Chapter 26: The Beginning of Naruto's Transformation
After practicing the Battōjutsu 1,500 times, even though Naruto was holding a wooden sword, his arms were so swollen and his muscles so sore that he couldn't even lift his entire arm.
And that wasn't the end of it. After finishing the practice, Hiko Seijuro only gave Naruto a little food before dragging him by the collar to a massive waterfall.
Naruto also had the privilege of experiencing what it felt like to have nothing left to live for.
"A swordsman must not only have excellent five senses and precise, fast hands; a lower body as steady as a rock is equally vital!" Hiko Seijurokicked Naruto into the pool formed by the waterfall's impact and casually threw him a wooden disk that looked like a water vat lid.
"Hold it with both hands on top of your head. You can come up for dinner once you can hold out for half an incense stick's time without falling!"
Hiko Seijuro left after saying this, leaving Narutoalone to endure the waterfall's pummeling, unable to even straighten his back. This crude teaching method was truly an eye-opener for Naruto.
"This is overdrawing my body!" Having received training in National Martial Arts, Naruto had an instinctive aversion to this kind of shortcut method that prioritized damaging the body. "My body simply cannot support this level of training intensity!"
Hiko Seijuro, who was about to leave, paused and turned his head to give Naruto a deep look. "These are all excuses. If you can't handle it, you don't need to stay here anymore!"
After saying that, Hiko Seijuro ignored Naruto and vanished from his sight in an instant.
"Forget it, forget it. I'll just treat it as honing my will..." Naruto knew he had made a mistake and stopped dwelling on Hiko Seijuro's training method. "Anyway, this isn't my own body. As long as I can hold on, I'll push myself to the limit!"
Having come to terms with it, Naruto stopped struggling and began to accept the waterfall's downpour with a focused mind.
But the immense force of the waterfall was not so easy to withstand. Moreover, the body Narutooccupied was only about seven or eight years old, and the strength within it was simply insufficient to support such a long period of pummeling.
Sensing what was about to happen, Naruto began to think of a way. His active mind started turning; he decided he had to settle this quickly.
After staying under the waterfall for less than a minute, Naruto felt his body heat rapidly dissipating and his stamina being constantly drained. If he continued like this, let alone holding the wooden disk for half an incense stick's time, he might not even have the strength to stand.
Without delay, Naruto assumed the Horse Stancefrom National Martial Arts, lowering his center of gravity as much as possible to make his lower body as solid as the roots of an old tree.
After taking two deep breaths, Naruto exerted force from his waist and raised his pre-straightened arms above his head...
Unbeknownst to Naruto, Hiko Seijuro had quietly returned to the waterfall. He was well-hidden and had not been noticed.
Hiko Seijuro saw all of Naruto's recent actions. "Good Comprehension Ability, decent Heart-Nature, but just a bit lacking in perseverance..."
It turned out this was merely a test. Although practicing the lower body and arm strength under a waterfall was a method Hiko Seijuro had planned long ago, as Naruto said, making a child with an immature body practice it now was completely like pulling seedlings to help them grow.
"Furthermore, Kenshin's level of self-preservation exceeds my expectations. In that case, this will be his greatest flaw in future Iaijutsu practice or actual combat."
It could be said that Hiko Seijuro, Naruto's cheap master, was a power ceiling in this world, and his insight was far beyond that of ordinary people.
All the evaluations he gave Naruto were very objective, and in his heart, he already had specific training methods for these weaknesses in Naruto's character.
Naruto, with only 18 years of life experience, was still too green. After all, he had only lived through a quarter of a typical life's length; having various flaws was only natural.
But Naruto had possessed qualities since birth that ordinary people lacked. What he lacked was just the events or people to polish him. Fortunately, Hiko Seijuro was someone skilled at polishing fine jade.
Shifting the focus back to Naruto, who was struggling under the waterfall, he had already held out for five minutes. There were still ten minutes left until the half-incense stick time Hiko Seijurohad set.
However, Naruto's arms had begun to tremble violently, and he had lost all sensation below his waist. The only reason he could still stand was entirely due to his willpower.
"Just treat this as honing my will!" Narutoencouraged himself in his heart. "Think about the unfair treatment I suffered when I was young! Think about the brief freedom I gained only through compromise and calculation!"
Naruto gritted his teeth. His back, which had become somewhat hunched, straightened again, and his arms were raised high once more. He closed his eyes, simulating in his mind all the difficulties he would encounter after his return.
But for some reason, what echoed deep in Naruto's mind was the vividly carved fourth statue on the Hokage Rock—the statue of his father, Minato Namikaze.
"That's the beast claw I used to attack you back then." The Nine-Tailed's words describing Minato Namikaze's death suddenly rang in Naruto's ears. "But your father, to protect your mother and you, stood right in front of it..."
"It was only this much distance away." The Nine-Tailed gestured with its claw. "But it was stubbornly blocked by those two with their bodies of flesh and blood. To be honest, that was the first time I witnessed the power deep within a human's heart."
The Nine-Tailed shook its fox head with some emotion. "This power is both tragic and powerful, something we Tailed Beasts have never experienced..."
"I will drag the mastermind out from behind the scenes to appease my parents' spirits!" Narutoroared in his heart. "If I can't even endure this little bit of hardship, how can I grow quickly?! Am I just going to rely on those little tricks to develop in secret?!"
"No!" Naruto suddenly opened his eyes, which were full of determination. "Only by seizing every opportunity, every possibility, and enduring every trial can I climb to the Peak step by step and seek justice for myself and my parents!"
Naruto's body suddenly stood firmer. He didn't even realize he had bitten his lip until it bled. Naruto's heart had transformed...
In the distance, Hiko Seijuro, who was silently observing, suddenly smiled. Looking at Naruto's expression, he knew that the Disciple he had chosen had begun his own path of refining the heart.
This was Hiko Seijuro's original intention for arranging this training, and it was the result he had wanted to see from the beginning.
A swordsman must not only have a strong physique and superb skills; a strong and determined heart is equally important.
"It seems that tomorrow, it will be time for Kenshin to practice the true Hiten Mitsurugi-ryūswordsmanship..."
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