Special Training for Naruto / Chapter 52: Jiraiya's Anxiety

Would that ten-thousand-ryo budget really make it out of this unscathed?

Naruto had never expected to be the first one to fall behind. He could only manage ten bowls before he was full, and he wasn't eating very quickly, either. By the time he finished his tenth bowl, Choji had already started on his sixteenth.

Naruto wasn't surprised. His best friend was 'training' his stomach every waking moment, after all. Wasn't it only natural to lose to him?

They hadn't had much money before, so the two of them had rarely been able to eat their fill. This time, Naruto had just wanted to make up for that regret.

But what Naruto hadn't expected was that Hinata, who he'd only brought along to make up the numbers, would prove to be just as impressive as Choji. He had no idea how her petite frame could hold bowl after bowl of ramen, but she'd made it to her sixteenth bowl, keeping pace with Choji.

Good grief! Whoever married her would go broke from feeding her!

Women were terrifying!

When the two of them reached their twentieth bowls, their pace had noticeably slowed. They weren't bottomless pits, after all. Even they had their limits.

However...

"We've run out of ingredients. It's our fault that the four of you can't eat to your heart's content. We're terribly sorry!" The owner of Ichiraku Ramen, his apprentice, and his daughter bowed in unison. They were all sweating profusely and looked utterly exhausted.

They'd thought this would become a legendary tale in Ichiraku Ramen's history, but in the end, it was their own restaurant that had let everyone down.

If only they'd prepared more ingredients...

Teuchi was filled with regret and dejection. This would be the biggest stain on his career.

"I'm still not full..." Choji said, despite the evidence to the contrary. He patted his round belly and let out a loud burp. He hadn't enjoyed a meal this much in ages. Naruto really was a good friend!

"Thank you for the meal." Hinata pressed her hands together politely, then placed her chopsticks neatly on top of her bowl. Every so often, she glanced at Naruto beside her, looking almost unbearably shy.

If she married Naruto someday, would she get to eat this well every day...?

Only Keiichi was on the verge of tears. By his calculations, the meal had cost him more than fifty thousand ryo. If he hadn't called it off halfway through, wouldn't Naruto have eaten his 'wallet' empty?

So who was the real 'brainless' one here?!

"Next time we meet, I won't go easy on you. Whoever loses pays!" Choji waved as he left.

"I hope we don't meet again..." Naruto said with an uneasy smile.

His match against Choji had been the most exhausting battle of his life. He really didn't want a rematch.

"Naruto-kun, if... I mean, if... would you invite me to eat... eat ramen again next time?" Hinata asked haltingly, gathering her courage as she prepared to head home.

"I... I guess so..." Naruto wanted to thump his chest like a man and promise there'd be no problem, but one look at the towering pile of bowls at Hinata's seat left him uncertain.

If Keiichi hadn't treated them this time, how could Naruto have fed those two bottomless pits?

Back when he wasn't a ninja, he'd been so poor that he could only afford instant noodles at home. No wonder Ichiraku Ramen had become his one true love.

After seeing off his two friends, Naruto was left with a huge mess to clean up. He helped the owner gather the bowls and chopsticks with practiced ease, and after quite a while, they were finally done.

When he'd been broke, Teuchi had sometimes treated him to free ramen. Naruto remembered all the kindness he'd shown him.

"Keiichi, you were waiting for me?" Naruto lifted the curtain after finishing up and saw Keiichi standing outside. He looked surprised.

Could Keiichi be waiting to settle the bill with him?

The thought made him suddenly wary.

"Of course I was waiting for you. Shall we head home together?"

"Sure!"

Naruto relaxed. They were neighbors, after all. No wonder Keiichi had waited for him.

"Naruto, I've noticed you've been slacking off a bit. You hardly trained at all this morning, did you?" Keiichi brought up the subject as they walked.

"That's all Kakashi-sensei's fault. He dragged Sasuke off for special training and left me and Sakura here to fend for ourselves." At the mention of it, Naruto's complaints came pouring out.

Why did Kakashi always favor Sasuke? Was it just because he was handsome?

