Hokage: You Call This Guy the Savior?!

Will the 10,000 ryo budget really be enough to escape unscathed?

Naruto never imagined he would be the first to fall behind; he couldn't eat another bite after ten bowls. The real issue was his lack of efficiency—by the time he finished his tenth, Choji had already started on his sixteenth.

Naruto didn't find this strange; after all, his good friend was "training" his stomach every waking moment. Wasn't it only natural to lose to him?

In the past, when they lacked the money to treat each other, it was rare for them to eat their fill. This time, he simply wanted to make up for that regret.

What Naruto never expected was that Hinata, whom he had only dragged along to make up the numbers, would display strength rivaling Choji's. He had no idea how her petite frame could accommodate bowl after bowl of ramen, yet she had reached her sixteenth, neck and neck with Choji.

Good heavens, whoever marries her in the future is going to be eaten into bankruptcy, aren't they?

Women are truly terrifying!

By the time the two reached their twentieth bowl, their speed had slowed significantly. After all, they weren't bottomless pits; they had their limits.

However...

"We have run out of ingredients. It is our failure as shopkeepers that we could not satisfy our four customers. We are terribly sorry!" The owner of Ichiraku Ramen, along with his apprentice and daughter, bowed in unison, dripping with sweat and utterly exhausted.

He had expected this to be a legendary tale recorded in the history of Ichiraku Ramen, but he never imagined his side would be the one to drop the ball.

If only he had prepared more ingredients...

Ichiraku felt immense regret and frustration; this would be the greatest stain on his professional career.

"I'm still not full..." Choji, his words contradicting his heart, patted his round belly and let out a loud, satisfied burp. It had been so long since he'd eaten this heartily; Naruto was truly a good friend!

"Thank you for the meal." Hinata folded her hands with great grace, then placed her chopsticks neatly across her bowl. Her eyes darted toward Naruto beside her from time to time, looking excessively shy.

If she were to marry Naruto in the future, would she be able to eat this well every day?

Only Keiichi was on the verge of tears. According to his calculations, this meal had cost him over 50,000 ryo. If he hadn't called a halt, wouldn't Naruto have eaten his entire "wallet" back?

Who is the real "Brainless" here!

"If we run into each other again, I won't go easy on you. Whoever loses pays!" Choji waved his arm as he took his leave.

"I really don't want to run into you again..." Naruto's smile was somewhat strained.

The duel with Choji was the most exhausting battle of his life; he really didn't want to do it again.

"Naruto-kun, if... I mean, if... will you treat me to... to ramen again next time?" Hinata, also preparing to head home, gathered her courage and spoke with a stutter.

"I... I suppose so..." Naruto wanted to pat his chest and guarantee it like a man, but the sight of the towering stack of bowls at Hinata's seat made him lose all confidence.

If Keiichi hadn't been paying this time, how could he have fed these two gluttons?

He remembered that before he became a ninja, he was so poor he could only eat instant noodles at home. No wonder Ichiraku Ramen had become the "white moonlight" in his heart.

After sending off his two friends, only a scene of chaos remained after the feast. Naruto skillfully helped the owner clear the bowls and chopsticks, and it took quite a while before they were finished.

Back when he had no money, Uncle Ichiraku would occasionally treat him to a free bowl of ramen. He kept all those kindnesses in his heart.

"Keiichi, were you waiting for me?" After finishing his work, Naruto lifted the curtain and was surprised to see Keiichi waiting outside.

Could it be that he wants to settle the bill with me now?

Thinking of this, he suddenly became alert.

"Naturally, I was waiting for you. Shall we head home together?"

"Let's go!"

Naruto relaxed; the two were neighbors, so it made sense for him to wait and walk back together.

"Naruto, I've noticed you seem a bit lax. You didn't do much training this morning, did you?" On the way, Keiichi took the initiative to start the conversation.

"That's all Kakashi-sensei's fault. He dragged Sasuke off for special training and left Sakura and me here to fend for ourselves." Whenever he brought this up, Naruto was full of complaints.

Why does he always favor that guy Sasuke? Just because he's handsome?

"It can't be helped. Of the three of you, Sasuke is the most likely to take first place. If I were Kakashi, I would give him extra attention too."

"Nonsense! Do you think I'm worse than Sasuke?"

