Three days and three nights.
On the first day, Jiraiya taught Naruto Fire Release: Flame Bullet and Fire Release: Great Flame Bullet, which converted chakra into oil.
On the second day, he taught Naruto Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld, which could create a massive swamp.
On the third day, he simply taught him the secret techniques Wild Lion's Mane Technique and Ninja Art: Needle Jizo, which could make his hair grow long and turn it as sharp and hard as steel needles.
The result was the same every time.
Naruto had an incredible talent for training.
He learned everything at once!
Jiraiya was beginning to question his life choices.
Had the Ninja Academy really taught Naruto nothing at all over the past ten years?
"Teacher Jiraiya!"
"I learned the technique you just taught me!"
Naruto spat out a stream of scorching flames.
"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"
Flames shot out to the left, right, and straight ahead, taking the shape of dragon heads.
Naruto controlled them all perfectly!
Boom!
A section of the river evaporated in an instant.
The white mist cleared.
Naruto stood on the newly exposed riverbed.
His golden hair had turned into steel needles with Wild Lion's Mane Technique and Needle Jizo, and it hung down over him.
"Fire Release is so powerful!"
"Even my hair can become a weapon!"
"There are still twenty-six days of hellish training left. Make it even more insane!"
Naruto couldn't wait to get stronger.
It felt just like playing a video game.
Before, he had to pay to win and stay up all night grinding to get stronger.
Now he could build his own max-star S-rank ninja!
Control every move himself!
There was no limit from a skill bar. As long as he had enough chakra, he could use as many kinds of ninjutsu as he wanted!
It was perfect!
The only thing Naruto was unhappy with was the Turn Back to the Shore System.
It had been stuck loading for days.
"I... well... um..."
Jiraiya hesitated.
How was he supposed to put it?
The kid had nearly reached max level in less than five days!
As one of the Sannin, the Toad Sage, and the author of Make-Out Paradise, how could Jiraiya ever hold his head up again?
"Naruto."
"Don't get cocky just because you've mastered a little basic training."
"The advanced training starts now."
Slap!
Jiraiya leaped into the air.
He slapped his wooden sandals together.
And somehow, he managed to form Hand Seals!
"See that?"
"Ninja have to form Hand Seals to use ninjutsu, but some enemies will specifically target your hands."
"So you won't pass until you learn to form Hand Seals with your feet and can perform every technique as easily as you can with your hands."
Jiraiya saw the slightly dazed look on Naruto's face.
At last, he had managed to regain a little ground.
After explaining the method and how to train, Jiraiya seized an opportunity and slipped away.
"Your teacher has to go gather some material for a new work of artistic literature."
"Now, you'd better figure it out properly! Try to learn it as soon as possible and surprise everyone!"
Without explaining another word to Naruto, Jiraiya dashed off to the Konoha hot springs.
After an hour of grueling training, Naruto had mastered the method of forming Hand Seals with his feet for every ninjutsu.
He immediately found it boring.
"The third round of the Chunin Ninja Exams is in twenty-six days."
"With my current strength, there's still some risk."
Naruto lay on the grass, muttering to himself.
His eyes happened to land on the system interface.
[Searching with all my strength for a good deed mission...]
"Damn system!"
"Can I uninstall you? Give me a way!"
"What kind of system doesn't give you a single mission or reward all day? You might as well go die."
Naruto felt like the system was completely useless.
"You could change your name to Newbie's Seven-Day Login or Monthly Login. If that's too much trouble, just make a monthly pass and give me something every day."
"You hear me?"
The system didn't respond to Naruto's questions for a long time.
Just as he was about to sigh, he heard a sound behind him.
Naruto spun around and stood before the newcomer, Kunai in hand.
"N-Naruto."
Hinata Hyuga hid behind a wooden post, her face flushed.
"Hinata, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be recovering from your injuries instead of training?"
Running into someone gave Naruto a little relief from his bad mood.
