise was deafening, and the recoil knocked Naruto off the bed.
He crashed to the floor but ignored the pain.
Staring at the disarray, his face lit up with disbelief.
"Naruto? Naruto?"
"What happened?"
Uchiha Izumi opened his door, snapping Naruto back to reality.
"It's nothing, Sis Izumi, sorry."
"I just fell off the bed. Go back to sleep; I'm heading to bed too."
Naruto glanced at the chaos, rushing to Izumi to keep her from entering.
Though skeptical, Izumi relented at his words and left.
Naruto gazed at the room, now a mess from Gale Palm, a grin spreading across his face.
The next day, Naruto, too excited to sleep, headed to the academy's back hills at dawn.
His Wind-natured chakra made learning Wind Release effortless.
With refined control and his vast chakra reserves, he could amplify the techniques' destructive power.
Wind Release: Great Breakthrough and Gale Palm became his top priorities.
Even at the academy, he dozed off in class, a rare occurrence.
No dreams of Minato Namikaze came during his nap. In the afternoon's free training time, Naruto focused on chakra control.
Guided by Chu Ran's constant hints, his progress was remarkable.
By the fifth day, Naruto could use both basic Wind Release techniques proficiently.
Mastery, however, required more time.
On the seventh day, after a week of relentless practice, Naruto's stamina outlasted most ninja, thanks to his immense chakra.
Chu Ran's guidance ensured no bottlenecks.
On the ninth day, Chu Ran reentered Naruto's dreams.
With Naruto having mastered Gale Palm and Great Breakthrough, Chu Ran introduced chakra nature transformation.
Well-versed in Naruto lore, Chu Ran explained concepts effortlessly.
After demonstrations, he clarified Wind Release chakra's primary uses.
These techniques and skills doubled Naruto's combat strength.
Before this, Chu Ran had also unlocked the Multi-Shadow Clone Technique for Naruto, his signature move in the original story.
Compared to the Wind Release jutsu, Naruto mastered Shadow Clones even faster.
Half a month later, after school, Naruto raced to the back hills.
Each day, he trained for an hour before heading home.
Facing a massive tree, Naruto exhaled deeply.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
His hands flashed through signs, chest heaving as he unleashed a powerful whirlwind from his mouth.
The gust slammed into the tree, nearly splintering its thick trunk.
As a C-rank technique, its lethality was limited, but Naruto was satisfied.
Surveying the scattered leaves, he shifted to his other C-rank technique, Gale Palm.
Clapping his palms, twin whirlwinds erupted, sweeping up leaves.
Nearby saplings and grass swayed violently until the gusts subsided.
"No wonder it's the ninjutsu Dad taught me!"
"Now for this…"
Excitement gleamed in Naruto's eyes. After half a month of grueling training, he was confident he could surpass his peers.
Pulling a kunai from his ninja pouch, its sharp edge glinted.
As Naruto channeled chakra, a faint blue glow enveloped the kunai.
With precise control, the blue aura sharpened, flowing like a living blade.
This was the terror of Wind Release chakra—its unmatched sharpness.
With fine enough control, the chakra-coated kunai became exponentially deadlier, far surpassing standard ninja tools.