Naruto, born from the world of his parents.

"Thank you for your help, Itachi-nii."

After Minato left, Naruto thanked Itachi with utmost sincerity.

Just as Itachi agreed, Naruto keenly sensed his hesitation.

So after thanking him, he added, "May I ask, what brings you later, Itachi-nii?"

Itachi hesitated for a moment before speaking, "There is something I need to attend to, but it's nothing too important. Compared to that, the Hokage's mission is more important. Naruto, would you like to rest for a while?"

Looking at the incredibly tense Uchiha, Naruto smiled but didn't correct him on how he addressed him, unlike he would with others.

He didn't know why, even though other Uchiha, including Itachi's younger brother Sasuke, could become his friends, only Itachi, his father Fugaku Uchiha, and his father's other capable assistant Shisui Uchiha always stubbornly maintained a superior-subordinate relationship with him.

At first, Naruto would try to change, but over time he gradually got used to it.

Naruto had just been chatting with Kurama, so he was in a good mood and nodded, "Then I'll trouble you."

Itachi bowed slightly, as if facing the Hokage: "No need to be polite, Naruto-sama, it's what I should do."

As he spoke, Itachi picked up the ball that Minato had just tossed to him, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes: "It seems that the Hokage trusts this child quite a bit."

Although Minato didn't explicitly say what ninjutsu he would teach Naruto, Itachi understood from the moment he saw the ball that it could only be that technique.

While it's uncertain whether it's too hasty to start Naruto from the rubber ball stage right away, it is Itachi's greatest responsibility as the heir of the Uchiha clan to firmly carry out the orders of the Fourth Hokage.

"Young Master Naruto, please look carefully."

As Itachi spoke, he opened his palm. With the input of his chakra, the tough rubber ball in Itachi's palm changed shape like a lump of clay. With a soft explosion, the rubber ball in Itachi's palm was instantly torn into pieces.

"This is?"

Naruto frowned as he looked at the scattered fragments on the ground.

Seeing Naruto's expression, Itachi was about to explain when he saw Naruto take out a ball and place it in his palm just like him. Almost instantly, the ball in Naruto's palm began to vibrate violently, and with a crisp "pop" sound, the ball in Naruto's hand exploded into pieces.

Looking at the shards on the ground, Naruto scratched his head somewhat awkwardly: "Was it really too much of a stretch?"

Although Naruto had never been exposed to the training of the Rasengan, he had seen Minato use it, so he knew very well that the core of this ninjutsu was the rotation of chakra.

So after seeing Itachi's demonstration, Naruto almost instinctively understood the function of the rubber ball.

Unfortunately, he still failed.

Although the second stage of the Rasengan uses chakra to destroy the rubber ball, this destruction is still a tearing-like process produced by the rotational flow of chakra.

Naruto's destruction was caused by excessive chakra input, which caused the ball to burst.

Just as Naruto was frowning and learning from his recent failure, Itachi, who was usually incredibly calm, couldn't help but widen his eyes.

Although he understood that Naruto's attempt had failed, there are sometimes differences between failures.

The distance between a complete failure and a near-miss is sometimes no less than the distance between success and failure.

Out of respect for the Fourth Hokage, Itachi practiced the Rasengan, the Fourth Hokage's signature ninjutsu, almost every day after Minato Namikaze taught it to him. In fact, it could be said that he was second only to Minato Namikaze in proficiency with the Rasengan.

That's why he was so shocked.

It's worth noting that even someone as renowned as him only reached Naruto's current level after studying for a day or two.

"Did the Hokage train them beforehand?"

Itachi thought so, after all, it was the most logical guess.

But then he discovered that Naruto's shock to him went far beyond that.

.......

"Grandma, could you please make two servings of the three-color meatballs?"

"Ah? It's young master Naruto. Please wait a moment."

Immersed in shock, Itachi was completely oblivious to the noisy commotion of the surrounding market.

It wasn't until Naruto tugged at his sleeve that Itachi finally snapped out of his daze, took the dumpling Naruto offered, and silently reached for his waist, only to be stopped by Naruto's outstretched hand.

"Thank you so much for training me, Itachi-nii. This is my thank-you gift, okay?"

Hearing Naruto's incredibly sincere words, Itachi felt a rare, involuntary twitch at the corner of his mouth.

He looked at the boy in front of him, who was only shoulder-high, with a complicated expression, and couldn't help but want to ask him, "Am I really training you?"

From the time the Hokage entrusted Naruto with the task of teaching him ninjutsu until now, excluding the walking time from the training ground to the village, it has taken no more than two hours at most.

In those short two hours, Naruto had completely mastered the Rasengan.

Although my control over chakra still seems a bit raw, it's just a matter of practice.

Recalling the large tree in the training ground whose trunk was mostly destroyed, Itachi's feelings were incredibly complicated.

Keep in mind, he didn't provide any guidance whatsoever, except for the demonstration!

He only demonstrated the Rasengan training stage to Naruto, and then Naruto started to practice on his own. He failed no more than three times before succeeding.

You know, this is a Rasengan.

This signature ninjutsu of the Hokage took Itachi three full days to master, but Naruto only took two hours.

This incredible talent even made someone as resilient as Itachi begin to question the meaning of life.

In a daze, Itachi suddenly remembered the incredibly complex looks in the eyes of the people around him since he was a child.

Itachi never paid attention to those looks, nor did he ever think about what emotions were hidden in them.

But at that moment, Itachi suddenly understood.

That's the bewilderment of a frog at the bottom of a well suddenly seeing the vast sky.

Lost in confusion, Itachi carried the dumplings to his destination.

His destination was the entrance to Konoha Hospital, where a girl of similar age to him was pushing open the door and walking out.

The girl spotted Itachi in the crowd almost immediately.

She was visibly stunned for a moment, then broke into a smile of immense surprise and ran to Itachi's side.

"Itachi!"

Hearing the girl's energetic voice, Itachi, whose feelings were incredibly complicated, couldn't help but laugh.

"spring."