"My... my injuries... are already healed."
Before Hinata could finish speaking, she collapsed to the ground, her cheeks burning, and passed out.
"Even the Hyuga Clan princess is faking a fall!"
Naruto laid Hinata down.
While waiting for her to wake up, he thought again about the useless system.
"What is going on in the Ninja World? Hinata won't eat local chicken eggs, and the System won't give me any missions!"
Naruto was downcast.
[ Ding! ] [After seventy-two hours of intense searching] [The Turn Back to the Shore System has found a path of goodwill capable of washing away sin, in response to the Host's signs of Blackening] [In twenty-six days, you will compete against Neji Hyuga. Saving his dark heart, imprisoned by the Caged Bird, would be a boundless act of merit] [The Host must save Neji Hyuga from the path of Blackening and let Konoha's Will of Fire burn bright] [Mission success will grant 30 Goodwill Points] [Mission failure will incur a punishment of 300 Punishment Points]
Was this system crazy?
Naruto just didn't get it.
Was Neji Hyuga wrong to hate a life bound by the Caged Bird?
Even if it was meant to protect the clan, was there no way out, not even for the strongest genius who surpassed everyone?
If that was how the clan worked, wasn't its decline only a matter of time?
"I'll beat him up, fine. Why drag in all that talk of benevolence and morality?"
"System, if you can't come up with missions, then get lost. I can make my own missions and rewards!"
Naruto stood on a wooden post.
He formed Hand Seals with his feet to use Fire Release while shaping a Rasengan with one hand.
"Actually, this is a lot more useful!"
In the distance, Jiraiya stood on a tree branch.
Seeing Naruto use two combat ninjutsu at once, he couldn't help feeling pleased.
"Minato, Kushina, your son hasn't let you down. His talent is just a little too extraordinary."
"But he's still too immature to train in Sage Mode. Even I, a fifty-one-year-old man, am still hesitating."
Jiraiya hurried off.
The wistful reminiscing was over. It was time to gather material for his art!
The mountains.
When Hinata woke up, Naruto had finished training.
"Naruto-kun."
Hinata Hyuga hesitated.
All she could see was Naruto's silhouette against the setting sun.
He seemed a little different from before.
"Let's head back to the village."
Let's go back together!
Hinata's heart pounded like a startled fawn.
Naruto spent the whole walk lost in thought.
At the crossroads.
Hinata hurried away.
Naruto was left alone beneath a streetlamp.
Meow! Meow!
Strange.
Naruto had noticed lots of cats appearing near his home lately.
They always gathered together, cheering and leaping about.
Never mind.
Naruto had no plans to train Ninja Cats.
He got home and flopped onto his bed.
Boring.
As someone who had crossed over, Naruto had already felt unbearably bored after only a few days.
There were no games to play and no videos to watch.
And to top it off,
the manga wasn't even serializing Naruto!
It was serializing that stuff about the First Hokage and the Uchiha rogue ninja!
Who wanted to read something so ridiculous?
Naruto tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
"System, pull yourself together."
"If this keeps up, I'll have to rely on myself to become the strongest Hokage ever and defeat the Otsutsuki!"
[Host's hostility has been detected. Blackening Index increased] [Achievement unlocked: Do not impose on the System what you would not want imposed on yourself] [100 Punishment Points will be used as a penalty!]
"Heh!"
Naruto instantly perked up.
"So this damn system needs a good whipping!"
He immediately did one draw.
The prize wheel spun with a whoosh.
All the rewards he had already won disappeared, expanding the remaining lottery slots.
Naruto watched with his own eyes as the pointer stopped on "Lightning Style: Lightning Armor."
[Unfortunately] [The Host will descend into Muscle Hell] [You have gained only one simple, brute-force Nintaijutsu: Lightning Style: Lightning Armor]
"If the world has to have muscle-bound men, why can't I be one of them?"
Naruto was instantly fired up.
He immediately went to find the Nine-Tails and train.