Uzumaki Naruto

image=|caption=Uzumaki Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto

Ninja academy

Up to his academy graduation, Naruto has precious little of the acknowledgement and empathy he seeks. His sensei, Umino Iruka, and to a lesser extent the Third Hokage, are the only positive influence on him in that respect (though Hy?ga Hinata thinks very highly of him as well she never actually gathers the courage to address him). He neglects his academy studies so much that he repeatedly fails to graduate (though the Bunshin no Jutsu, the one he is worst at, being the final test every year doesn't help much). That is until he is manipulated to steal the scroll of seals (a scroll belonging to the village containing forbidden techniques) by Mizuki. During the short conflict between Mizuki and Iruka, Naruto acquires his signature technique, Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, by learning it from the scroll. When he demonstrates usage of this technique, Iruka passes him and congratulates him on graduating.

Related Topics:
Umino Iruka - Hy?ga Hinata - Bunshin no Jutsu - Mizuki - Kage Bunshin no Jutsu

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While labeled as dumb at the academy, Naruto shows surprising talent in unexpected areas and often comes up with inventive solutions and strategies. Later in the series, Naruto manages to learn the Rasengan, a technique that took the fourth Hokage three years to develop, in just a month (he takes a couple of days for the first step, three weeks for the second, and one week for the third). An example of Naruto's inventiveness is shown here -- he lacks the chakra control required to execute the technique using only one hand, but he settles for an inferior delivery method which is slower and requires another hand (either by occupying his other one or using a kage bunshin). While not on par with the original, Naruto's version is still very effective.

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Later in the manga, Naruto is seen to be able to use Rasengan with only one hand (though this might be a misinterpretation due to the graphic limitations of manga). Early in the Naruto II arc while out to rescue Gaara, Naruto uses a new version of Rasengan called Odama Rasengan- essentially two combined Rasengan spheres from him and a clone requiring only one hand of each, again suggesting that he is now capable of executing Rasengan as originally intended.

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