Chapter 27: Naruto's Heart of the Strong
Naruto managed to endure the pounding of the waterfall for half an incense stick's time, but the moment he finished this training, his physical strength reached its limit.
Under the dual effects of mental relaxation and physical exhaustion, Naruto didn't walk out of the pool beneath the waterfall; instead, he fainted directly in the water.
By the time Naruto woke up again, he had been rescued by Hiko Seijuro and placed into a porcelain vat filled with various herbs.
It turned out Hiko Seijuro also knew about Medicinal Baths, which gave Naruto a higher opinion of this cheap master of his.
"Master, I'm hungry..." The awakened Naruto felt a gnawing hunger in his belly, and since he had completed the training task Hiko Seijuro assigned, he wasn't about to be polite now.
"Here, eat this." Hiko Seijuro handed Naruto a large braised pork hock. "After you finish eating, I'll add some more 'ingredients' for you."
Naruto didn't know Hiko Seijuro that well, but through his tone and expression, Naruto judged that nothing good was about to happen.
Sure enough, while Naruto was halfway through eating, Hiko Seijuro brought over the circular wooden lid Naruto had used during his waterfall training, holding a bag of herbal dregs whose original appearance was indistinguishable.
"I remember you brat shouting at me that practicing under the waterfall would damage your Foundation..." Hiko Seijuro smiled with ill intent. "After thinking it over, your teacher felt you were right. So this time, for your sake, I've brought out all my hidden reserves!"
"No... Master, I was joking back then... Please don't take it seriously!" Naruto chickened out instantly.
Since Hiko Seijuro was speaking in such a sarcastic Yin and Yang manner, if Naruto still didn't realize what was coming next, his eighteen years of life experience would have been for nothing.
As expected, Hiko Seijuro ignored Naruto's softening and explanations. He reached out and snatched away the half-eaten pork hock from Naruto's hand, dumped the bag of herbal dregs into the porcelain vat without a word, and slapped the circular wooden lid on.
"Master... I haven't finished eating yet... You..." Naruto's muffled voice came from inside the vat. "What kind of herbs did you add? It smells so strange!"
"It's fine, Kenshin. Stay in there obediently. If you come out alive, I'll teach you true swordsmanship tomorrow!" Hiko Seijuro communicated with Naruto while securing the wooden lid.
After securing the lid to ensure Naruto couldn't open it from the inside, he nimbly squatted down, wrapped his arms around the porcelain vat, and used his waist strength to lift the vat along with Naruto inside.
"Master, where are you taking me!" Trapped in the vat, Naruto felt a distinct swaying, and his sense of foreboding grew stronger. "Master, I really didn't mean it back then. Please spare me!"
"Hehe!" Hiko Seijuro gave a sinister laugh. "If I don't give you some potent medicine, you brat might really look down on me!"
Hiko Seijuro placed the porcelain vat on a makeshift stove. He picked up a nearby fan to fan the flames beneath the stove. Sensing they wouldn't go out, he tossed in two more handfuls of firewood.
"This is the exclusive Medicinal Bath of the Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū swordsmanship. As long as you endure it, the speed of your future swordsmanship training will definitely leap across a major threshold!"
Hiko Seijuro casually lit an incense stick and placed it on the edge of the stove. "Same old rule: half an incense stick's time counts as completion. Otherwise, I won't let you out before then."
Hiko Seijuro's tone suddenly turned cold. "If you can't hold on before the incense finishes burning, your teacher will find a nice place to bury you!"
Before Naruto could respond, the heated Medicinal Bath began to take effect. This bath, concocted with unknown herbs, started to boil, yet the surface temperature of the water wasn't high.
However, just as Naruto slightly lowered his guard, a peculiar pain, like thousands of ants biting his body, spread throughout him. Unable to hold back, a roar like that of a wild beast erupted from his throat.
"Ah... Ah!"
"Kenshin, your teacher will remind you once more." Hiko Seijuro didn't care at all about Naruto's painful roars. "This Medicinal Bath of mine can only be taken twice in a lifetime. Moreover, the longer you persist, the better the effect..."
Naruto, struggling in pain, could no longer hear Hiko Seijuro's subsequent words. He only remembered one sentence: "The longer you persist, the better the effect."
"Is this another test before truly receiving the secret teachings?!" Naruto guessed inwardly, but after only a few breaths of thought, his brain was once again occupied by the piercing pain.
Helplessly, Naruto could only try his best to clear his mind and use all his strength to resist the endless pain brought by the Medicinal Bath.
"Ah... Ah... Ah...!"
The painful roars, which had fallen silent for only a moment, echoed from the porcelain vat again. This made Hiko Seijuro, who was continuously adding wood to the stove outside, grin. With a mischievous air, he reminded Naruto once more.
"Kenshin, this Medicinal Bath of mine has one small drawback: it only works if you remain conscious. And..."
"If you can't withstand the pain and lose consciousness, you might never wake up again." Hiko Seijuro tapped the outer wall of the porcelain vat with a wooden stick. "Even if you do wake up, you'll probably become an idiot, which is no different from being dead..."
"Choose one among the three options: becoming strong, becoming an idiot, or becoming the deceased, Kenshin. Follow your heart and give me a satisfactory answer!"
Hiko Seijuro dropped the wooden stick, put his hands behind his back, and spoke with earnest gravity.
"Are you... Ah... Ah...!" Naruto, muffled in the vat, was still struggling. "Are you... not going to stop... until you've tortured... tortured me to death!"
"Hehe!"
Hiko Seijuro responded with a few dismissive chuckles and ignored Naruto, letting him roar and curse inside the vat. Hearing Naruto's screams, Hiko Seijuro added wood even more vigorously...
Inside the porcelain vat, Naruto was breaking down. He felt like someone else's rations, stuffed into a vat and boiled over a fire. During the boiling process, the medicinal power of the herbs in the bath completely evaporated.
Not only did it enter Naruto's muscles through the liquid, but it also followed the rhythm of his breathing, forcing its way into the depths of his body. This caused Naruto to feel the same pain of ten thousand ants devouring his heart, both inside and outside his body, without distinction.
"That was the first time I witnessed the power deep within a person's heart..." The Nine-Tailed's words began to echo again. "It is both poignantly beautiful and powerful..."
"I, Uzumaki Naruto, am second to none!" Narutoclenched his teeth and roared inwardly. "What my parents could achieve, I can do as well!"
"Beat the Fox Monster to death!" Scenes of past humiliations surfaced before Naruto's eyes.
"The strong are always strong, and the weak are always weak. This isn't a fallacy; it's just that the weak lack a heart that desires to become strong..." The teachings of his National Martial Arts master from his previous life also appeared. "As long as you have it, there is no distinction between strong and weak!"
"I! WILL! NOT! YIELD!" Naruto roared!
The resentment suppressed for nearly eighteen years was completely released through the Body Refining under the waterfall at noon and the current torture of the Medicinal Bath!
"Since I don't have what they have! Then!"
"I must have what they don't have!" Naruto bit the tip of his tongue. "In this life, I shall endure pain that ordinary people cannot withstand and ascend to the mountain peaks that others have failed to reach! No one can stop me, I said so!"
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