The next day, early in the morning.
Naruto went out during the day, which was something truly rare.
Even Hiruzen, who was working in the Hokage Tower, nearly dropped his pipe in shock when he found out.
In the past six years, Naruto could probably count the number of times he'd gone outside during daylight on one hand.
Even when he did go out, it was always at night.
And even then, he never ventured very far.
Hiruzen took a deep puff of his pipe and watched Naruto's figure in the distance with comfort and relief in his eyes.
'It seems that that child has taken my words to heart...'
"Hey brat, see that tree?"
Naruto, who was standing by the riverside, suddenly heard the fox's voice in his head.
True to his word, Kurama had yanked him out of bed before six in the morning.
He also said something about how he was too weak to be worthy of being his Jinchūriki.
Since coming to this world, Naruto had always slept until nine.
By getting enough sleep and not sleeping in, his lifestyle can be said to be very healthy.
'But now, this damn fox was waking him up at six?!'
Naruto dragged his sleepy body, and for a moment, he couldn't help but feel like he was back in his past life, working some miserable nine-to-five.
Honestly, he was starting to suspect that Kurama had just gotten hungry again...
Early in the morning, Naruto was woken up by the big fox and called to the riverside, feeling very resentful.
Naruto even felt that if Madara stood in front of him at this moment, he'd probably solo him.
"Yawn…"
"So? What now?"
Rubbing his tired eyes, Naruto yawned and took light steps, floating towards the big tree little by little.
Although Naruto wasn't happy about it, he knew that Kurama was doing this to make him stronger.
And with the Academy starting soon...
He really didn't want to be the dead last in class!
He already has a lot of cheats and power-ups, so if I really ended up last...
He, Uzumaki Naruto, really couldn't accept it!
Besides, Kurama wasn't even messing with his Chakra or anything, so he is basically in easy mode now.
Naruto would feel sorry for himself if he didn't get first place in the Academy.
"Brat! You fall asleep on your feet or what?!"
"Raise your fists, and punch the tree!"
Uzumaki Naruto: ?
Kurama's voice instantly snapped Naruto right back to reality.
"Oh..."
Naruto looked up at the, then raised his hand and started punching it.
As for why he was punching the tree...he had no clue.
Anyway, Naruto felt that his understanding of the world was not as good as that of Kurama-sensei, so he just had to be obedient.
"Brat!!"
"Are you giving that tree a massage?!"
"Use the strength you had when you were grilling meat!"
Watching Naruto's weak little punches, Kurama nearly lost his mind.
He cranked up his voice eight notches out of sheer frustration.
Naruto was frightened when he heard Kurama's thunderous voice.
At the same time, his sleepiness was also instantly gone.
But he really wants to complain...
'Kurama-sensei is way too strict!'
Naruto took a deep breath, and now that he was sober, he was going to get serious!
He raised his fist and threw the first punch with all his might.
Bang…
"Ouch…"
"It hurts!"
After that punch, Kurama-sensei was satisfied, but Naruto's pain sensors were screaming. His temple throbbed as if it had its own heartbeat.
Considering the fact that he didn't want to be roared at by Kurama-sensei again, Naruto didn't dare to squat down. He just froze in place, keeping the same pose like a statue.
In his previous life, the worst pain he'd ever experienced was probably stubbing his toe on a table.
So how can he bear the situation like this?
He also started to realize that this world wasn't as easy as he'd imagined.
Even if he is a prince with cheats, if he doesn't have a strong heart, he will never be able to stand at the top of the world.
Kurama noticed Naruto's abnormality, but didn't speak right away.
Instead, he waited for a while before saying, "Brat. Keep going!"
"Yes!"
Naruto steeled himself, clenched his teeth, and started punching the tree with everything he had.
With every strike, the sound of 'bang bang bang' echoed through the woods as his fists hit the bark.
Blood gradually dyed the bark red and even flowed down the surface to the ground.
Kurama's first lesson for Naruto was about enduring pain.
It has to be known that every powerful Shinobi had a tolerance for pain that defied imagination.
Have you ever seen a top-tier Shinobi break down over a paper cut?
In the future, during a fight, you can't just ask your opponent to wait and give you a chance to reduce the pain, right?
Of course, Naruto also understood all this.
That's why he was paying close attention to Kurama-sensei's guidance.
He swore he'd never been this focused… not even back when he was reworking plans in his past life.
With every punch, blood and sweat splashed onto his face.
At the same time, it is accompanied by severe pain and a tingling sensation like ants gnawing at his flesh.
But as he kept punching, Naruto found that it didn't seem to hurt as much as the first punch.
Even the amount of bleeding also gradually decreased.
"Huh?"
"I'm healing!?"
Noticing something unusual, Naruto raised his fists and held them up in front of his face to observe.
He found that except for the smears of blood on his hands, not even a scratch remained.
'So that's how it is!'
'Now I get it!'
'It was the Uzumaki Clan's passive ability!'
Naruto suddenly realized that it was the powerful recovery ability of his Uzumaki Clan's bloodline that came into play.
"Brat, what are you doing?"
"Keep going!"
Kurama-sensei couldn't stand Naruto slack off even for a second, so his voice boomed again.
"Yes, Kurama-sensei!"
With the healing buff in full swing, Naruto threw himself into the training with even more enthusiasm.
After all, after this punch, the wound healed faster than the damage was being done, so how could he not go all-out?
In the Hokage's Office, Hiruzen watched Naruto hammering away at the tree through his crystal ball, and was suddenly silent.
He took a long drag from his pipe, his brows knitting together until they almost formed a single line.
With one hand tugging on his beard in distress, he stared at the boy in disbelief.
He'd been watching for nearly an hour, and still couldn't figure out what the hell Naruto was doing...
'Like... seriously?'
'What kind of Shinobi trains like that?'
It's fine to keep punching a tree... But the problem is, Naruto's wasn't even doing it with proper form, and it can be said that he was hitting the tree randomly.
It would be really strange if he managed to get stronger by training this way!
'I wonder why this kid started to work so hard.'
To be honest, Hiruzen was very pleased to see Naruto work so hard like this.
But the problem is…
'That's not how someone train!'
'Why don't you get a sandbag and hit it?'
'Why's he so hellbent on hitting a tree?'
Hiruzen let out a long sigh. Looking at Naruto go all out like that, he suddenly felt much older.
'Minato...'
'Did this kid hit his head when he was little...?'
'Besides, he is a member of the Uzumaki Clan, the Kyubi's Jinchuriki...'
'There are so many Ninjutsu waiting for him to learn, so there's no need to just focus on practicing Taijutsu!'
Sitting there in his office, Hiruzen was practically tearing out his beard and hair in frustration, but he still couldn't figure out the reason.
He's really worried that Naruto will develop problems if he continues to train like this, so Hiruzen decided to teach Naruto Chakra Refining Method and Shadow Clone Technique tomorrow.
He believed with these two things, Naruto probably won't have to train Taijutsu so hard.