Naruto: Reaching the Stars

The next day, after finishing his morning exercises, Kisuke decided to head toward the spot where he had seen Minato training the day before.

When he arrived, he found Minato tirelessly practicing his throwing technique. Despite still using damaged weapons, Minato’s accuracy seemed even better than yesterday.

After watching him for a while, Kisuke finally approached, making sure to announce his presence.

*Clap clap!*

Minato was about to collect the hidden weapons when he heard clapping. Turning around, he saw the boy he met yesterday approaching with a smile.

"Amazing aim. I gotta say, you're better than me at throwing," Kisuke complimented.

"Huh, thanks..." Minato scratched the back of his neck, smiling awkwardly at the sudden praise.

"How long have you been practicing?" Kisuke asked.

"Well, probably over a year now," Minato replied. He hesitated for a moment before asking, "So…were you looking for me?"

Minato had chosen this secluded spot because it was usually free from interruptions, so he was surprised to see Kisuke again and doubted it was just a coincidence.

"Do you want your hidden weapons back by chance?" Minato asked, trying to guess Kisuke’s intentions.

Kisuke blinked, realizing that Minato might have misunderstood.

"Nah, I mean, it's true I was looking for you, but not for the weapons. I already gave them to you, so they're yours now."

"I see. Then why were you looking for me?" Minato asked, curious about what the boy his age wanted.

After their interaction yesterday, Minato had a good impression of Kisuke, so he was open to hearing him out.

"Well, you see, I've been training by myself for the past few months, and to be honest, it's getting kind of boring," Kisuke admitted. "So, I was wondering if you’d be interested in training together?"

Although Kisuke was eager to get stronger and learn more about chakra and ninjutsu, he couldn't deny that his routine had started to feel monotonous.

In his past life, he had been a bit lazy by nature, and shaking off old habits wasn’t easy. While chakra kept him motivated, even that began to lose its excitement after a while.

Yoruichi, despite being annoying, had added some fun to his daily routine, making his training more enjoyable. But since she often traveled outside Konoha, he didn’t have anyone else to train with, which made him slack off at times.

Meeting Minato the previous day gave him an idea. If they trained together, Kisuke could reignite his competitive spirit. Even though he knew Minato was more talented, having someone to compete with would push him to improve.

Plus, Minato was a genius. Befriending him could bring many benefits.

The more Kisuke thought about it, the more it made sense. There were no downsides to this idea.

“Train… together?!” Minato blinked, surprised by the request.

Over the past year, Minato had occasionally asked a few kids in the orphanage to train with him, but none of them had shown any interest. They preferred spending their days playing rather than training hard.

Though he was slightly disappointed, Minato never treated them differently because they refused him. He understood that he was a bit different from the others, and even the orphanage director acknowledged this—in a good way. She treated him a little differently, too, allowing him to go outside the orphanage to train after recognizing how mature he was for his age.

Minato spent most of his time training, but without anyone to guide him, he focused primarily on his throwing technique. However, by observing some ninjas, he memorized their hand signs and practiced them diligently, eventually being able to perform three seals per second.

“Yeah… So, what do you say?” Kisuke asked after noticing Minato’s silence.

“Ah, sure, I'd love to,” Minato replied with a smile, stretching out his hand for a handshake.

“Great!” Kisuke grinned and shook his hand.

“So… what kind of training do you want to do?” Minato asked, unsure of Kisuke’s preferences.

“Hmm…” Kisuke crossed his arms and thought for a moment. “How about we compete in throwing techniques? It’ll be fun.”

“Sure.” Minato readily agreed, curious to see who was better.

“Wait!” Kisuke stopped him from collecting the damaged hidden weapons and instead pulled out a scroll. With a puff of smoke, clean and intact weapons appeared. “Here, let’s use these.”

“I…” Minato tried to refuse, but Kisuke quickly cut him off.

“I know what you’re going to say, but it’s not a good idea to get used to damaged hidden weapons. They’ll mess up your aim pretty badly once you switch to intact ones,” Kisuke explained. Then he smirked. “You can take your time getting used to these weapons. Of course, if you’re afraid of losing the competition because you’ve switched, you’re welcome to use the old damaged ones.”

Minato stayed silent for a moment, considering Kisuke’s suggestion, before smiling. “Who’s afraid? Even with new weapons, I’m confident I won’t lose.”

