Chapter 2 — The Slacking Admiral, the Training Space
Borsalino was a character from One Piece.
A naval officer under the World Government, codenamed "Kizaru." He was one of the Navy Headquarters' highest combat forces—the Marine Admirals—and possessed terrifying strength.
And he loved slacking off.
In truth, when Naruto first saw Marine Admiral Kizaru, he was completely stunned.
In this life, he was Uzumaki Naruto.
Wasn't there supposed to be the Nine-Tails inside him?
So why was it a Marine Admiral instead?
That said, the other party was extremely friendly. After understanding Naruto's situation, he readily agreed to teach him how to become stronger.
His reason was simple:
"My justice won't allow me to turn a blind eye to something like this."
Even as a slacking admiral, Borsalino—Kizaru—still had justice in his heart.
Of course, he also had one condition.
"If we can meet in the future, come join the Navy and take my place."
The highest realm of slacking off was finding a successor—letting them do the work while you retired early and enjoyed your pension.
Kizaru quickly noticed Naruto's physical talent. Though his body was still somewhat weak, his potential was boundless. He was excellent material.
Naruto found it a bit strange, but he still agreed without hesitation.
Does Kizaru not realize that we're not even in the same world?
Sure enough, a few days later, when Naruto met Kizaru again in his inner space, Kizaru complained endlessly about having gotten the short end of the stick.
Clearly, he had tried searching for Uzumaki Naruto of Konoha Village in the Land of Fire through Navy and World Government channels.
Naturally, he found nothing.
They weren't even in the same world—how could he possibly find him?
Still, despite all the grumbling, Kizaru's teaching did not slack off in the slightest.
Under Kizaru's guidance—and with the amplification of the training space—Naruto quickly mastered Kizaru's kicking techniques.
But technique alone wasn't enough. Physical conditioning was just as important.
That was why Naruto had forced the Third Hokage to provide sufficient supplies.
The upside was that it met the physical requirements for training Kizaru's kicks and reduced the number of cold stares and hostile looks he had to endure.
The downside was that it worsened Naruto's impression in the Third Hokage's mind.
But that downside was practically meaningless.
Naruto knew very well that as long as he didn't commit any fundamental mistakes—like defecting from the village—the Third Hokage wouldn't do anything to him.
After all, he was the extremely important Nine-Tails jinchūriki.
With sufficient material support, Naruto's physical growth skyrocketed over the span of two years under Kizaru's guidance.
In the original story, Naruto was shorter than his peers due to malnutrition. But now, he was already a head taller than children his age, with a sturdy and well-built body.
Because of this, Naruto could afford to adopt his current attitude toward others.
Disgusted and hostile gazes?
He treated them as if they didn't exist.
But if someone dared to spew insults—or even raise a hand—he would strike back without hesitation.
Just like he did to the three brats bullying Hinata.
Naruto was not that Naruto.
To anyone who dared offend him, he showed no mercy.
As for why he mimicked Kizaru's appearance and mannerisms—it simply felt better to use kicking techniques with that kind of aura.
After flipping through the rest of the books, Naruto immediately climbed into bed.
Aside from the flashy but impractical Will of Fire, the books the Third Hokage had brought included A Brief History of the Ninja World, The Great Hokage of Konoha, Chakra Extraction Methods, The Three Basic Techniques, Fundamentals of Taijutsu Training, Basic Overview of Ninja Tool Throwing, and more.
Setting aside The Great Hokage of Konoha and Fundamentals of Taijutsu Training, the rest were all extremely useful to Naruto.
Although he'd been a Naruto fan in his previous life, the original work didn't cover everything. His understanding of this world's finer details was still incomplete.
A Brief History of the Ninja World filled in many of those gaps.
As for Chakra Extraction Methods, The Three Basic Techniques, and Basic Overview of Ninja Tool Throwing, these were all practical manuals.
After all, the original manga never explained how chakra was refined, how the three basic techniques were trained, or how ninja tools were properly thrown.
The only technique with a detailed training method was the A-rank, no-hand-seal jutsu invented by his father in this life—the Rasengan.
Once he could refine chakra, that jutsu could be added to his training plan.
Naruto was eager to try real ninjutsu as well.
But chakra training could wait until tomorrow.
This wasn't something to rush—and today was also the usual weekly evaluation day.
It was time to see Kizaru.
Living in an environment saturated with malice, with the only person he could speak to being utterly hypocritical—even with memories of a past life, Naruto still longed to talk to someone.
And the Kizaru in his mind was the perfect conversational partner.
Under the surveillance of ANBU outside the window, Naruto closed his eyes.
His consciousness entered the inner world he called the "Training Space."
Within the pristine white expanse, a towering figure was already waiting.
Nearly three meters tall, draped in a loose white coat with the word "Justice" emblazoned on the back, his entire presence radiated a strange sense of reassurance.
He had short, naturally curly black hair, a ring of stubble around his face, and wore yellow-tinted sunglasses.
His appearance was slightly sleazy—but in a way that didn't inspire any real dislike.
His tall, lean frame was dressed in a yellow-and-white striped suit, a purple tie, a dark green shirt, and white leather shoes, giving him an aura that constantly oscillated between shady and sharp.
"Uncle Borsalino!"
Naruto called out happily, breaking into a genuine smile as he ran over.
This smile—
Even Sarutobi Hiruzen had never seen it.
The only one who had ever seen it was the man before him: Borsalino.
"Yo~ little Naruto. Good evening."
Kizaru greeted him lazily. His tone wasn't especially warm, but compared to the people of Konoha, it was leagues better.
After exchanging greetings, the evaluation began.
Due to the massive difference in their sizes, sparring was naturally out of the question.
As for how the evaluation worked—Naruto was already well practiced.
With a thought, wooden posts, walls, and other training equipment instantly materialized in the white space.
The training space greatly amplified Naruto's training efficiency, and it could also fulfill certain requests—such as manifesting training tools.
However, the space wasn't permanently accessible.
Naruto could only use it twice per week.
In other words, he could only see Kizaru twice a week.
That was why Naruto cherished every single opportunity.
Under Kizaru's gaze, Naruto unleashed his kicking techniques, weaving between posts and walls, striking with explosive speed and precision.
Bang! Bang! Bang!!
Wooden posts shattered one after another. Walls exploded into fragments.
Earlier that day, Naruto had actually been holding back against those kids.
Otherwise, with kicks like these, a single strike would have killed them.
"That's terrifying~" Kizaru's voice drifted over.