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JST Chapter 366: Dust Release for Dummies
🕑 Added 2025-07-03 03:37:39 +0000 UTCAfter several attempts, Naruto had progressed from being able to sustain the Dust Release barrier for only a few seconds to now holding the
After several attempts, Naruto had progressed from being able to sustain the Dust Release barrier for only a few seconds to now holding the
After several attempts, Naruto had progressed from being able to sustain the Dust Release barrier for only a few seconds to now holding the
After several attempts, Naruto had progressed from being able to sustain the Dust Release barrier for only a few seconds to now holding the pale gray construct steady in his hand for an extended period.
“Eh? This is actually kinda easy, Kazuki-nii!”
Naruto chuckled proudly. “I knew you weren’t lying, Kazuki-nii! This technique really isn’t any harder than the Shadow Clone Jutsu. A genius like me picks it up instantly!”
Off to the side, the Nine-Tails felt its blood pressure shoot through the roof—worse than back in the day when it had been crushed by Hashirama’s Giant Buddha.
For decades sealed inside jinchūriki, the Nine-Tails had schemed and struggled to understand ninjutsu—eavesdropping, prying, trying to piece together scraps of information about techniques from the outside world. But lacking any real foundation, it had never managed to develop even a single jutsu of its own.
And yet… look at Naruto.
This brat had lived through a miserable childhood. Born into hardship, shunned by the village, scorned by all. Even his chakra flow had been disrupted by the Nine-Tails’ interference, making training even harder.
But!
But compared to Kazuki—a man who literally fell out of the sky and, for reasons no one could explain, decided to become Naruto’s sensei—none of that earlier suffering meant anything. It didn’t even count as a scratch.
Fated encounters, rare jutsu, miraculous opportunities that the Nine-Tails couldn’t even dream of… Naruto had them all at his fingertips. As if some massive fortune had just descended upon him from the heavens. These kinds of blessings were completely beyond the fox’s imagination.
You could only call it—
Heaven-sent luck!
“Brat, don’t tell me you really think you’re some kind of prodigy! Do you even understand what kind of jutsu you’re holding in your hand?” the Nine-Tails finally snapped, unable to bear watching Naruto get more and more skilled with Dust Release.
“You’re just lucky, plain and simple!”
Naruto gave a mischievous grin. Chakra flowed steadily from his palm, and he calmly guided the Dust Release technique into a controlled dispersal. Then, with his hand free, he made a goofy face at the Nine-Tails.
“C’mon, Fox. Of course I know Kazuki-nii’s the amazing one! I don’t need you to tell me that.”
He muttered quietly, “Someday, I’ll pay Kazuki-nii back for this.”
The Nine-Tails stiffened slightly, then turned its head away with a snort, pretending not to care. But in its heart, it thought: This kid… he’s sharper than I expected. And maybe… he really does have some talent. A troublesome brat indeed…
In such a short span of time—
Even with Kazuki’s help, Naruto’s progress was nothing short of remarkable. He could already stabilize the Dust Release barrier on his own, and even control its dissolution at will.
That alone meant he had officially stepped through the doorway.
From Kazuki’s perspective, Naruto’s training aptitude was already above average.
Setting aside the Nine-Tails’ chakra and Asura’s inheritance, Naruto had taken the Rasengan—and completed the nature transformation that Namikaze Minato never could—evolving it into the devastating S-rank ninjutsu: Wind Release: Rasenshuriken.
And during the development of the Rasenshuriken—
Naruto had only asked Kakashi about the basic principles behind nature transformation, and sought out Asuma for a few tips on manipulating Wind Release chakra. Nothing extensive—just enough to fill in some common-sense gaps he hadn’t yet grasped.
The rest?
It came down to his own innate talent.
Kazuki watched the scene unfold with a faint smile on his face.
The Nine-Tails wasn’t wrong—Naruto was lucky.
Having awakened Brahma-Manifested Svadhisthana, Kazuki needed Naruto to break away from the predetermined thread of fate that governed him. He also needed to forge an emotional bond with the boy—one strong enough to amplify the return of power flowing back to Kazuki.
And through this process of guiding Naruto, he was accomplishing both goals at once.
Naruto had met Kazuki.
And Kazuki, through Naruto’s transformation, would eventually gain something far greater than any chakra fruit could ever offer—
If Naruto could truly defy his original destiny, if he could grow powerful enough to overturn the shinobi world—even those of alternate timelines—if he could one day surpass even the Sage of Six Paths…
Because now—
Naruto was no longer merely the vessel of Asura’s chakra reincarnation.
He had become a person of his own.
The Six Paths Yang Power would likely no longer manifest within Naruto at all.