After gearing up, both of them stood a distance away from two trees near each other.

“How do we decide the winner?” Minato asked.

“Since you’ll need to adjust your aim with the new weapons, how about we do ten rounds?” Kisuke suggested, then walked over to the two trees and carved a bullseye mark on each with a kunai.

“Sounds good to me,” Minato agreed with a bit too much enthusiasm. He was more excited about competing with a peer than about winning.

They divided the hidden weapons, each taking 20 kunai and shuriken, and positioned themselves at a distance from the trees.

“We’ll start with kunai and then move on to shuriken. The winner of the most rounds out of ten for each weapon wins the competition,” Kisuke explained.

“We're starting in 3…2…1…Go!”

Both of them began throwing their kunai with precision. Kisuke took an early lead, winning the first four rounds as Minato struggled with the weight and balance of the new weapons. By the fifth round, they tied, and from then on, Minato steadily improved, winning the remaining rounds with 8 out of 10 hits on the bullseye.

“This isn’t over yet,” Kisuke said, refusing to accept defeat as they moved on to shuriken throwing.

But despite his determination, Kisuke only managed to win the first three rounds before Minato adapted and claimed victory in the remaining rounds.

“It looks like it’s my loss,” Kisuke admitted with a bitter smile. He couldn’t deny that he felt frustration of losing, especially after considering he spent months training throwing technique.

“It was a good match,” Minato said with a smile, not rubbing in his victory.

“How about another competition? But this time, something other than throwing techniques…” Kisuke suggested after catching his breath.

“Oh? What do you have in mind?”

Instead of answering right away, Kisuke ran toward a nearby tree, channeling chakra into his feet. He swiftly climbed up the bark and stopped midway, looking down at Minato, whose eyes widened in surprise.

“That’s amazing!” Minato exclaimed, clearly impressed.

“So, what do you think? The person who climbs the highest wins,” Kisuke proposed with a grin.

“Ah, well…” Minato scratched the back of his neck, then gave an awkward smile. “I…I don’t know how to do that.”

“What do you mean? Haven’t you learned how to climb a tree?” Kisuke asked, surprised. When Minato shook his head, Kisuke muttered, “I see…”

Realization hit him. Minato was an orphan, which meant he probably hadn’t received any formal training. Maybe he only knew how to throw hidden weapons and hadn’t learned advanced techniques like tree climbing.

Yet, even so, Minato was much better than him. Is this what it’s like to be talented?

Kisuke was lost in thought when Minato’s voice snapped him back.

“Ah, can you teach me how you did that?” Minato asked, hope gleaming in his eyes.

Kisuke cut off his chakra, causing him to drop from the tree. As he began to fall, he kicked off the tree and backflipped, landing smoothly on his feet.

“Well, sure I can teach you, but it’s not going to be easy,” Kisuke added with a smirk. "It took me a while to get it down, and trust me, it’s trickier than it looks."

Minato’s hopeful expression didn’t falter. Instead, he nodded eagerly. “I’m ready to learn.”

“Alright, first things first. Do you know how to focus chakra to your limbs?”

If Minato didn’t know that, Kisuke couldn’t teach him how to climb a tree. Luckily, Minato nodded and showed he could.

‘He has good chakra control for someone who hasn’t learned tree climbing yet. It’s not as good as mine, but it won’t take him long to catch up.’

Kisuke continued, “Since your chakra control is solid, we can start.”

“First, you need to channel chakra to your feet. It’s all about balance. Too much, and you’ll blast yourself off the tree. Too little, and you won’t stick.”

He walked to the tree and demonstrated. Kisuke first used too little chakra, causing him to climb only a few steps before falling. Next, he used too much, and the bark exploded, flinging him off the tree.

Minato carefully watched the demonstration, noting every detail.

“Why don’t you give it a shot now? Try walking up the tree, just like I did.”

Minato stepped up to the tree, formed a hand seal, and channeled chakra to his feet. He took a deep breath, placed one foot on the trunk, and pushed off… only to be flung backward, landing on the ground with a thud.

Kisuke chuckled. “Like I said, not easy. But you’re on the right track.”

Despite Minato’s talent, Kisuke would have been a bit discouraged if he had succeeded on the first try. After all, without any formal training, failure was pretty much expected.

Minato laughed it off, brushing dirt from his clothes. “I’ll get it next time.”

