Inside the dim hospital room, the dying Uzumaki Naruto suddenly opened his eyes once more.
A sharp glint flashed across them.
Then, to anyone’s disbelief, he slowly sat up.
His limbs and body, which should have been utterly powerless, now seemed to contain astonishing strength.
“Just as I thought,” Naruto murmured inwardly.
“That old man, the Sage of Six Paths, wasn’t lying.
He awakened Ashura’s chakra, and now my body is overflowing with power.”
Calling the Sage an “old man” was admittedly rather disrespectful.
After all, Naruto had shamelessly tried to squeeze a little more out of him and ask for Six Paths Power as well.
But this wasn’t the Fourth Great Ninja War.
There was no resurrected Ōtsutsuki Kaguya threatening the world.
Naturally, the Sage had no reason to casually bestow such a gift.
Honestly, awakening Ashura’s chakra alone was already an enormous favor.
The Sage’s soul had always drifted through the ninja world, silently watching over the reincarnations of Ashura and Indra’s chakra and witnessing the endless conflicts between their descendants.
That was why he had discovered Naruto’s situation in time.
Asking for even more that had been pushing it.
Unlike his brother Indra, Ashura hadn’t inherited the Sage’s Eyes.
Instead, he inherited the Sage’s Body.
The moment Ashura’s chakra awakened even though Naruto had only been alive for a single day.
His body was suddenly overflowing with strength.
He easily sat upright.
Then he turned around and picked up the bottle of formula lying beside him.
Such a tiny action would normally be impossible for a newborn.
But Naruto could do it now.
Holding the bottle in both hands, he finally got the nipple into his mouth.
Then he began drinking frantically.
The formula had long since gone cold.
Normally, a newborn’s stomach couldn’t properly handle cold formula.
Even regular formulas should be given carefully.
But Naruto no longer cared.
Besides, with his current body something this trivial no longer mattered.
Although he hadn’t received Six Paths Power he had already awakened a lesser version of the Sage’s Body.
That alone would grant him tremendous benefits.
Take Senju Hashirama, for example.
Because he was also a reincarnation of Ashura’s chakra, he possessed Wood Release.
Not only was it overwhelmingly powerful it also contained countless mysterious properties.
For example, Hashirama didn’t need hand seals.
He didn’t even require medical ninjutsu.
His body naturally possessed incredible regenerative abilities.
His life force was equally terrifying.
Had he not fought Uchiha Madara to the death, no one knew how long he might have lived.
Hashirama also possessed Sage Mode.
It was entirely his own.
He didn’t need hand seals.
Nor did he need to painstakingly gather natural energy.
As the saying went he simply clapped his hands together, and Sage Mode was activated.
In fact, Wood Release was fundamentally different from every other ninjutsu.
Rather than being a simple elemental technique, it was much closer to life itself.
It also bore a far stronger connection to the Ten-Tails.
The Ten-Tails was the Divine Tree.
The chakra nurtured and absorbed by the Divine Tree wasn’t ordinary ninja chakra.
It was natural energy.
Everyone knew that Sage Mode combined ordinary chakra with natural energy.
If Wood Release truly originated from the Divine Tree then perhaps mastering Wood Release naturally granted the ability to use Sage Mode.
Maybe that was why Hashirama had suddenly been able to use it.
Perhaps he hadn’t learned it from Shikkotsu Forest at all.
Perhaps Wood Release itself had given him that power.
Of course that was a topic for another time.
Meanwhile.
After greedily emptying the entire bottle of formula in one go, Naruto finally felt his stomach fall silent.
With a satisfied expression, he collapsed backward onto the bed.
At last he was full.
And the threat of death had finally passed.
Lying there, however, Naruto didn’t immediately go back to sleep.
Instead, he stared blankly at the ceiling.
The truth was he had already died once.
That was probably why the Sage of Six Paths had appeared.
After all, hadn’t Hagoromo only appeared in the original story when Naruto and Sasuke were both on the verge of death?
The only difference was his meeting with the Sage had happened far earlier than it should have.
“I’ve already died once.”
“I starved to death.”
“Looks like I can’t stay in this Konoha anymore.”
Naruto narrowed his eyes.
A thought suddenly took root in his mind.
He wanted to leave Konoha.
“They don’t even feed me.”
“I nearly starved to death.”
“Whoever wants to stay in this damn village can stay.”
“I’m done serving it.”
The more Naruto thought about it, the angrier he became.
Forget being treated like the son of a hero.
Forget receiving the privileges due to the Fourth Hokage’s child.
They had nearly let him starve to death.
Had the Sage of Six Paths not intervened and awakened Ashura’s chakra.
He would already be dead.
And when he thought about all the discrimination and unfair treatment waiting for him in the future his emotions nearly exploded.
Back when he had only been a reader and viewer.
He had sympathized with Naruto countless times.
But now that he was personally experiencing everything.
He realized something.
If the protagonist hadn’t been the original Naruto.
Almost anyone else would have fallen into darkness.
No, not almost.
They definitely would have.
Even Menma Uzumaki, Naruto’s counterpart in the Road to Ninja alternate world, had gone down a dark path.
That alone proved not everyone could endure Naruto’s childhood and Naruto the current Naruto had already reached his limit.
After all he had genuinely experienced death.
Just last night, his parents in this world had sacrificed their lives for Konoha.
Then, less than twenty-four hours later their son had nearly starved to death.
Who could possibly accept something like that?
“Still.”
“Right now, I can’t do anything.”
“I’ll have to endure for a while longer.”
“Once I have enough strength to leave Konoha and protect myself then I’ll make my move.”
“Before that, though, I need to prepare.”
“I’ll begin training as early as possible.”
“As a transmigrator, I can’t afford to lose at the starting line.”
“Tree-climbing training,Water-walking training.”
“I’ll start both as soon as I can and I also need to thoroughly understand chakra.”
“Besides Kurama is my greatest trump card even though the Nine-Tails caused my parents’ deaths it wasn’t the true culprit.”
“If Kurama is the blade then the one wielding it is my real enemy.”
“Obito Uchiha.”
“My parents never wronged you.”
“The one responsible for Nohara Rin’s death was Madara Uchiha.”
“You idiot.”
“You never even realized you’d been manipulated from the very beginning.”
“Instead, you took your anger out on the people who cared about you.”
“How brave.”
“Too cowardly to lash out at your enemies yet all too eager to throw punches at your own side.”
“One day I’ll avenge my parents.”
“Just wait for me.”
“You’d better still be alive when that day comes.”
The moment Naruto thought of his true enemy, Obito Uchiha the color of his eyes shifted.
For an instant, the blue in them almost turned crimson.
Finally, Naruto muttered to himself with determination,
“Kurama I’m definitely going to win you over.”