In fact, it might even become a force used against him.
“Nine-Tails, do you want to learn it too? If you do, I can teach you.”
Kazuki’s voice was light and teasing as he looked toward the Nine-Tails, who remained silent but visibly envious.
“And Naruto—”
“I’ve already told you. I don’t need anything in return.”
“I’ve already received gifts from both you and the Nine-Tails. So neither of you needs to worry about what I gain or lose. Just focus on drawing the strength you seek from me…”
“…and think about the kind of life you want to live afterward. Just go and chase it.”
There was a softness to Kazuki’s handsome face now, a gentle, almost fatherly smile—one that made both Naruto and the Nine-Tails’ hearts tremble for a moment.
How could Kazuki possibly have received anything from them?
Neither Naruto nor the Nine-Tails could imagine that anything they had was of value to him…
And even if it wasn’t worth much—
Kazuki hadn’t taken a single thing from them.
If anything, since the moment they met him, both Naruto and the Nine-Tails had been on the receiving end of his generosity—
And not just any generosity—treasures of immeasurable worth.
But more than all the techniques and gifts, what shook the Nine-Tails the most… was the way Kazuki treated it.
Kazuki truly didn’t see it as some monstrous outcast.
From the bottom of his heart, he treated the Nine-Tails as a person—just like Naruto.
Even when the Nine-Tails had lashed out first and attacked him…
Kazuki had only smiled back, as if dealing with nothing more than a mischievous child.
“A man like the Sage of Six Paths?” the Nine-Tails murmured inwardly—but something about it didn’t quite feel the same.
Though it held great affection for the Sage, the Nine-Tails had to admit: that old man, for all his kindness and compassion toward the tailed beasts, had never truly seen them as fully independent beings.
The moment of parting between the Sage and the Nine-Tails remained etched deep in its memory—
“…Shukaku, Matatabi, Gyūki, Kurama… even if you’re scattered far and wide, one day you’ll reunite and become one once more…”
“…You will be guided down the right path…”
There was nothing inherently wrong with those words.
But they stood in stark contrast to what Kazuki had always said to both the Nine-Tails and Naruto: “Find the path that you want. Live a life that belongs to you. Don’t let anyone else—
even me—
influence your heart.”
No destined fate.
No preordained roles.
No prophecy of a blue-eyed boy calling out to nine wild beasts under a setting sun.
Just pure freedom to choose their own way—
And the strength and warmth that Kazuki had shown through his guidance.
In comparison, the Sage of Six Paths seemed more like a rigid, traditional patriarch. He treated his children kindly, yes—but their futures had already been mapped out in his mind.
Kazuki, too, felt like a father figure.
But one far more open-minded.
To the Nine-Tails, he was someone who truly considered its feelings—who truly cared for it, not as a weapon or a legend, but as a being of its own.
As for Kazuki saying he had already received something of value…
Hah! The Nine-Tails didn’t buy that for a second.
That was clearly just a ploy to comfort a naïve child like Naruto.
How could a worldly creature like the great Nine-Tails be fooled by something so obviously sentimental?
Kazuki hadn’t taken a single thing.
He was simply so generous, so broad-hearted, that he didn’t want Naruto or the Nine-Tails to feel indebted to him for all he had given.
'I was just thinking Naruto’s a damn lucky brat… So lucky it makes me jealous…'
But now, after seeing everything clearly, the Nine-Tails couldn’t help but tilt its fox snout upward, a smug pride curling in its expression.
'And yet… how lucky am I, too?'
Meanwhile, Naruto stood quietly to the side, his heart a raging storm, his eyes shimmering with unshed tears as he stared straight at Kazuki.
He wasn’t stupid.
After finally meeting Namikaze Minato and Kushina, after speaking with the father and mother he had never known, Naruto had felt immense joy—but also a deep, lingering sorrow.
Because he realized something:
Even those dearest to him…
Had made choices about his future without him.
It wasn’t blame.
Just quiet disappointment.
But Kazuki…
Kazuki was completely different from his parents.
Kazuki had given him so much—things he had never known before. Warmth. Joy.
The satisfaction of gaining strength.
The fulfillment of walking forward, not because he was forced to, but because he wanted to.
And yet, despite giving him all that, Kazuki kept emphasizing one thing—
There was no need for repayment.
He didn’t want Naruto’s future to be burdened by his presence.
He didn’t want Naruto’s path to be shaped around him.
Just follow your heart.
Grow freely.
Live without chains.
Such kindness…
Young Naruto couldn’t articulate it, but somehow, when he thought of Kazuki, the happiness in his heart far outweighed the joy he’d felt the day he met Minato and Kushina.