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

"That's nonsense! Do you think I'm weaker than Sasuke, too?"

"Of course not. But most people think Sasuke is a genius. With limited time, doesn't it make sense to focus on the one with the best chance?"

Keiichi's words only made Naruto more frustrated. If things kept going this way, he really might lose to Sasuke in their match. That was the one thing he couldn't accept.

He'd made it to the third round, too! Why was Kakashi-sensei so biased?

"Actually, you can't blame Kakashi-sama. He's simply the best person to teach Sasuke. Don't forget, they both have the Sharingan."

"So what if he has the Sharingan...? If I had one, too... Hmph..." Naruto's voice grew less confident as he spoke.

Keiichi was right. No matter how he looked at it, Kakashi should give Sasuke extra training, not him.

Anyone could see Sasuke was the one most likely to make it to the end.

"If things keep going like this, the gap between you and Sasuke will only grow. What if he becomes a Chunin and you don't? He'll start looking for even stronger opponents. Would you be okay with that?"

"Of course not!" Naruto answered without a moment's hesitation.

"Then do you want to leave Sasuke in the dust after a month of special training?"

Naruto stopped in his tracks and looked at Keiichi in surprise. Keiichi gave him a knowing smile.

Chapter 51: Special Training for Naruto

Keiichi led Naruto deep into the Forest of Death. There was a small lake about a mile across, with a waterfall nearby.

He pointed to the still lake and told Naruto that this would be their training base. They'd spend the next month here.

He'd even prepared a tent for camping outdoors. Clearly, he'd planned this in advance.

"Do you really think learning to swim will help me beat Sasuke?" Naruto asked, clearly doubtful.

They were the same age, and neither of them was stronger than the other. What made Keiichi think he could help Naruto surpass Sasuke in a month? Was he even stronger than Kakashi?

Still, Naruto owed him for the meal, so he couldn't refuse outright. He wanted to see what this so-called special training was all about.

But if all Keiichi planned to do was teach him to swim, Naruto would be sorely disappointed.

Keiichi smiled without answering and walked straight into the lake. Even when his feet entered the water, he stayed on the surface as if he were walking on solid ground.

"Huh? How'd you do that?" Naruto asked, fascinated.

"It's simple. Gather chakra in the soles of your feet and release it evenly. Try it."

Naruto gave it a shot. The result was obvious: he fell straight into the water and came up with his face bright red from choking on it.

"Well, this is a pretty interesting trick, but will learning it help me beat Sasuke?" Naruto asked skeptically, looking like a drowned rat.

"No, of course not. This is just one part of your training. It'll help you get a better handle on how much chakra you release. That way, you won't waste so much chakra when you use ninjutsu."

Naruto began to ponder.

"But what does that have to do with beating Sasuke?" He thought it over, but still didn't get it.

"Naruto, who do you think is stronger, you or Sasuke?"

"Me, obviously!"

"There's only the two of us here. Can you give me an honest answer?"

"Fine... Maybe he is..." Naruto grew a little dejected.

"Actually, Sasuke isn't as strong as you think. Like the saying goes, you can win by using your strengths to attack your opponent's weaknesses. Look at Sasuke's fight with Rock Lee. Lee was inferior to Sasuke in every way except Taijutsu, where he had the advantage. And yet he defeated Sasuke with ease. Doesn't that give you any ideas?"

"Uh..." Naruto's mind was full of question marks.

"All right, let me put it simply. Can you think of anything you're better at than Sasuke?"

Naruto thought for a long time, but couldn't come up with anything. He seemed to be worse than Sasuke in every way, and he couldn't help feeling discouraged.

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

"Actually, your only advantage is that you have more chakra than Sasuke. So if you can drag out the fight until Sasuke runs out of chakra while you still have some left, do you think you'd still lose?"

At that, Naruto's eyes lit up. He was right! How had he never thought of that before?

"But there's one thing I've noticed. You have a lot more chakra, yet you're exhausted after using just a few ninjutsu. Don't you think that's strange?"

"That's true!"

