The next day, the sun shone brightly.
In a secluded forest within Konoha.
"Around and around and around we go!"
"Around and around and around we go!"
Goku, holding a massive two-to-three-meter-high boulder above his head, was running aimlessly around the trees while chanting a slogan.
Behind him, Naruto was holding a rock about half a meter in size, also chanting and running around the trees.
And behind Naruto was Sasuke, holding a similarly sized rock; his face was beet red, and he was unable to speak.
"Around... and... around... we... go..."
Trailing behind Sasuke was Sakura, so exhausted that her chanting was broken and sporadic.
The rock she was holding was a size smaller than the ones Naruto and Sasuke carried.
After some time, Sakura finally couldn't hold on any longer. She dropped her rock on the ground and collapsed against a tree as if she had no bones left in her body.
"I... I can't go on."
She stared with a dazed expression at the figures still persevering ahead and thought to herself, 'I'm sorry, Sasuke. I really can't keep up.'
Ahead of her, Sasuke had also reached his limit. But when he saw Naruto still running in front of him, he gritted his teeth and forced himself to continue.
'Damn it! I will not lose to this guy!' He could not allow himself to lose to Naruto, which was why he had chosen a rock of a similar size in the first place.
However, Naruto had already been training for several days, so his body was slightly more adapted and conditioned than Sasuke's.
As a result, Sasuke's stubbornness was unlikely to help him win against Naruto and would more likely end up injuring him.
At the very front of the line, Goku, who was focused only on running, was keeping an eye on the three behind him.
After seeing Sakura stop and noticing that Sasuke had reached his limit, he stopped in his tracks, turned around, and said with a smile, "Alright, that's enough running for today."
With that, he tossed the giant boulder from his head, which landed with a thunderous BOOM.
"Phew! It's finally over!" Naruto dropped his rock, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and let out a long sigh of relief.
He was also exhausted and would have reached his limit just like Sasuke if he had run for much longer.
Sasuke said nothing. He silently dropped his rock and leaned against a tree to rest, too tired to even speak.
Not far away, Kakashi, who had been observing their training, rubbed his forehead. "This kind of hardcore training style... it really reminds me of a certain someone!"
An image of a man with thick eyebrows and a bowl cut, perpetually dressed in a green jumpsuit, involuntarily popped into his mind.
"If he were ever to meet Goku..."
Hiss~
The mere thought of that person's potential reaction to meeting Goku sent a shiver down his spine.
"Thankfully, he's out on a mission right now, so he won't be meeting Goku for the time being."
After letting his mind wander for a moment, he refocused his attention on Goku and the others. "Hm? Are they starting the ki training now?"
Back with the group.
After Naruto and the others had rested for a while, Goku spoke to them.
"Next up, Sasuke and Sakura, you two will learn to sense and guide out your own ki. Only by learning to control your ki can you use it in battle."
As soon as he finished, Sakura timidly raised her hand. "Goku-sensei, how do we sense and guide out our ki?"
Goku didn't answer directly. Instead, he looked at Naruto with a grin. "About that... Naruto, why don't you explain it?"
He figured that since they all had chakra in their bodies, it could interfere with their ability to sense ki.
Since Naruto had already succeeded, he might be able to explain it better than he could.
Being given this honour for the first time, Naruto was overjoyed.
He had always been considered the dead-last at the Academy, with terrible grades, scorned by his classmates, and reprimanded by his teachers.
He never would have imagined that one day he, too, would be able to teach others, even if it was only two students.
He stood up gleefully, cleared his throat, and said in a very serious tone, "Ahem, sensing ki is very simple! All you have to do is calm your mind, ignore the interference from the chakra in your body, and you'll be able to find the other energy hidden within you, which is ki."
"Then, to guide the ki out, you have to control it and slowly draw it out from your body."
"You must remain focused throughout this process, or all your effort will be wasted. Once you can control it skillfully, you'll be able to guide it out easily, just like this."
As he said the last sentence, he held out his right hand, and a wisp of white energy slowly rose from his palm.
While he was explaining, Sasuke stared at him intently.
The moment he finished his demonstration, Sasuke immediately closed his eyes and began to search for the ki within his own body. Sakura quickly followed suit.
It is worth noting that Goku had, at some point, discreetly had Shenron remove the barriers preventing the two from sensing ki, so he did not need to perform any additional actions now.
After the two of them closed their eyes to begin, Naruto looked at Goku and scratched his head.
"Um, Goku... I mean, Goku-sensei, what should I be practising?"
He had always casually called him "Goku" because that's what Goku had told him to do, and he felt it was a more friendly term.
But yesterday, after they had parted ways, Sakura had lectured him and Sasuke, saying that since they were training under his guidance, they should address him as "sensei," just as they did with Kakashi.
Calling him by his first name was disrespectful. After thinking about it, he agreed, which was why he had changed his form of address today.
Goku paid no mind to the change in title.
He stroked his chin thoughtfully for a moment and then said, "In battle, not only do we have to learn to control our own ki, but we also have to learn to sense the ki of others."
"That way, you can lock onto an enemy's position using ki instead of relying on your eyes."
Naruto nodded, though he didn't fully understand. "Is there a difference between locking on with ki and locking on with your eyes?"
"A huge difference!" Goku said without hesitation. "For example, you can see me right now, can't you?" he asked with a smile.
"Uh-huh!" Naruto nodded vigorously.
"What about now?"
As soon as he spoke, Goku's figure abruptly vanished.
!!
Naruto's eyes widened, and he scanned his surroundings, but he couldn't find any trace of Goku.
Suddenly, as if he had an idea, he spun around, only to find nothing there. What he didn't know was that Goku had been standing right behind him the entire time.
Every time he turned or moved, Goku would preemptively shift his position, making it impossible for Naruto to notice the person right behind him.
Finally, his face fell in defeat, and he yelled at the empty air, "Are you hiding? How am I supposed to see you if you're hiding?"
Just as he finished speaking, he felt a tap on his shoulder.
"Waaaahhh!!"
As if he had been stabbed in the rear, he leapt a dozen meters forward in terror. He then spun around to look behind him.
There was Goku, looking at him with a wide grin, his hand still raised in the air from where he had tapped him.
"You! You! You!" Naruto pointed at Goku and yelled.
"When did you get behind me?" He had considered that possibility and had spun around to check, but there had been no one there!
"Hahaha, I was behind you the whole time," Goku said, laughing with his hands behind his head.
"If you had learned how to sense others' ki, you would have noticed me just now. So now you understand the difference between locking on with ki and locking on with your eyes, right?"