#chakra control

For that matter, why was he able to do Shadow Clones but not regular clones? When he's attacking Mizuki, Iruka has the thought of "Those aren't illusions, they're solid clones!" Is that because the Academy clones are only illusions? Is that why Naruto wasn't able to do them? Why does he seem to suck so bad at illusions in the first place? Do we ever get an answer for that? I know the fanon explanation is that he has too much chakra to control it easily and therefor sucks at the fiddly fine-tuning, which I am not against, but I don't think canon ever actually says that? Naruto just sucks at things or is good at things arbitrarily depending on like. Kishi's mood and the placement of the stars or whatever. He has bad chakra control but we're never given a reason for it and it stops mattering like the second he learns the Rasengan.

Naruto's characterization is kind of weird and inconsistent where he's the dumbass underdog knucklehead ninja who was always the last in place despite his drive and dedication to be the best but then when the plot needs him to pick up an S-rank jutsu in an hour he just kinda does it and it's usually depicted as like "See! He can learn if he wants to!" but then we're shown that he very much did want to and was trying and most of his class clown-ery comes from him learning that nobody would care about his accomplishments and if he wanted attention the only way to get it was negative??

And sometimes this is used for Kishi's weird dichotomy between the Geniuses and the Hard Workers which doesn't actually work because 1) all the geniuses in the series are shown to bust their asses training and learning, none of them just coast by, 2) none of the Hard Workers are ever shown to have anything to overcome other than Lee's specific issue, which is Lee's specific issue and never like a deeper societal thing. Naruto isn't hated because he's not a genius, he's hated because he's the Kyubi, and Sakura and Choji and Hinata all have moments of like "I wish I wasn't dragging down my teammates" but all of their issues are shown to be tied to different types of like, a lack of self-confidence way more so than a lack of talent, and since none of those characters are ever really allowed to mean anything in the series it's not like that pattern is ever delved into as being meaningful or thematic in any way, it all feels like Their Personal Struggles and not actually a whole Dichotomy the way Kishi seems to be trying to frame it as.

And even if it was, we circle back to Naruto throwing a monkey wrench in that, because the hand of the author is so blatant with all of Naruto's accomplishments that it ends up feeling like, of course he's The Chosen One, all of his power-ups were just kinda Handed To Him. He's framed as an underdog but he's consistently shown to be the universe's Most Special Little Boy. So what's going on there???

People don’t know that how out-of-the-Naruto-world this feat is. Nothing even close to this has ever been done by anyone. Why am I saying that? (Scans ahead for a relatively detailed post, but a related one is here; if you’re interested, you can read that one for a more comprehensive comparison between Sasuke and the Medics in regard to the whole “Chakra Control” controversy.) That, and does that make him a better medic than Sakura and Tsunade? A controversial take, but one that’s easily provable.

Medical Ninjutsu and delicate chakra control: 

There’s a constant misconception in Naruto’s fandom about how Medical Ninjutsu works and the importance of Chakra control. Having delicate chakra control (delicate being the canon word used to describe Sakura’s control on her chakra flux) implies having control over a large sum of their own chakra in a small part of their body (palms) in order to release it either with their medical ninjutsu or, in the case of Sakura and Tsunade, their fighting technique (they don’t boost their physical energy, as they don’t use such control to run faster, for instance. Rather, they concentrate a large sum of their chakra on their fists and they release it upon contact).

This is canonically proven through the Byakugou seal, as both Tsunade and Sakura are able to save a total of three years of their chakra inside a small diamond-shaped seal that they need to release in order to use more energy-consuming jutsu: Mitochondrial Regeneration, summoning one-tenth of Katsuyu’s body, replenish people with larger chakra pools than them -like Obito or Onoki (the former needed Naruto and Sakura’s chakra combined to cover the bare minimum of his chakra as to perform Kamui to save Sasuke from Kaguya’s dimension), and to have more powerful attacks.

“Chakra control” in the vast use of the term (nor “delicate” preceding it), has more to do with being able to withstand and use large sums of chakra, as Sasuke says “Naruto has control over this much chakra?” During their final fight –the more chakra the shinobi has, the more difficult to control and use it. Danzo was getting poisoned by Hashirama’s cells and had to cut his arm as he lacked the Uchiha chakra to counteract it, unlike Obito whose vast amount of energy allowed him to use Hashirama’s cells at will; Sakura got poisoned due to a small scratch from Naruto’s three-tailed version, the chakra was too dense and powerful and she lacks the stamina to counteract it (Naruto, through Minato’s seal, was exposed to short amounts of this chakra since birth, yet it's likely that his natural reserves are larger than Sakura still).

Client: Tazuna - Bridge builder from Land of Waves. Currently constructing a large bridge to connect the Land of Waves with other countries.

Duties: Protection - Guard him from thieves and the like on the road to the Land of Waves until construction is completed.

Mission Rank: C

Report Three: Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura train, progress:

“ Aware that Zubuza would attack again, I placed the three genin in intensive training. To improve chakra control, I had them climb trees. This proved effective, and all three improved rapidly”.

Mission Notes:

- Competition between Naruto and Sasuke leads to rapid progress.

- Naruto encouraged others, improving socially as well.

- Now able to hang upside-down from a branch.

“It’s much too soon to be surprised. Neji’s true power is still to come.”

That expression on Tenten’s face is the best. She just looks so proud/happy (with a touch of the superiority smirk that both she and Neji have sometimes) watching her man Neji showing off his incredible skills. And it’s all the more satisfying for her/them because these techniques were things that Neji learned on his own - teaching himself without the help of the clan and even going as far as to learn techniques that are supposed to be passed down within the main branch - and yet, with Tenten’s help, he’s managed to just about perfect his moves, creating his impenetrable defence. 

But the most important thing I took from this whole scene though is the fact that Tenten not only knows how far Neji has progressed, having helped him with it, but she also knows how all his techniques work. Hiashi talks about how Kaiten is a secret art that’s passed down, but it’s not that much of a secret for Tenten. Of course, being able to perform the move is probably where the real “secret” lies, but if we’re talking about the theory, then Tenten already knows it. Like I’ve said before - she’s on a level that’s above family for him. 

And as for the “true power that’s still to come”? You know what it is...

...