"Then I figured out the problem. You're bad at controlling your chakra, so every time you use ninjutsu, you put out too much and waste a lot of it. This training I've designed will teach you to control how much chakra you release. Then you'll have more 'stamina' than Sasuke!"

Keiichi's words made everything click for Naruto. He was thrilled.

So Keiichi's knack for gathering information really was useful. It could even help Naruto beat Sasuke!

"Then let's start training right away! Now I know how to beat Sasuke!" Naruto was brimming with energy.

"Don't rush. I still have one more question for you."

"Why do you have so many questions? Can't you just say what you want to say?"

"Then I'll be direct. Your talent for training is far below Sasuke's. Give you both a month to train, and Sasuke will inevitably leave you far behind. You're thinking of dragging the fight out until Sasuke collapses from exhaustion, but Sasuke will probably be aiming to end it quickly!"

"That's fine. I can take it!"

"If Sasuke gets even stronger over the next month, will you still be confident you can hold out?"

Naruto fell silent.

"Under normal circumstances, because of the gap in your talent, the difference in your strength will only grow. Before long, you won't be able to keep up with him."

"Then what's the point of this training?" Naruto immediately grew discouraged.

"But that's under normal circumstances. If I told you there was a way to train a hundred times faster and make up for the difference in talent, but it came with some risk to your life, would you dare to try it?"

Naruto's eyes lit up at once. He didn't care about the danger. All he cared about was whether he could catch up to Sasuke—or even surpass him.

"What is it?" Naruto asked eagerly.

"Heh. As it happens, you're the only one who can use this method. Nobody else can learn it."

That made Naruto even more excited.

"Remember when we went on a mission together and ambushed Zabuza's hideout? Weren't you curious how I found it?"

"Sure, I'm curious! Happy now? Quit stalling and tell me!" Naruto was impatient.

"I sent two Shadow Clones to follow Haku. At the time, I gave them an order: when they found the target, one of them would dispel itself. Its memories would then return to me automatically, so I'd know the exact location."

Naruto nodded. He loved using the Multi Shadow Clone Technique, so he knew that once a Shadow Clone split off, he couldn't control it. But when it dispelled, he could still receive its memories.

He'd been troubled for a while by the flood of memories that returned when a large number of Shadow Clones dispelled at once. In the end, he'd gotten over it thanks to his carefree nature.

"So everything that happens to those clones is just like something you experienced yourself. That means if you send out enough Shadow Clones and have them train, it'll be like you have several times—or even dozens of times—as much time as everyone else. Are you still worried about being less talented than Sasuke?"

So that was it!

A light bulb seemed to go off over Naruto's head. He finally understood.

"How'd you come up with this? That's incredible!"

Well, what could he say? He already knew what would happen over the next ten-plus years. He should really thank Kakashi for coming up with such a brilliant idea.

And since he knew the method worked, he'd taught it to Naruto ahead of time!

Keiichi knew perfectly well that both Naruto now and Naruto three years later had an enormous amount of chakra—far more than ordinary people—especially with the Nine-Tails as a massive source of chakra.

So even if Naruto learned the Shadow Clone Training Method now, he could still put it to good use.

That was where he planned to make his changes: he'd put Naruto on the fast track to becoming stronger three years early.

The years before adulthood were a ninja's golden age of growth. After adulthood, the rate of progress slowed dramatically. If Naruto seized this opportunity, just how powerful would he be by the time the Fourth Great Ninja War began?

Keiichi couldn't wait to find out.

Chapter 52: Jiraiya's Anxiety

From that day on, Naruto began an absurd training regimen under Keiichi's guidance.

Yes, it looked absurd to everyone.

Shadow Clones didn't last long, but they consumed a tremendous amount of chakra. Even if someone thought of training this way, they wouldn't dare try it.

Running out of chakra could really kill you.

Besides, there was no way to get enough chakra to waste. The high efficiency of Shadow Clone training couldn't be maintained for long.

Naruto had a vast amount of chakra and could use the Multi Shadow Clone Technique, but even he couldn't keep using it at such a high frequency forever. Sooner or later, he'd run out of chakra.