The roar of the waterfall filled the air, a cascade plunging into a seemingly bottomless pool below. Naruto craned his neck, eyes wide, and swallowed hard. His throat felt tight. "Sensei," he began, his voice small against the thundering water, "do we really have to...?"
Goku's affirmative echo resonated in his mind, leaving no room for argument.
'So this is it,' Naruto thought.
Taking a ragged breath, he yelled, "Here goes nothing!" and launched himself forward.
*Splash!*
The icy shock of the water jolted him, the current immediately tugging at his small frame. This was Goku's way, learned from Master Roshi himself – the Turtle School style. It wasn't just about fighting, it was a philosophy. Train with everything you have, push your body past its limits, break through them, and then rest completely. Let the mind and body recover fully, soaking up the gains before pushing again.
Master Roshi put it simply: 'Train hard, study hard, play hard, eat well, and rest well.' Sounds easy enough, but living it? That was the real challenge. Life always found ways to interfere. It demanded focus, a pure dedication that was hard to maintain. Eating, playing, resting – it wasn't just downtime, it was all part of honing the mind, stripping away distractions until only the essentials remained. Simple. Pure. Back to basics.
Goku, shaped by Roshi's teachings through countless battles, was a true master. Yet the basic Turtle School training remained deceptively simple: Swimming, Milk Delivery, Studying, Plowing, and Construction Work. Mundane tasks, seemingly. Any worker could do them.
But the Turtle School way was different. Swimming wasn't just laps, it was crossing lakes, sometimes with sharks giving chase. Milk Delivery meant outrunning dinosaurs. Plowing wasn't done with tools, but with bare hands tearing through earth. Construction wasn't teamwork, it was one person doing the job of an entire crew. Mastering these built the foundation. Body and mind, forged together. That was the secret.
And right now, Naruto was 'Swimming.' Since Konoha lacked lakes and sharks, Goku had adapted. The waterfall provided the resistance, its powerful current and crushing pressure forcing Naruto to fight, to adapt, to survive.
Goku knew that survival instincts, unlocked incredible power. And that power would fuel Naruto's growth. Sometimes, you needed a push.
"Remember what I told you, kid," Goku's voice echoed in Naruto's head, steady and calm amidst the roaring water. "Use your breathing. Coordinate it with your movements. Don't just flail around with brute strength."
These weren't mindless endurance tests. Raw power had its limits. Ignoring technique, ignoring your own body – that was just asking for trouble. Each exercise had specific breathing patterns, unique ways to generate force without breaking yourself.
Naruto forced himself to calm down, pushing the panic back, recalling Goku's lessons from the quiet space within the seal. 'Deep breath... focus the energy... left hand forward... push!'
He was immediately swept away by the churning water. He was still too small, too light to fight this kind of force head-on.
Just before the current could hurl him over the edge, a figure flickered nearby. A black-clad ninja, face hidden behind a fox mask, snatched him by the back of his collar, lifting him clear. Anbu. Always watching.
Naruto had sensed them nearby, knew they wouldn't let the village's Jinchuriki actually drown. It was the only reason he'd dared to attempt something so reckless.
"Thanks, mister!" Naruto offered his brightest, sweetest smile, ignoring the wave of coldness rolling off the masked ninja.
All he got in return was a sharper glare. He was used to it by now.
'Yeah, figures,' Naruto thought, hiding his anger. 'Whatever. Hate me all you want, you still gotta save me.' He felt a flicker of defiance. 'Go ahead. What doesn't kill me only makes me stronger.'
Day after day, Naruto threw himself into the Turtle School training. No milk routes? Fine. He practiced precision throwing by lobbing large stones onto the roofs of those villagers who glared the hardest. No construction sites? He'd single-handedly 'relocate' the roof of someone who'd muttered curses at him. No fields needing plowing? He'd 'volunteer' a particularly hostile shopkeeper's back garden for some bare-handed tilling. Naruto privately called it 'spreading affection.'
To outsiders, the training Naruto did under Goku's guidance looked like nothing more than being naughty, mischievous, causing trouble, and playing pranks.
Complaints flooded the Hokage's office. They achieved nothing. As long as Naruto wasn't actually hurting anyone, the old man seemed content, perhaps even amused. He'd occasionally seek Naruto out, offering kind words or a small treat, clearly trying to foster dependence.
Naruto played along, giving the Hokage the respectful, eager responses he seemed to expect. It might have even worked, if not for the faint, almost hidden trace of apathy Naruto sensed beneath the Hokage's kindly facade.
Faced with the villagers' anger, the Hokage remained noncommittal. No clear support for Naruto, but no condemnation either. This lack of resolution only deepened the villagers resentment towards the boy. But the Hokage 's unspoken decree held: no one was to physically harm Naruto. Not that many could. Even at four years old, fueled by Turtle School training, Naruto was surprisingly strong and ridiculously resilient.
He learned not to care what they thought. Being perfectly behaved wouldn't lessen their hostility anyway.
Spring turned to autumn. Training became Naruto's entire world, an addictive cycle of exertion and recovery. A year flew by in a blur of sweat, strain, and small, hard-won victories. Like lifting weights, the constant push, the feeling of getting stronger – it hooked him deep.
"Another lovely morning," Naruto muttered to his reflection, sensing the familiar undercurrent of animosity from the village beyond his window. "Gonna be another fun one." He grinned, a flash of defiance in his eyes.
His constitution was uncanny. No matter how utterly exhausted he was the night before, a full sleep left him buzzing with energy, ready to go again. It was probably the only reason he could keep up with the relentless pace Goku set.
"Alright, little guy," Goku's voice sounded in his mind, "starting today, we're doubling the intensity."
Compared to Goku's 5-foot 9-inches (175cm) frame, the 3.5-foot (106 cm) Naruto is a little guy. But Naruto didn't like the nickname.
"Okay, Sensei." He strapped on the familiar light purple turtle shell that now lived on his back outside of sleeping hours and trotted out the door.
Weight training. Another pillar of the Turtle School. After the swimming, the 'spreading affection,' the studying, the plowing, and the construction work, the shell went on. Its weight increased incrementally as he grew stronger.
Right now, Naruto's shell weighed 100 kilograms (220 pounds).
He suspected he could handle more, physically. But he worried it might stunt his growth. He had a nagging suspicion that Krillin's short stature might have had something to do with hauling that shell around as a kid. Goku, being a Saiyan, didn't count – different biology entirely.
'Wonder how much weight Rock Lee carried during the Chunin Exams?' Naruto mused, a competitive glint in his eye. As long as he kept growing taller, he figured he'd surpass Lee's weights soon enough.
(E/N: For those wondering why Naruto doesn't just remove the seal and release Goku, it's because he needs to have sufficient strength to release it, for his body to be able to handle the strain and Naruto isn't Goku's Jinchuriki, he isn't getting any Ki from Goku, if opened the seal as he currently is, he would die. Mc does plan to release it after he gets stronger and older. There's also selfish reason that Mc fears that if he releases the seal, Goku might get pulled into afterlife, and he won't meet Goku again.)