Naruto had two opportunities in his life.
The first opportunity was when he lost his parents.
The second opportunity was when he met Hagoromo.
Even if Jiraiya didn't die, he would've still learned Sage Mode. So, that wasn't an opportunity.
It would've been an opportunity if he weren't the student of Jiraiya.
Kakashi had always favored Sasuke because of Obito. He saw the last remaining member of Obito's clan in Sasuke.
So, he did everything he could to help him.
But that wasn't enough.
So, Sasuke looked for someone else. For Naruto, that wasn't so easy.
It was clear that his basics were extremely bad. It took him two years to fix all of his basics.
One extra year to learn controlling Nine-Tails Chakra and bigger Rasengan.
It wasn't because Naruto didn't have the talent to grow stronger. He didn't chase after the opportunity.
For him, Summoning Jutsu and Rasengan were some of the things that belonged to him.
The last user of the Summoning Jutsu was his father, so it was meant to be passed down to him.
The creator of Rasengan was also his father, so it made perfect sense that it belonged to him.
Sasuke's situation was a bit different. He chased opportunities with Orochimaru, using his technology and achievements to grow stronger.
Sasuke not only closed the gap in skills and Jutsu but also in terms of Chakra and strength.
Normally, Chakra had a linear growth pattern. It could only be boosted through certain things, like upgrading or awakening the bloodline.
Sasuke already had Three Tomoe Sharingan before he joined Orochimaru. So, his Chakra reserves were improved because of the drugs that Orochimaru made.
Sasuke didn't own Chidori like Naruto did with Rasengan, but he made it his own. That's the difference between Naruto and Sasuke.
Naruto never understood it. He always thought he needed to get stronger by mastering his own power.
But that was always Kurama's power.
Jiraiya believed that was his power. Minato believed that would be his power. Even his mom helped him make that his power.
But he never thought for a single second that it wasn't his power.
Just like Kakashi.
That Sharingan wasn't his power. He could use it. He could take it to Mangekyo level simply by training it since it was already awakened.
But, it wasn't eye.
It was only after he lost that eye that he truly became a powerhouse.
With seemingly larger than Jiraiya's Chakra Reserves, mastery over all five Chakra Natures, and his own jutsu known as Purple Lightning.
Sharingan didn't improve his talent. They just gave him shortcuts to mastering a Jutsu he created.
Naruto's situation was much worse than his. Because not only Naruto was Naruto not gaining anything at first, he was also losing a lot.
Because of Kurama, he couldn't use Shadow Clone Jutsu until he met with Yamato.
Otherwise, there was a high chance that he would go berserk due to high Chakra consumption.
He had always been using his Chakra to suppress the seal. So, when the seal was weakened, this could easily lead to him going berserk.
That's why he could only train using Shadow Clones with Yamato.
So, even though Naruto had a lot of talent, Kurama always held him back.
Of course, Naruto didn't know that before. And, he didn't care much afterward.
But it was something that made Naruto overly reliant on Kurama.
Completely forgetting that he was the son of Minato, a genius ninja with talent equal to Hashirama.
He also inherited the Uzumaki Bloodline. While it was only half, it was still a powerful bloodline.
He also had the Chakra of Ashura. Although that wasn't very useful, it did give him a better physique and regenerative Chakra.
Talent wasn't something that skips generation.
It would always be there, hiding in some capacity. One would need to find out.
The charm of the second generation wasn't talent but the heights they could reach if they used that talent.
Naruto, without Kurama, was Menma Uzumaki.
Even if he didn't take the path of gathering the Chakra of other Tailed Beasts, he would still be stronger than his father.
Because that was potential, and he had the opportunity to fully explore it.
Unfortunately, Naruto didn't.
Simply because he was made to believe that Kurama was his power.
Naruto didn't master the bloodlines he received. He didn't try to master the Jutsu of his father or mother.
He simply used Kurama's power, and when he lost it, he became weaker than Sasuke, who also lost Rinnegan.
Sasuke only lost Rinnegan. He didn't lose his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. He didn't lose his Lightning Chakra, which made him equal to Naruto in speed.
He only lost the basic functions of Rinnegan alongside Space-Time Ninjutsu.
Naruto lost speed, strength, regeneration, and Jutsu like the Tailed Beast Ball.
He couldn't enter Sage Mode like before. Nor could he accept the power of other Tailed Beasts without Kurama as the link.
In other words, he lost so much of his strength simply because he lost Kurama.
That realization hit him.
Naruto understood that Kurama was his power, but without even mastering his own strength, he shouldn't rely on Kurama.
He knew some borders were impossible to cross without Otsutsuki's Chakra.
But he still had the potential to be as strong as Hashirama and Madara without Kurama.
And that was the potential he needed to unlock.
Using the training method he recently found, he needed to be as strong as those two.
Then, he would surpass them.
After all, he had Kurama within him.
This was his truest feeling, and this was why Kurama didn't feel bad about Naruto trying so hard.
Naruto had fully accepted Kurama in his heart, and Kurama knew this.
But Minato and Kushina felt bad, watching their son break his body again and again, only to get recovered using Kurama's Chakra.
This process was gruesome, and he wasn't going to stop any time soon.
After all, the first to start was the Water nature Chakra.
Only after this, he would start with Wind nature.