Kurama's words snapped Uzumaki Naruto awake in an instant. Right. For him, there really wasn't much room left to choose.
He couldn't entrust the future to Boruto. No matter what happened to him in the future, no matter how miraculous Kaede Kitahara's diary made it sound, the Uzumaki Boruto he had seen, at least, was not someone who looked ready to shoulder the future.
He could only believe in himself, not in the wisdom of those who came after him. After all, that so-called future wisdom didn't look all that reliable either.
The others had also seen Uzumaki Boruto using Scientific Ninja Tools, and one by one, their brows furrowed.
They didn't exactly think of it as cheating. To ninja who had grown up through war, using every factor available to them was not a bad thing.
They simply thought Uzumaki Boruto's skill was far too lacking.
Whether it was Tsunade and Jiraiya, who were Sannin, the Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato, Uchiha Itachi, or the Copy Ninja Hatake Kakashi, all of them had already far surpassed Uzumaki Boruto in strength when they were twelve and had just graduated.
There was even someone like Hatake Kakashi, who had entered the Academy at six and graduated at seven.
With Uzumaki Boruto's current strength, he might not even have an advantage over the seven-year-old Hatake Kakashi.
Uchiha Sasuke, in particular, who was around the same age and similarly facing the Chunin Exams, could say with full confidence that he was far stronger than Uzumaki Boruto.
It was as if the two of them did not belong to the same world at all.
Compared to the people reading the diary, the basic skills of Uzumaki Boruto's peers could all be called poor.
At best, he was only a little stronger than Uzumaki Naruto had been at the same age.
For an ordinary ninja, this level of performance would have been passable. But as the son of a Hokage, it was honestly nowhere near enough. His level was just too low.
So, in their minds, using Scientific Ninja Tools was not the problem. Being weak was the real sin.
If any one of them had used Scientific Ninja Tools to enhance their combat power, no one would have thought there was anything wrong with the process.
To sum it up in one sentence: if you're weak, train harder.
Not to mention, Uzumaki Boruto had started doubting whether what he had done was right or wrong just because he had used Scientific Ninja Tools.
His mental fortitude was seriously lacking.
"Still, he's a child who grew up during a long era of peace. I suppose it's only natural. To be honest, I actually envy that kind of life."
The more Namikaze Minato looked at his grandson, the more he liked him.
Sure, he had all sorts of problems, but weren't those caused by living in a time of peace? It made sense.
Watching his son, who was already older than Minato himself was now, clumsily try to handle his relationship with his own child filled Minato with emotion. If anything, maybe this was all his fault.
Because he had died too early, Naruto probably didn't know how to handle family bonds either.
As Namikaze Minato watched the scene of his future son and grandson interacting, he couldn't help but smile faintly. It wasn't exactly harmonious, but it was still something he would never have been able to see on his original path of fate.
But soon, his expression went from smiling to not smiling at all. His grandson kept advancing through the rounds with the help of Scientific Ninja Tools, only for his own son to discover that he had been using them to cheat.
"What is the meaning of this? These items are banned during the match. Using Scientific Ninja Tools instead of your own Chakra goes against the purpose of the Chunin Exams, which is to train and cultivate ninja."
"Rock Lee, Uzumaki Boruto is disqualified from the exam. The winner is changed to Nara Shikadai!"
When everyone heard Uzumaki Naruto's reasoning, they immediately understood why such ninja tools were banned in the future.
After all, the Chunin Exams existed to select, promote, and train talent. That was indeed the core principle behind them.
Of course, using them as a form of military deterrence was also important. They were like exercises conducted during peacetime.
It was just that the future did not seem to care much about that anymore. Peace had lasted too long. Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke loomed over the Shinobi World like two mountain ranges, leaving everyone else unable to stir up much of a wave.
So-called peace, in the end, still had to be secured by someone overwhelmingly powerful.
Thinking about it that way, didn't Nagato's logic seem kind of right?
That absurd thought suddenly surfaced in everyone's mind. It was just that Nagato's methods were even simpler, more brutal, and far bloodier.
Sure, that peace was peace maintained through coercion. But peace was peace, wasn't it?
"No. That way of thinking is definitely wrong." Jiraiya shook his head.
Looked at this way, it might seem fine at first glance, but in reality, there was a massive problem. It placed every hope entirely on that one person.
If that person was someone optimistic and kind like Uzumaki Naruto, then perhaps the Shinobi World could welcome a long-lasting peace. But what if he was someone like Nagato, who was kind at his core but had already become twisted?
According to Nagato's plan, after creating the Tailed Beast Weapon, he would first blast one village off the map. Then, once everyone fought each other until they understood pain, peace would naturally follow.
And that was still someone who wished for world peace. What about the ambitious schemers?
For example, Anrokuzan from the previous video, or Mukade. People like them wanted to rule the Shinobi World first and do whatever they pleased.
How could anything good come from placing all hope in people like that?
So hope could never be entrusted to such people.
At that moment, however, Tono Katasuke, the person in charge of the Scientific Ninja Tools, appeared in the arena and began running his mouth, loudly promoting his Scientific Ninja Tools everywhere.
His behavior made everyone's brows knit together. The man had completely lost his mind.
"He's asking to die."
A dangerous gleam flashed in Namikaze Minato's eyes.
This Tono Katasuke had actually lured his grandson into becoming a test subject. Worse yet, he ignored Boruto's embarrassment and used him for a public promotion.
It was enough to make even the good-tempered Namikaze Minato unable to stop a trace of killing intent from leaking out.
"That kid Uzumaki Naruto is far too lenient with the people under him," Tsunade said, frowning.
If it were her, she absolutely would not tolerate something like this.
Uzumaki Naruto was the Seventh Hokage, and this Tono Katasuke was clearly just a scientist under his command. No matter how great his contributions were, he had used the Hokage's son as a test subject without even saying a word first, then even publicized it on a grand scale.
Did he really think he was so impressive that no one could touch him anymore?
This was completely outrageous.
Just the fact that he had done this without going through her, the Hokage, would already be enough to mark him for death.
The others also felt that Tono Katasuke was far too eager to make a spectacle of himself.
"That idiot is way too soft-hearted."
Even Uchiha Sasuke could hardly stand it anymore.
But before they could complain any further, a roar rang out, and Otsutsuki Momoshiki and Otsutsuki Kinshiki descended from the sky.