"Of course not. But most people consider Sasuke a genius. With limited time, shouldn't one invest in the greatest probability of success?"

Hearing Keiichi's words made Naruto even more restless. If things continued this way, he might actually lose to Sasuke in their duel, and that was the one thing he couldn't accept.

I made it to the third round too, so why is Kakashi-sensei so biased?

"Sigh, actually, you can't blame Lord Kakashi. Who else is better suited to teach Sasuke? Don't forget, they both possess the Sharingan."

"What's so special about the Sharingan... If I had one too... hmph..." Naruto's voice trailed off, lacking conviction.

Keiichi was right; no matter how he looked at it, Kakashi should be giving Sasuke special training, not him.

To anyone else, Sasuke was the one most likely to make it to the end.

"If things keep developing like this, the gap between you and Sasuke will only grow wider. If he becomes a Chunin and you don't, he will view stronger people as his rivals. Can you accept that?"

"Of course I can't!" Naruto answered without a second thought.

"Then do you want to use this month of special training to completely leave Sasuke in the dust?"

Naruto stopped in his tracks and looked at Keiichi in surprise. The latter flashed him a mysterious, unfathomable smile.

Chapter 51: Special Training Targeted at Naruto

Keiichi brought Naruto deep into the Forest of Death, where a small lake about a square ri in size lay, complete with a waterfall nearby.

He then pointed at the calm surface of the lake and told Naruto that this would be his training base from now on, and that they would spend the next month here.

He had even prepared camping tents for the wilderness, clearly having planned this well in advance.

"Do you really think learning to swim will help me surpass Sasuke?" Naruto was full of doubt toward Keiichi.

Everyone is the same age, so no one is inherently stronger than anyone else; what makes you think you can help me surpass Sasuke in a single month? Could it be that you're even more impressive than Kakashi?

However, having accepted his hospitality, he found it hard to refuse directly, so he decided to see what this so-called special training of Keiichi's was all about.

But if it were just teaching him how to swim, it would be a huge disappointment.

Keiichi smiled without a word and walked straight toward the lake; yet, even as his feet stepped into the water, he simply stood upon the surface as if it were flat ground.

"Whoa, how did you do that?" Naruto asked, full of curiosity.

"It's simple: gather chakra at the soles of your feet and release the energy evenly. You give it a try."

Naruto attempted it, and the result was obvious; he fell straight into the water, coughing and sputtering until his face turned bright red.

"Well, this trick is certainly interesting, but will learning this really help me beat Sasuke?" the drenched Naruto questioned.

"No, of course not. This is just one method of special training to help you better master the output of your chakra. That way, you won't waste so much chakra when you perform ninjutsu."

Hearing this, Naruto began to ponder.

"But what does this have to do with defeating Sasuke?" Naruto thought for a moment, still not understanding.

"Naruto, tell me, between you and Sasuke, who has more strength?"

"Me, of course!"

"It's just the two of us here, can you give me an honest answer?"

"Fine, maybe it's him..." Naruto began to feel a bit dejected.

"Actually, Sasuke isn't as powerful as you think. As the saying goes, use your strengths to attack his weaknesses, and you can win. Look at the battle between Sasuke and Rock Lee; even though Rock Lee was inferior to Sasuke in every other aspect, he surpassed him in taijutsu alone, and as a result, he defeated Sasuke easily. Doesn't that give you any inspiration?"

"Uh, this..." Naruto's head was full of question marks.

"Alright, to put it simply, do you think you have any advantage over Sasuke in any area?"

Naruto thought for a long time, but couldn't come up with anything. It seemed he was inferior to Sasuke in every way, and he couldn't help but feel discouraged.

Keiichi knew that heuristic education wouldn't work on Naruto, so he gave him the answer directly.

"Actually, your only advantage is that your chakra reserves are much larger than Sasuke's. So, if you can force the battle to drag on until Sasuke exhausts his chakra while you still have some left, do you think you still couldn't beat him?"

Hearing this, Naruto's eyes lit up instantly. That's right, why hadn't he thought of that before?

"But I've noticed something: even though your chakra reserves are larger, you get exhausted after performing only a few ninjutsu. Don't you find that strange?"

"Yeah, that's true!"

