The more rumors that spread, the harder it became to distinguish which information was true and which was merely fabricated by people who wanted to make the situation more chaotic.
By now, I could no longer consider all of this a coincidence. If the previous reports about the deaths of the female versions of Hashirama and Madara could still be dismissed as mere rumors without strong evidence, then the situation was now completely different.
The attack on Konoha Village was no longer just a rumor being passed from one person to another.
There were too many witnesses and too many reports appearing at the same time for me to simply ignore them.
The attack on Konoha Village, along with the reports that Mito had disappeared, became clear evidence that something had truly happened.
Someone was clearly causing a massive disturbance, or rather, something completely unexpected was taking place in this world.
A change this significant in history was not something that could simply be ignored. The people who should have become the strongest pillars of the shinobi world were instead meeting fates that had never existed in my memories.
One event after another seemed to continuously destroy my belief that the future of this world could still be predicted.
Every new piece of news pushed this world further away from all the knowledge I had brought with me from my original world.
What I had once considered my greatest advantage was slowly becoming outdated information that could no longer serve as a reliable guide when making decisions.
The more information I obtained, the more convinced I became that this world was truly different from the Naruto world I knew.
It was not merely a matter of the characters having their genders switched. The course of history itself was slowly changing in a direction that I could not predict at all.
These changes might seem small when viewed separately, but when put together, they formed a new history that was almost entirely different from what I remembered.
The knowledge that had once been my greatest advantage was gradually losing its value because the future of this world had already moved onto a different path.
I could no longer rely on my memories of the Naruto anime to know what would happen next.
Even though all the information circulating was extremely concerning, I still chose to continue living my days as usual.
Spending too much time thinking about the changes in history would not change reality. Instead, it would only hinder my own progress.
I continued accepting missions as a bounty hunter, gathering money, training all of my abilities, and collecting as much information as possible.
As long as I still had opportunities to grow stronger, I had no intention of wasting my time simply because I was surrounded by uncertainty.
To me, continuing to move forward was far more useful than constantly thinking about something I could not yet confirm. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
Panic would not make me stronger, whereas training could at least increase my chances of survival.
In a world filled with danger like this, strength was far more valuable than mere worry.
Whenever I had free time, I used it to gradually improve my weaknesses.
No matter how small the improvement I managed to achieve was, it was still a step forward compared to remaining in the same place.
The constant increase in my combat experience allowed me to understand my own fighting style better, while also making me realize just how many weaknesses I still needed to fix.
I was beginning to understand when I needed to attack aggressively, when I needed to remain patient, and when I should make use of each ability I possessed as efficiently as possible.
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...
Before I realized it, an entire year had already passed since I first arrived in this world. During that year, my strength had developed far more rapidly than I had ever imagined.
Time seemed to pass incredibly quickly. The days that had initially been filled with confusion had now turned into an exhausting routine, but one that also brought extremely satisfying results.
Every day I spent here was filled with training, battles, and new experiences that continued to hone my abilities.
Little by little, I had now begun to stand on equal footing with the powerful ninja of this world. The gap in strength that had once felt so enormous was gradually being narrowed through my relentless efforts.
The various life-and-death battles I had experienced had shaped me into a much more experienced ninja than before.
I no longer fought by relying solely on instinct or courage. Instead, I also relied on the experience I continued to gain from every opponent I had ever faced.
Every wound, every victory, and even every minor defeat I had experienced became a valuable lesson.
Not a single experience was truly wasted, because every mistake always gave me an opportunity to become better.
That kind of experience could never be obtained through ordinary training alone, because every battle constantly forced me to make decisions within a matter of seconds.
Even the smallest mistake could end in death, causing my combat instincts to develop much faster than before.
Such an ability was certainly not something I could achieve overnight. It was the result of endless training and the experience I had accumulated throughout the past year.
Every movement I made now felt far more efficient. I was able to read the rhythm of my opponent's attacks better, take advantage of even the smallest openings, and conserve my Chakra more effectively throughout a battle.
The movements that had once been filled with hesitation had now become much calmer and more calculated.
The experience I had gained during the past year in this world had truly changed the way I fought.
I had begun to understand that victory was not determined solely by overwhelming strength, but also by making the right decision at the most crucial moment.
All of this was the result of endless training, continuously increasing combat experience, and taking advantage of every opportunity to strengthen myself.
There were no shortcuts that I had taken, because every improvement I achieved had always been paid for with time, effort, and considerable risk.
One of the biggest reasons behind my rapid increase in strength was my success in creating the Rasengan and Chidori in this world.
As someone with affinities for Wind, Fire, Water, and Lightning Release, I was fortunate to already understand the entire theory behind the creation of the Rasengan from the Naruto anime.
Meanwhile, the basic theory behind the Chidori was actually quite simple for most ninja: simply channel Lightning Chakra directly into the palm of one's hand.
In principle, a ninja only needed to concentrate all of their Chakra within their body, gather it at a single point, and then compress it into a highly destructive bolt of lightning.
However, putting that theory into practice was clearly not an easy matter, especially for a beginner who was not accustomed to the extremely volatile fluctuations of Lightning Release.
The inherently unstable nature of lightning, which constantly crackled and burst unpredictably, demanded an extremely high level of concentration. Otherwise, the energy could run wild and injure its user before it could even be released toward the enemy.
Under normal circumstances, Chidori usually required a series of complicated hand seals to stabilize the flow of Chakra surging through the body.
Every movement of the fingers served as a stabilizing anchor, ensuring that the intensity of the electrical energy gathered in the palm remained completely under the ninja's control throughout the arduous training process.
Because I could not remember the confusing sequence of hand seals, I decided to skip the entire conventional process that was normally taught.
Rather than wasting precious time trying to recall vague memories, I chose an extreme shortcut for the sake of efficiency by directly channeling pure Lightning Chakra toward the palm of my right hand.
This reckless and dangerous decision caused the difficulty of my training to increase drastically, triggering an excruciating pain that burned along the meridian pathways of my arm.
[Note: This is my other novel: As a Blacksmith in the World of Jujutsu Kaisen. As the White Spider-Man in Earth-76 with the Spider-Man System]