Solo Training, Taking Stock of Himself

Naruto nodded in agreement, adding silently, Perfect. I need time to train anyway.

Early the next morning, Naruto packed his things and prepared to head out.

He tied the laces of his ninja sandals in the entryway, checked the kunai and shuriken in his ninja tool pouch, then reached for the door.

"Naruto..."

Just then, Sakura's voice came from behind him.

She stood in the hallway with her arms crossed over her chest, her tone carrying a matter-of-fact air of arrangement. "Sasuke needs someone to take care of him. His injuries haven't healed yet, so I have to stay behind to change his bandages and cook for him."

"So I'll leave the bridge-guarding mission to you."

Naruto's hand on the door paused.

He did not answer immediately. Instead, he turned and glanced at Sakura.

Naruto's gaze made Sakura's heart inexplicably skip a beat.

There was none of the old fervor or eagerness to please, none of that foolish shyness or flustered awkwardness. There was only a cold, appraising look, as though he were evaluating something that had nothing to do with him.

"This is the last time."

Naruto spoke slowly, his voice calm and devoid of emotion.

After saying that, he pulled open the door, walked out, and casually shut it behind him.

Sakura stood there in a daze for over ten seconds.

Naruto's tone just now had been polite, yet utterly devoid of warmth.

It was nothing like the dead last who used to hover around her every day.

And that final look Naruto gave her—that undisguised indifference—was like a fine needle pricking somewhere inside Sakura. It did not hurt, but it made her deeply uncomfortable.

By the time Sakura came back to her senses, her anger erupted like a volcano.

"You bastard, Naruto!"

Sakura roared inwardly. The muscles in her face twitched slightly as she held herself back from shouting, and her fists clenched until her knuckles turned white.

"How dare you speak to me with that attitude?"

"And how dare you say this is the last time?"

"What do you mean? Who do you think you are?"

"You weren't like this before!"

"You dare treat me like this? I... I'll never talk to you again..."

After finishing her internal tirade, Sakura took a deep breath and, at top speed, changed the angry expression on her face into a gentle, sweet smile. She smoothed her hair, carried out a bowl of freshly cooked hot porridge from around the corner of the hallway, and walked gracefully toward the room where Sasuke was recovering, taking small, dainty steps.

"Sasuke, I made porridge!"

Her voice was sweet enough to drip honey, making her seem like a completely different person from the furious Sakura of moments ago.

Naruto walked along the path leading into the forest. Sunlight spilled through the gaps in the leaves, casting mottled patches of light and shadow across the ground.

His heart was utterly calm.

It was not that Naruto did not understand what Sakura was thinking, but to him, every minute and every second was precious now.

He did not have time to play romance games with a twelve-year-old girl, much less any interest in continuing to play the role of a bootlicker who came when called and left when dismissed.

Naruto created a shadow clone and had it follow Tazuna at the bridge.

That shadow clone possessed half of his chakra, enough to deal with any possible unexpected situation.

Even if some blind fool really came looking for trouble, it would be more than enough to take on ten wandering warriors.

The shadow clone nodded, then leaped away and vanished into the forest.

Naruto himself followed the path from his memories and entered the forest where Team 7 had trained before.

In this forest, he and Sasuke had climbed trees, using chakra to cling to the trunks as they competed to see who could climb higher. The two of them had pushed each other so hard that they trampled the bark to pieces, then both fell from midair and ended up battered and bruised.

It was also in this forest that Naruto had first met Haku.

Naruto stood in the familiar clearing and looked around.

Towering conifers blocked out the sky. Sunlight filtered through gaps in the canopy, forming slanting shafts of light. The moss beneath his feet was soft and springy, while the air carried the mingled scent of pine resin and earth.

Naruto did not rush into training. Instead, he first made security arrangements.

His hands formed a cross-shaped seal.

"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique."

Poof, poof, poof, poof, poof...

More than fifty shadow clones emerged from the smoke. Without a word of nonsense, they automatically split into several squads and scattered in every direction through the forest.

Some crouched in the treetops, hiding amid dense pine needles with only their eyes exposed.

Some lay in wait behind bushes, pushing their chakra senses to the limit to catch every movement within a hundred meters.

Some patrolled along the stream, their eyes sweeping over the water and the grass on both banks.

Some guarded the path into the forest, disguising themselves as ordinary people leaning against tree trunks.

More than fifty clones turned the training area into an airtight ring of defense.

Forget people—even if a rabbit hopped out of the grass, at least three pairs of eyes would lock onto it at once.

Only after finishing all that did Naruto nod in satisfaction.

Do not ask why he was being so cautious. His chakra reserves were vast; he could afford a few clones.

The lessons of his past life had taught Naruto that carelessness was the greatest enemy.

He did not want someone suddenly barging in and interrupting him at a critical point in his training, nor did he want anyone witnessing his training process.

Absolute Control was his greatest trump card. Before he became powerful enough, he could not let anyone know about it.

No—even after becoming powerful, he would not let anyone know.

After finishing all that, Naruto found a flat rock in the center of the clearing and sat down.

He crossed his legs, rested his hands naturally on his knees, closed his eyes, and began to calm himself and regulate his breathing.

Inhale, exhale.

Inhale, exhale.

His heartbeat gradually slowed from its originally steady rhythm. The birdsong, wind, and flowing stream were filtered from his awareness one by one, until only the faint sound of chakra moving within his body remained.

First came the Shadow Clone Technique.

Shadow clones had one advantage.

If shadow clones trained and were then dispelled, the original would share their accumulated experience. In theory, he could create hundreds of clones to train simultaneously, making his efficiency ten or even a hundred times greater than anyone else's.

Of course, having too many shadow clones also had side effects. If the memories of a hundred clones all flooded into his head at once, one wrong move could turn him into an idiot.

That was why the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique had been classified as a forbidden technique. Only those with enormous chakra reserves could practice it.

But Naruto had not yet begun ninjutsu training.

Naruto shook his head, then took stock of what he currently had. First was the natural advantage brought by the Uzumaki bloodline: immense chakra reserves.

Then there was the Nine-Tails' chakra. Although he could tame it through Absolute Control and use it freely, he still needed to deal with the Nine-Tails itself.

And that was all.

His offensive ninjutsu was practically nonexistent.

His defensive ninjutsu was practically nonexistent.

As for taijutsu...

To put it bluntly, the original Naruto's skills amounted to street brawling mixed with a little basic ninja academy taijutsu. It was barely enough to deal with fodder, but against even a somewhat proper opponent, his true colors would be exposed immediately.

Genjutsu was even less worth mentioning. He had not even figured out its basic principles.

Any other transmigrator in this situation might already be considering giving up and taking it easy.

After all, in the world of Naruto, bloodlines were the ceiling.

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