"Then I found the problem. The issue lies in your poor ability to control your chakra; every time you use a ninjutsu, you output too much, wasting a significant amount. The special training I'm giving you is meant to help you master your chakra output, and in doing so, you'll be much more 'durable' than Sasuke!"

Hearing this, Naruto suddenly saw the light and felt incredibly energized.

So Keiichi's intelligence-gathering ability was this useful—it could actually help him defeat Sasuke!

"Then let's start the special training right away! I finally know how to beat Sasuke!" At this moment, Naruto was brimming with motivation.

"Don't be in such a hurry; I have one more question for you."

"Why are there so many questions? Can't you just say it?"

"Then I'll be blunt: your talent for cultivation is far inferior to Sasuke's. If you are both given a month to train, Sasuke will inevitably leave you far behind. You're thinking of dragging out the fight to exhaust him, but Sasuke is likely thinking of ending it quickly!"

"It doesn't matter, I can take it!"

"If Sasuke becomes even stronger than he is now in a month, are you still confident you can hold out?"

Naruto fell silent.

"Under normal circumstances, due to the gap in talent, the difference in strength between you and him will only grow wider, and you'll soon be unable to keep up with his pace."

"Then what's the point of this special training?" Naruto felt discouraged again.

"That's only under normal circumstances. If I told you there was a way to increase your cultivation speed a hundredfold, enough to bridge the gap in talent, but it carried a certain risk to your life, would you dare to try it?"

Hearing this, Naruto's eyes lit up again. He didn't care about the danger at all; he only cared about whether he could catch up to or even surpass Sasuke.

"What method?" Naruto asked impatiently.

"Heh, truth be told, this method is something only you can use; no one else can learn it."

Naruto became even more excited upon hearing this.

"Do you remember when we were on a mission together to ambush Zabuza's hideout? Aren't you curious how I found it?"

"I'm curious, I'm curious, okay? Stop keeping me in suspense and just tell me!" Naruto was desperate.

"At that time, I sent out two Shadow Clones to tail Haku. I gave the Shadow Clones an order: once they discovered the target, one of the clones would dissipate on its own. That way, its memories would automatically flow back to the original body, and I would know the exact location."

Naruto nodded. He was the one who used Multi Shadow Clone the most, so he naturally knew that Shadow Clones were not under his control once they separated, but that he could obtain their memories once they dissipated.

Therefore, the problem of massive memory influx when many Shadow Clones dissipated at once had troubled him for quite a while, though he eventually solved it thanks to his carefree personality.

"In other words, everything that happens to these clones is experienced by you, the original, as if you had gone through it yourself. So, as long as you send out enough shadow clones and have them train together, wouldn't that be equivalent to having several or even dozens of times more time than others? Are you still worried about your talent being inferior to Sasuke's?"

So that's how it is!

A lightbulb seemed to flicker on above Naruto's head, and he suddenly realized the truth.

"How did you come up with this method? It's too amazing, isn't it?"

Heh, who told me to know the plot of the next decade or so in advance? If I have to thank anyone, I should thank Kakashi for coming up with such a brilliant idea.

It is precisely because I know this works that I am teaching it to you in advance!

Keiichi is very clear that whether it is the current Naruto or the Naruto three years from now, his chakra reserves are beyond the reach of ordinary people, not to mention the massive chakra source that is the Nine-Tails.

Therefore, even if he teaches him the Shadow Clone Training Method now, he can still put it to good use.

And this is where he intends to make his radical modifications, putting Naruto's training path on the fast track three years ahead of schedule.

The period before adulthood is the golden age for a ninja's growth; once they reach adulthood, the speed of progress slows down rapidly. If Naruto can seize this opportunity, then by the time the Fourth Great Ninja War begins, just how powerful will he become?

It really is something to look forward to.

Ever since that day, Naruto began undergoing quite reckless special training under Keiichi's guidance.

Yes, in anyone's eyes, this is nothing but reckless.

Shadow clones exist for a very short time, yet they consume a massive amount of chakra. Even if someone were to think of this training method, they wouldn't dare to do it.

Because if your chakra is exhausted, you can actually die.

Furthermore, there isn't enough chakra to squander, and the high efficiency of relying on shadow clones cannot be maintained for long.

Although Naruto has a massive amount of chakra and knows the Multi Shadow Clone Technique, he cannot withstand such high-frequency releases time after time; sooner or later, there will come a time when his chakra is completely depleted.