Kisuke smiled and kept watching Minato try again and again. It was strangely refreshing to see a genius struggle and fall like he had.

But as time passed, Kisuke’s smile slowly faded.

With each attempt, Minato kept improving. He could now climb about halfway up the tree, roughly six meters, before losing balance and tumbling down. Despite the repeated failures, Minato never showed any frustration. He stood up each time with renewed determination, brushing off the dirt and leaves.

Kisuke’s initial amusement shifted. He knew Minato would improve, but the speed at which he did so was unsettling. Each attempt showed clear progress, making Kisuke wonder just how wide the gap between them truly was.

‘I guess talent really gives an advantage as long as you don’t slack off…’ he thought. ‘...But I won’t get discouraged. Just like Guy and Lee, even without high talent, I can reach the ceiling of this world’s combat.’

Kisuke reminded himself not to compare himself to others. His opponent was himself. As long as he was better than yesterday, one day, he would stand at the top as well.

By the time Minato nearly reached the top of the tree, Kisuke felt a knot form in his stomach. Minato had only been practicing for less than an hour, yet he was already close to mastering something that had taken Kisuke weeks to learn.

"You’re… really something," Kisuke muttered under his breath as he watched Minato ascend the tree once more.

Minato, now several meters above the ground, finally reached the highest branch, grinning widely with satisfaction. “I did it!”

He slid down the tree with ease and landed beside Kisuke. “Thanks for teaching me. I wouldn’t have learned this without your help.”

Kisuke scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Don’t mention it. This is just one of the basics every shinobi needs to learn. Even without my help, you would have figured it out."

“Still, thank you!”

Seeing Minato insist on giving him credit, Kisuke chuckled and accepted it.

“I guess it’s about time for me to go…”

Glancing at the sun, Kisuke realized it was around lunchtime, and he needed to head home to watch the store. Even though it wasn’t necessary, he felt awkward tricking Kirikou into thinking he was her son. The least he could do was help lighten her load by taking care of the store, letting her rest. Besides, he could still train while working.

“Yeah, me too,” Minato said, also looking at the sky before turning back to Kisuke. “Will you be back this afternoon?”

“Sorry, I have stuff to do, so probably not. But we can meet up here tomorrow.”

“I see.” Minato hesitated for a moment, then opened his mouth as if to speak but said nothing.

Seeing this, Kisuke asked, “What’s up? Don’t hesitate to ask me anything. If it’s within my ability, I’ll try to help.”

Minato hesitated before speaking. “Well… it’s about that technique you used yesterday… when you got away quickly before I approached you.”

Kisuke frowned slightly before remembering. “Ah, you mean the Body Flicker?”

“I don’t know what it’s called, but yeah, that. I was wondering if you could teach it to me. I don’t really have anyone to guide me, so I’m mostly learning on my own. Even this tree climbing exercise… I didn’t know about it until you showed me.”

Kisuke hadn’t expected Minato to ask about the Body Flicker, so he took a moment to think. Honestly, there was nothing stopping him from teaching it. It wasn’t a high-level technique, after all.

But Kisuke believed in the saying, “A favor for a favor.” If there wasn’t something in it for him, he preferred not to do favors at all.

So, what were the benefits of teaching Minato the Body Flicker?

Simple: plenty.

Helping him would not only strengthen their friendship but also make Minato feel indebted to him.

‘And most importantly, I can turn him into my jutsu-making machine.’

Minato was undoubtedly a genius. With the right ideas and guidance, he would create impressive jutsu that he could then teach to Kisuke.

As for the Rasengan? Sorry, but Kisuke had already laid claim to that and had plans to use it to gain more benefits.

“Ah… of course, if it’s a secret technique, don’t worry about it. Forget I asked…” Minato’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

Kisuke smiled. “It’s not really a secret technique or anything, so I don’t mind teaching it to you. But be warned, it’s a little harder than tree climbing and will take time to master.”

“Really? Thank you!”

“Alright, let me show you…”

Kisuke then demonstrated the Body Flicker technique and broke it down step by step to make it easier for Minato to learn.

“Unfortunately, I can’t stay with you. I’ve got business to take care of, so I’ll see you tomorrow!” Kisuke said as he prepared to leave.

“Yeah, don’t worry about it. Thanks again, and I’ll see you tomorrow,” Minato replied.

Kisuke nodded, and they parted ways.