And on that very night.
Although Naruto did not carry out any additional physical training.
He instead carefully sorted out and reflected on the two battles he had experienced during this period. Especially after today's direct confrontation with Hatake Kakashi, Naruto gained an even deeper understanding of the life-and-death struggle he had experienced a few days earlier against the traitor Mizuki. At the same time, he became far more clearly aware of his own serious shortcomings in actual combat experience and combat skills. To put it more bluntly, under identical conditions, if the current Naruto were to fight the Naruto who had never experienced real combat before, the former would gain an overwhelming advantage. There was no doubt about it. This was the most direct and obvious gap created by experience and technique.
Of course, during the battle with Mizuki, Mizuki's combat power had surged beyond Naruto's expectations. After all, in the original manga, Mizuki did not suddenly gain strength. Naruto's original self had simply relied on the overwhelming numbers of Shadow Clones to forcibly crush Mizuki to death. In this life, however, Naruto was unable to find an opportunity to freely release ninjutsu while facing Mizuki. Although this indirectly proved that Naruto's speed and chakra control still required further strengthening, what it more intuitively demonstrated was the absolute suppression brought about by combat experience and fighting techniques.
Ninjas are not samurai.
So-called head-on confrontations are even less worthy of reverence (even though in Naruto, battles often appear to be frontal clashes).
In the instant when battle erupts.
Everything changes rapidly.
The smallest shift.
Even the slightest mistake.
Can lead directly to the worst possible outcome—death!
For a ninja.
Survival is everything.
Results always take precedence over the process.
No matter the methods or means used.
This is the awareness that every ninja must possess.
At this point, Kakashi had repeatedly emphasized it to the three of them during today's special survival exercise.
The phrase "If you want to take the bell, you must fight with the resolve to kill me."
Was the most direct and vivid proof.
Facing Kakashi.
Naruto came to understand this truth even more deeply.
And it was precisely because of the life-and-death struggle with Mizuki.
That Naruto developed a more realistic and profound sense of what battle truly meant.
Judgment, perception, and a clear understanding of one's own position, as well as the ability to accurately define the objective of a battle—these are essential qualities of a qualified, and even outstanding, ninja.
The most perfect and most brutal battles.
Often hinge on a single moment.
The ninja who can seize that instant.
Is the truly exceptional one.
And such a ninja must be decisive without hesitation.
At the same time, they must also possess patience and endurance.
The fight against Mizuki.
Was Naruto fighting for his own survival.
The bell-grabbing battle against Kakashi.
Was Naruto relying on goal-oriented thinking and inducement-based tactics.
And all of these elements.
Belonged to combat consciousness.
In turn.
These two battles could be transformed into invaluable combat experience.
Allowing Naruto to become far more adept in future confrontations.
To understand the enemy.
But also to understand oneself.
Those who cannot clearly see their own position are often nothing more than rookie characters who cannot survive more than three chapters.
Since he had been given a second life.
Naruto naturally wanted not only to live until the very end, but also to become the sole protagonist of this world.
This world is wrong!
And since there is an error!
Then it must be corrected.
And Naruto possessed both the confidence and the ambition to do so.
Of course, this could also be called arrogance.
But without question, this was Naruto's greatest goal, born from the deepest source of his heart!
If you want to change the world.
Then you must possess the corresponding power.
Which is more important, strength or reason?
Naruto had always believed that a person without strength could never truly spread their reasoning, while a person with strength but no reason was nothing more than violent and unreliable tyranny. Naruto did not want to become the former, nor did he wish to become the latter. Rather, Naruto wanted to become someone who possessed the strength to uphold reason!
Just like the First Hokage who founded Konohagakure.
Did Senju Hashirama truly influence the First Leaders of the other four great ninja villages through sincerity alone, in exchange for temporary peace?
No!
From Naruto's perspective, it was simply because the First Hokage was strong enough that the other four great ninja villages were forced to fear him and refrain from uniting against Konoha. On top of that, Hashirama provided necessary benefits—such as the distribution of the Tailed Beasts—and only then was temporary peace in the ninja world achieved.
Both strength and利益 were indispensable.
With strength alone, humans would eventually fight for profit, even if such conflict led to death.
With利益 alone, humans would fight endlessly to satisfy the infinite greed within their hearts, regardless of the cost.
Therefore, after the news spread that Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara had both supposedly died following the Battle of the Valley of the End, the Ninja Wars erupted. For countries, for resources, for Tailed Beasts, and even for dominance itself.
Naruto once believed that the First Hokage's path in establishing Konohagakure was correct, but that the latter half of that path was fundamentally flawed.
What Naruto wished to do now.
Was to correct the flawed part left behind by Senju Hashirama.
Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
That's right.
This viewpoint was almost identical to that of Uchiha Madara—believing that Senju Hashirama was naïve and overly idealistic!
However, Naruto intended to take a more realistic path.
Not the same naïve road taken by Madara, nor one that would allow himself to be manipulated by others.
And to achieve this goal.
Naruto needed even greater power.
Not only to deal with the enemies he currently faced.
But also to confront Uchiha Madara, who still awaited resurrection in the shadows.
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, who waited for her seal to be undone.
And possibly other Ōtsutsuki who might arrive in the future.
And furthermore!
That existence who seemed to represent peace itself.
But might instead become one of Naruto's greatest enemies—Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo, the Sage of Six Paths.
That old man who still watched over the ninja world from the gap between life and death.
Naruto had never ignored his existence.
Especially considering that he possessed Asura's chakra, making him, in a certain sense, a reincarnation of Asura. Naruto harbored deep caution toward this so-called "cheap father." Who knew whether Hagoromo might notice Naruto's fundamentally different worldview and decide to erase him in order to forcibly correct the flow of history?
Of course, these were merely wild thoughts that Naruto had entertained at certain moments.
Leaving aside whether the deceased Sage of Six Paths even possessed the ability to peer into human hearts, even if he did, it was not guaranteed that he would judge Naruto's ideas as wrong.
Looking at the original story.
Hagoromo appeared more like a bystander. His only firm objective seemed to be preventing the revival of his mother. As for everything else, he largely left it to the humans of the ninja world.
Of course, all of this.
Was merely Naruto's speculation.
The original plot could only serve as a reference to a limited extent, especially considering the many loopholes and inconsistencies within it.
Still.
All of the above.
Was the reason Naruto wished to push himself harder and become stronger as quickly as possible.
Because he was not strong enough.
He could not feel secure.
But if he possessed absolute strength, would he still need to fear the future?
Once again!
Who holds the greatest truth?
The truths spoken by the strong are the greatest truths!
After officially becoming a ninja.
This night of reflection.
Allowed Naruto to further clarify his future path.
As well as the training plans and preparations necessary for the coming period.
Fully utilizing his advantage of knowing the plot in advance.
Accelerating the pace of his growth as much as possible.
So that in the future.
He could truly grasp his own destiny.
And thereby realize the ambition burning within his heart!
JOIN MY PATREON TO READ ADVANCE 30+ CHAPTERS
patreon.com/Prince209