When he trained in taijutsu, even if he exhausted himself at first and ached all over, his astonishing recovery let him adapt quickly.
He could even enjoy the exhilaration of pushing past his limits and the tangible growth in strength after pouring out his sweat.
With every punch and every kick, the ache in his muscles turned into a clear increase in strength.
When he learned ninjutsu, every successful sequence of hand seals and every new technique he unleashed brought unmistakable joy and a sense of achievement, even if it was only a small step forward.
Learning the Eight Gates Formation, mastering Wood Release, entering Kurama Link Mode...
Positive feedback was an important driving force that kept people moving forward.
Like sweet spring water nourishing a desert, every small success gave him the courage to keep trudging on.
Yet when someone had walked a path for a long time without ever seeing clear results or hearing an echo of success...
That feeling of constantly investing effort, energy, and time, only for it all to sink like a stone into the sea without stirring even a ripple, wore down the will more than anything. It was like standing in boundless, dense fog, with no sense of direction and no sight of the road ahead.
The only way Naruto currently had to explore kekkei mōra was clumsy and primitive, just like when he had first tried to figure out Wood Release on his own.
He kept trying to merge, collide, and harmonize different chakra natures, searching through countless failures for that sliver of possibility.
To learn Wood Release, he had combined earth, water, and yang chakra. Even with the Nine-Tails' help, he had endured countless failures and adjustments involving swollen, aching chakra pathways, rampaging chakra, and even mild backlash.
Kekkei mōra, however,