For a period of time after that, Ino would knock on his door almost every day with a bento.
Occasionally, she would bring books, or new clothes that one of her clan brothers had 'bought the wrong size' of, and Naruto accepted them all without question.
With such sweet and delicious soft rice being fed to him, he really had no choice.
However, Naruto still showed no particular reaction to Ino's attentiveness; she was a three or four-year-old little girl, and he had never coaxed a child so young.
Thus, an entire winter passed, with nothing else happening except for a death in the Hyuga clan.
In early spring, Naruto finally ended his wonderful slacker days.
As soon as the weather warmed up, he ran into the forest to practice tree climbing.
He would hang himself from a tree branch with his Adamantine Sealing Chains and practice hard!
It took him an entire morning, but he was finally able to walk a few steps steadily.
Even without the interference of the Nine-Tailed Chakra, his progress was still slow, but it wasn't because Naruto lacked talent; it was simply because he had too much Chakra!
Whether it was tree climbing or water walking, the essence was to channel Chakra to the feet to support one's own weight.
For someone with little Chakra, it was like pouring out one liter from two liters of water; while not necessarily precise, with a few more practices, the error could generally be kept within the range of success.
But for Naruto now, it was like pouring out two ounces from a ton of oil; even a slight f-rt could cause it to gush out.
"You're really clumsy, brat..."
"If you can do it, you come!"
"Hmph, if this old man could come out, would I still be wasting words with you here?"
Inside the sealed space, Kurama scoffed; it was clearly a bit agitated today.
After staying indoors all winter, Naruto had done nothing, and Kurama was almost driven crazy.
After being sealed for so many years, its only joy was observing the outside world through its Jinchuriki, but this kid had stayed indoors for over three years, and after finally going out a few times, he became a homebody again as soon as winter arrived.
Moreover, Naruto's homebody nature was different from others; he genuinely did nothing, just lay there with his arm as a pillow, chewing on dried meat, humming incomprehensible songs, and could cross his legs for an entire day.
Torment!
Pure f-cking torment!
If the Konoha Torture Department got their hands on this kid, they wouldn't have to do anything; the prisoner would confess everything in three days!
Sometimes Kurama would reflect, wondering if it was too extreme, that perhaps humans weren't all that evil; at least Naruto was different from all the humans it had seen.
He wasn't irritable, hateful, jealous, or complaining...
Of course, he also didn't move.
An entire lifestyle of "it's good to be alive, it's fine to die, but it also doesn't seem quite right," with occasional symbolic bursts of activity.
And the duration of this activity was generally tied to the amount of food reserves at home.
Pulling out a piece of dried meat from his pocket and putting it in his mouth, Naruto flopped onto the ground, his legs naturally crossing.
With his arm as a pillow and his eyes gazing at the sky, he said leisurely, "I'll rest for a bit, then practice again this afternoon!"
Kurama sucked on its teeth, an asexual being somehow feeling a phantom pain.
"This old man has never seen such a lazy person! Are you really Minato's son?"
"No."
Inside the sealed space, Naruto also lay supine: "I don't acknowledge someone who, knowing the future hardships, still seals a Tailed Beast into their own child, shouting about 'for the Village' and 'trusting the child,' then simply dies, leaving all the suffering to a newborn child."
"If not for my unique nature, Kurama... you wouldn't have trouble guessing what my life would have been like, would you?"
"Do you think those guys would sell me food? Once I needed something from them, they would seize the opportunity to humiliate me, curse me, and probably put on a superior air, demanding my gratitude..."
"If I fell into darkness because of that, they would say: 'See, a demon fox is just a demon fox.'"
"And if I worked hard to become stronger, trying to gain their recognition, perhaps I would succeed, but do I look like someone who is so cheap?"
"You see things quite clearly, don't you..."
Kurama chuckled, "But how do you know that Naruto didn't even factor your uniqueness into his plans?"
"Of course I know, because this is not a Bloodline Limit, but a power unique to me!"
Naruto chuckled lightly, "Speaking of which, I really am lucky..."
"Looking at it that way, you really are quite lucky; not only did you inherit their Ninjutsu, but you also gained this old man's power..."
Kurama nodded in deep agreement: Wood Release, Adamantine Sealing Chains, Flying Thunder God, Tailed Beast power...
If this kid could stably inherit these abilities, he would at least become another Senju Hashirama in the future.
"No..."
Naruto lifted his eyelids, "I was talking about—them."
Kurama froze for a moment, then its mouth twitched: "You brat... this old man is actually starting to admire you."
"Oh? Is that an acknowledgment?"
"Hmph, disgusting, you're still far from it, you stinky brat..."
Seeing Naruto's grinning face, Kurama snorted coldly, crossed its arms, and turned its head away, looking Tsundere.
"Naruto!"
Ino's voice carried from afar, the little girl running over with a bento box, her face full of joy.
"I knew you'd be here! Honestly, you finally decided to come out..."
"Hmm... I plan to start training, so I'll be here for a while."
Naruto took the bento box and wolfed down the food; after a morning of tree climbing, he was famished.
Ino squatted beside him, cupping her small face, smiling as she watched Naruto eat.
At this time, Ino still had short hair and wasn't as lively as she would be after the story began; instead, she was somewhat aloof, quiet, and had a big-sister demeanor, only showing her sweet and cute side when facing Naruto.
"Naruto, are you practicing Ninjutsu?"
"Just some Chakra control techniques."
Naruto shook his head; once he mastered water walking, he could essentially use most Ninjutsu except for advanced ones like Rasengan and Flying Thunder God.
This wouldn't take long, no more than three days at most; after personally experiencing the characteristics of Chakra, he planned to use Shadow Clone to speed up his training starting this afternoon.
Although he didn't have Multiple Shadow Clones, with the characteristics of the Shadow Clone, accelerating his training speed by twenty or thirty times was no problem.
After finishing his meal, Naruto went to the river to wash his hands, shook off the water, and formed hand signs.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Bang, bang, bang, bang...
Puffs of smoke exploded, and more than a dozen figures appeared by the river, leaving Ino wide-eyed.
"So amazing!"
The little girl excitedly clasped her hands over her heart: "You can create so many clones!"
Hearing Ino's words, Naruto shook his head slightly; this was his first time using the Shadow Clone, and the results, to him, were not very satisfactory.
Firstly, he wasted too much Chakra, and secondly, the number of clones was too few.
Because for those with immense Chakra, the Shadow Clone Jutsu could potentially evolve into Multiple Shadow Clones based on the user's proficiency (official setting).
If he hadn't already practiced tree climbing for an entire morning, the number of clones would probably have been even fewer...
"Each of you find a tree and start practicing!"
Naruto waved his hand, giving orders like an officer reviewing a parade.
"Oorah!!"
The dozen or so Narutos scattered, each finding a tree to practice on.
Naruto naturally joined them; if he didn't practice with them, the clones would definitely rebel, he knew his own nature too well...
However, unlike the Shadow Clones, he planned to train in Taijutsu.
Shadow Clones cannot withstand heavy blows and are not true flesh and blood, so they cannot bring about an increase in physical strength; at most, they can only improve Taijutsu skills.
Bang!
He threw a punch at the tree trunk, feeling pain, then shook his hand and silently joined the tree-climbing group.