Konoha: Comparison of Naruto

Chapter 14: Repeated failure

_____

What Naruto said to himself left many people confused.

Who is he?

If memory serves correctly, he is Uzumaki Naruto.

While his hair isn't red, he's still undoubtedly a member of the Uzumaki clan.

Onoki: "Tsk tsk tsk, a member of the Uzumaki clan saying he doesn't have enough chakra? That's amusing."

Fourth Raikage: "Hahaha, Naruto is quite the character. He couldn't master the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique, so now he's blaming his lack of chakra?"

Terumi Mei: "From what I recall, members of the Uzumaki clan are never short on chakra."

Rasa: "Not only do they have an abundance of chakra, but their physical constitution is different from that of ordinary people. They have remarkable vitality and exceptional self-healing abilities."

Senju Hashirama: "You guys know quite a bit! Yes, yes, what you said is absolutely correct."

Senju Tobirama: Sighs. "Brother! Are you subtly admitting that Naruto failed to learn the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique and is just making excuses?"

Senju Tobirama: "Naruto, it's normal to struggle with such an advanced technique. There's no need to feel ashamed—truly, no need at all."

The discussion among the adults left Naruto's contemporaries stunned.

What did we just hear?

It turned out that Naruto wasn't just an ordinary commoner. Setting aside the facts that he was the son of the Fourth Hokage and the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki of Konoha Village, it was now revealed that he also belonged to a clan.

The Uzumaki clan.

Born without chakra?

Everyone's eyes turned toward Naruto, who wore a bewildered expression.

Their gazes were filled with confusion, a hint of envy, and more than a little accusation—as if asking why someone with an exceptional physique and an enormous reserve of chakra had acted like the class clown.

Why, in ninja school, did you behave like the dead last?

Recalling the times they had mocked Naruto, many of his classmates now felt deeply ashamed.

Was he deliberately playing a prank on us?

Pretending to be a fool to outsmart everyone? Yes, that must be it!

Otherwise, how else could Naruto have defeated Neji in the Chūnin Exams?

"Why are you all staring at me? I really don't know anything!"

Naruto's aggrieved expression was genuine.

He swore he had no idea about any of this.

Namikaze Minato: "It seems that Naruto in that world hasn't discovered that the Nine-Tails is sealed within his body."

Uzumaki Kushina: "The Eight Trigrams Seal allows the user to access the chakra leaked by the Nine-Tails as their own. However, because of the seal's design, most of Naruto's natural chakra is being used to suppress the Nine-Tails."

Kushina's explanation clarified everything.

It was no wonder Naruto couldn't fully utilize his natural chakra. Most of it was being diverted to keep the Nine-Tails under control.

This question is not difficult to understand.

Without chakra reserves as immense as Naruto's, no one else could suppress the terrifying existence of the Nine-Tails so effectively.

Yamanaka Ino: "So, no matter which world's Naruto we're talking about, he's always someone with high talent, enormous chakra reserves, and a superhuman physique?"

Haruno Sakura: "It seems that way, but our Naruto didn't dedicate himself to training."

Nara Shikamaru: "Naruto didn't know that his chakra was being used to suppress the Nine-Tails. Now he's misunderstood and thinks he doesn't have any chakra at all."

Akimichi Chōji: "It looks like the Naruto in that world is going to focus on chakra refinement now."

Audience: "..."

Nope. Naruto inherently has terrifying chakra reserves.

Now, as a young child, he's begun to focus all his energy on refining his chakra.

By the time he graduates, the amount of chakra hidden in his body will be unimaginable.

[In the blink of an eye...]

[Two years have passed.]

Whoosh!

[The sound of something slicing through the air echoed again.]

["Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"]

[…]

[…]

[In the woods by the lake, Naruto fell silent.]

[After a moment, he burst out in frustration, "Damn it! I've been refining chakra for almost two years—why is there still no progress?"]

["Is chakra refinement really this difficult?"]

["No, I can clearly feel that I'm extracting chakra, so why can't I condense it properly?"]

["Could it be because my chakra control is still insufficient?"]

["But I've already made a lot of effort in improving my control."]

[After venting his frustrations, Naruto sat down on the ground.]

[After a few moments, he took a deep breath and muttered to himself, "It must be that I haven't worked hard enough. I can't give up now. I just need to push myself even harder."]

- Young Naruto, please put away your boundless determination.

The entire ninja world was immediately abuzz.

As a ninja school student, the last thing Naruto lacked was time.

But no one had expected his patience and perseverance to be so terrifying.

For two whole years, he had been attempting to master the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique.

When he failed, he didn't give up—he chose to refine his chakra for another two years instead.

Senju Hashirama: "Haha, the Naruto over there is so amusing. But I admire his grit and determination."

Senju Tobirama: "His effort is admirable, but it's misguided. If he can't discover the existence of the Nine-Tails within him, repeated failure will eventually take a toll on him."

Terumi Mei: "Wait! The Third Hokage must know the reason for this. Why doesn't he just tell Naruto?"

Orochimaru: Chuckles. "Hehe, the Third Hokage's goal isn't to let Naruto master powerful ninjutsu right now. His priority is to establish a bond between the Jinchūriki and Konoha Village. As for proper guidance and teaching, that responsibility must fall to someone else."

Jiraiya: ...

Jiraiya (internally): Snake, I advise you to shut up and stop spewing nonsense.