Hokage, no one knows better than me how to cultivate talent.

"Stop looking at it." Qiu Shui glanced down at the almost blank test paper in front of Naruto. "Do the questions you know how to do first."

After half an hour.

Qiu Shui put down her pen, looked at the test paper on the table, and her lips twitched involuntarily.

He deliberately chose seven test papers with relatively easy questions, even the most basic ones. He thought he had underestimated Naruto, but now it seems he had overestimated him.

The best test paper only got 15 points.

The remaining six cards together barely make up an 80.

The seven papers had a total score of 700, and Naruto scored less than 100.

Shusui looked at Naruto, who was staring at him nervously, and said, "Show me your shuriken and Three Body Techniques."

Shusui handed him his kunai and shuriken, led him to a thick tree, drew a circle the size of a basketball on the trunk with his kunai, then told Naruto to step back ten meters and said, "Throw it into this circle."

Naruto was completely focused, a serious expression on his face.

He drew his sword.

There was nothing they could do.

But it didn't have any effect.

Ten throws, three hit the target, and those three kunai barely grazed the edge of the circle, embedding themselves in the tree trunk so shallowly that they seemed ready to fall off at the slightest touch.

"Next up are the Transformation Technique and the Clone Technique," Qiu Shui continued.

Naruto paused for two seconds, then steeled himself and began forming hand seals.

The clone that appeared was a limp, deflated ball, lying on the ground like a punctured inflatable doll, even spitting out stones and rolling its eyes, looking like someone with an intellectual disability.

The Transformation Jutsu doesn't resemble anyone; it's more accurate to say it's completely unrelated. Even if Minato were reborn and stood in front of Naruto, he would never admit it was a Transformation Jutsu.

"I'm sorry, Akisui-sensei, my performance was terrible," Naruto said, bowing his head.

Qiu Shui took a deep breath to calm herself down and said gently, "You need my help to improve your grades because they are poor. If you knew everything, you wouldn't need my tutoring. Besides, you can think about it from another perspective: your potential for improvement is greater than anyone else's."

Naruto's face showed an expression of disbelief. He did not expect that Shusui would not only not criticize him, but also encourage him. This moved him deeply, as he had always been criticized no matter what he did. He even felt that Shusui was radiating a dazzling light.

Naruto seemed to have been reignited, and said, "Shusui-sensei, you're right, I have a lot of room for improvement."

Seeing how he instantly recovered, Qiu Shui silently gave herself a thumbs up.

Naruto is the kind of student who thrives on encouragement-based education; the more you encourage him, the harder he will work.

Shusui took out a blank scroll from his ninja tool pouch, unfolded it in front of Naruto, and said, "Next, I'll teach you a ninjutsu."

Naruto felt like he was dreaming. Not only was he not criticized, but he even received a reward?

Qiu Shui picked up his brush and wrote the four characters "Shadow Clone Technique" on the scroll.

He had seriously considered his choice of this ninjutsu.

Naruto's Shadow Clone Technique is so bad because it is essentially a kind of illusion—creating a phantom without a physical form to confuse the opponent. This requires extremely precise chakra control, which is precisely what Naruto is least good at.

But shadow clones are different.

Shadow clones are physical entities; they are created by splitting a portion of one's chakra to create another version of oneself that can fight, take damage, and do work. They don't require much precise control; all they need is a vast amount of chakra.

As a descendant of the Uzumaki clan, he naturally possesses a larger amount of chakra than others. Moreover, he has an inexhaustible Nine-Tails-branded power bank within him. While others would be out of breath after creating two or three Shadow Clones, Naruto can create hundreds of Shadow Clones and still be lively and energetic.

Akisui remembered that when Naruto graduated at the age of twelve, his Shadow Clone Technique was still terrible, and he couldn't even pass the graduation exam. However, he managed to steal the Scroll of Seals and, while being chased, easily learned the A-rank forbidden technique, the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, which was one level higher than the Shadow Clone Technique.

Since Naruto was able to learn the more advanced Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, the less advanced Shadow Clone Technique was no problem for him.

"Master Shusui, are you really going to teach me this ninjutsu?" Naruto asked uncertainly.

Actually, he had been envious of Qiu Shui's ninjutsu last night. If he could learn it, he would have someone to play with at home. But his performance today was so bad that he was too ashamed to mention it again. At this moment, he felt even more unworthy.

Qiu Shui patted him on the shoulder and said, "I believe in you. You will definitely be able to learn this ninjutsu."

Naruto felt the light emanating from Shusui growing increasingly dazzling, to the point that he could barely open his eyes.

He nodded vigorously, clenched his fist, and said with conviction, "Teacher Qiushui, don't worry, I will definitely not let you down."

Next, Shusui first explained the principles of the Shadow Clone Technique to Naruto, and then demonstrated the hand seals.

Naruto began to learn according to Shusui's instructions. He raised his hands in front of him and performed hand seals in a very professional manner. After completing the last seal, he shouted, "Shadow Clone Technique!"

"Bang—bang—bang—bang—bang."

Sasuke Uchiha finished practicing throwing shuriken and is now preparing to begin training in the Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique.

He formed hand seals, slowly gathering the chakra within his body into his throat, about to exhale it all at once.

Suddenly, a strange and dense sound came from beside my ears, as if something was continuously breaking through the air.

A fleeting glance.

In that instant, his pupils suddenly contracted.

Not far away, a dozen or so Narutos appeared out of nowhere, all wearing identical clothes, sporting identical blond hair, and displaying identical expressions.

This momentary lapse in concentration caused his chakra to become instantly disordered, and the flames that were about to erupt from his throat were suddenly forced back down.

Sasuke coughed violently, exhaling a puff of black smoke.

But he couldn't care less about any of that.

He suddenly turned his head and stared intently in that direction, his eyes unblinking.

For the first time, his usually indifferent face was filled with undisguised shock.

As a member of the Uchiha clan, Sasuke naturally recognized this as a B-rank Shadow Clone Technique, which theoretically falls under the category of techniques only Chunin and Jonin are qualified to use.

If it were Qiu Shui using it, he would just think it was normal, after all, Qiu Shui's tall stature made him look very powerful.

But this person happens to be Naruto.

That student who has consistently ranked last in the grade since entering school.

That idiot who studied for four years and still couldn't master even the most basic Three-Body Technique.

That clown who tries to intimidate everyone in the class.

That weakling who always defeated him with a single move whenever he challenged him.

That guy he can't even be bothered to look at anymore.

How is that possible?