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That night.
Naruto didn't do any other training.
But he did review the two battles he'd fought recently. In particular, after facing Hatake Kakashi head-on that day, Naruto had gained a deeper understanding of his life-or-death struggle with the rogue ninja Mizuki a few days earlier. He also recognized just how badly he lacked combat experience and fighting skills. To put it more bluntly, if the Naruto of today fought the Naruto from before he'd ever been in a battle, under equal conditions, the former would win by an overwhelming margin. No doubt about it—that was the clearest difference experience and skill could make.
Of course, in his battle with Mizuki, the surge in Mizuki's combat strength had taken Naruto by surprise. In the original story, Mizuki hadn't suddenly become so powerful. Naruto had simply overwhelmed him with sheer numbers, relying on Shadow Clones. But in this life, Naruto hadn't even found an opportunity to form Hand Seals and use ninjutsu while fighting Mizuki. That showed, from one angle, that Naruto still needed to improve his speed at forming Hand Seals and his chakra control. But the most obvious thing it demonstrated was just how thoroughly Mizuki had outclassed him in combat experience and skill.
Ninja weren't samurai.
They didn't believe in so-called head-on clashes, either (even though nearly every fight in Naruto was a straight-up slugfest).
In battle,
things could change in an instant.
The slightest change—
even the tiniest opening—
could lead to the worst possible outcome: death!
For a ninja,
survival was everything.
The result came before the process.
The means didn't matter.
That was the mindset every ninja needed.
During that day's special Survival Exercise, Kakashi had repeatedly stressed this point to the three of them, too.
His words—"If you want to take the Bells, you have to be prepared to kill me"—were the clearest proof of all.
In his match against Kakashi,
Naruto had understood this even more fully.
It was precisely because he'd been through a life-or-death battle with Mizuki
that Naruto now had a more genuine feel for combat.
Judgment, perception, and the ability to understand your own position and define your objectives—all of these were essential to becoming a competent, or even excellent, ninja.
The most flawless and decisive battles
were often decided in a single instant.
The ninja who could do that were the most outstanding of all.
And they needed to act decisively in that instant,
while also having the patience and resolve to persevere.
In his battle with Mizuki,
Naruto had relied on his determination to fight to the death.
In his contest with Kakashi to seize the Bells,
he'd relied on his clear objective and carefully planned tactics to lead Kakashi into a trap.
All of this was part of combat awareness.
And, in turn,
these two battles could become valuable combat experience,
helping Naruto fight more smoothly the next time.
Know your enemy, but know yourself even better.
People who couldn't see their own place in the world were usually minor characters who didn't survive past the third chapter.
Since he'd been given a second life,
Naruto was determined to live until the end—and to become the only protagonist in this world.
This world was wrong!
And if something was wrong,
it needed to be corrected.
Naruto had the confidence and ambition to do just that.
Of course, you could call it arrogance.
But there was no doubt that this was the greatest goal deep within Naruto, born from the very core of his being!
If he wanted to change the world,
he needed the strength to match.
Which mattered more, strength or reason?
Naruto had always believed that without strength, a person couldn't make his reason heard. But someone with strength and no reason was nothing more than a tyrant, using violence to bully the weak. Naruto didn't want to be the former, and he didn't want to become the latter. He simply wanted to be someone strong enough to argue his case!
Just like the First, who had founded Konoha.
Had Senju Hashirama really won over the First Kage of the four great ninja villages with his sincerity, bringing about a temporary peace?
No!
From Naruto's perspective, it was simply that the First had been powerful enough to make the other four great ninja villages wary of him, even if they joined forces. Then, with the addition of necessary benefits, such as the distribution of the Tailed Beasts, that was how he had secured temporary peace in the Shinobi World.
Both were indispensable.
With strength alone, people would still fight over benefits, even if that fighting might cost them their lives.
With benefits alone, people would fight to satisfy their limitless greed, no matter the cost.
So after Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara fought at the Valley of the End and word spread that they had both died, the great ninja wars erupted. They fought for territory, resources, and Tailed Beasts—and for dominance, among other things!
Naruto had once thought that the path the First took to found Konoha had been right, but that he'd gone wrong afterward.
Now, Naruto wanted to correct the part of Senju Hashirama's path that had gone astray.
Sound familiar?
That's right. It was almost exactly the same as Uchiha Madara's view: Senju Hashirama had been naive and foolish!
The difference was, Naruto would take a far more realistic approach.
He wouldn't use the same naive method as Madara, who'd been manipulated by others, too.
To achieve that goal,
Naruto needed even greater strength.
He needed to be ready for the enemies he faced now,
but he also had to consider Uchiha Madara, waiting in the Underworld to be resurrected.
Kaguya, waiting for her seal to be undone.
The other Otsutsuki who might come.
And!
The man who seemed like the greatest force for peace,
yet might become one of Naruto's greatest enemies—the Otsutsuki Hagoromo, also known as the Sage of Six Paths.
That old man, who was still silently watching the Shinobi World from somewhere between dimensions.
Naruto had never ignored his existence.
Especially now that Naruto possessed Asura Chakra, making him, in a sense, Asura's reincarnation. He was deeply wary of this "cheap father" of his, too. Who knew if Hagoromo might notice that Naruto's views were unusual and decide to eliminate him outright, putting history back on its proper course?
Of course, those were just some far-fetched thoughts Naruto had once had.
Setting aside whether the deceased Sage of Six Paths could read people's minds, even if he could, that didn't mean he'd consider Naruto's ideas wrong!
Looking at the original story,
the Sage of Six Paths seemed more like a bystander. The only thing he could be said to have firmly set his sights on was preventing his mother from being resurrected. As for everything else, it seemed he left the people of the Shinobi World to handle it themselves.
Of course, all of this
was just Naruto's baseless speculation.
The original story could only serve as a reference to a certain extent, especially since it contained so many glaring holes and plot bugs.
Still, all of the things he'd just considered
were reasons Naruto pushed himself harder, determined to grow stronger as quickly as possible.
Because he wasn't strong enough,
he couldn't be sure.
But if he possessed absolute power, would he still need to worry about what might happen?
As the saying went!
Whose reasoning carried the most weight?
The reasoning of someone with strength—that was the reasoning that mattered most!
Now that he was officially a ninja,
this night of reflection
had helped Naruto further clarify the path ahead,
as well as the training plans he needed to follow in the immediate future.
He would make full use of his knowledge of the original story,
and do everything he could to speed up his growth.
In the future,
he would truly control his own destiny,
and fulfill the ambition buried deep within his heart!!