Why stop there? Fill the whole page up with your simile abuse. They sure back you up a LOT man. First you pass it off as an utmost, holey fact but now you are simply theorizing it? I am the pitiful one, indeed. "I know when the time is right" is another factor that can be aligned with "Now I know". On one hand he talks about strength that is more than just the 'term' itself, and then he presents a contradiction on the next panel with the statement 'when the time is right'. Clearly indicating that he isn't ready.
This is a very very basic figure of speech called Paradox. Even a jackass knows this. The second statement is clearly contradictory and states the obvious need for Strength. The first one on the other hand talks about inner strength with the obvious link to Sasuke's inner-demons. Otherwise, what is stopping him from declaring that he can and the time is not right? This makes the first dialogue create an intentional antithetical statement of some kind of inner strength BS that Naruto is known for, considering his bleeding Will of Fire lectures.
Sorry, but unlike you, I even mentioned the whole thing and the importance of including the later dialogues in case you didn't bother to read. Another funny thing; the whole idea of the manga up till now was to catch up to Sasuke. He was never at Sasuke's level, in fact, purely as a ninja, the guy is STILL legions behind. Doesn't matter how many times you benight it, the statement won't change in the long run. No use warping it. Perhaps, you should have picked up a character with better IQ. It isn't my fault the guy has raisins for brains still.
P.s: Don't bother clearing up anything for me. You have no clue about any writing devices and are just posting self-made justifications.
STILL behind! Are you crazy?! A single biju dama would destroy Sasuke's final susanoo! Your counter is not based in logic whatsoever. Excuse me, but how is a response on telling saying "When the time is right" in as responce to a person's question "What happened back there?" do with strength???? "Even a jackass understands the concept of a paradox"
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Even a jackass can understand the nature of a conversation! "What in the world happened? You have to tell us." "When the time is right" This is clearly a response to Neji's demand to know what happened. He means he'll tell them what happened when the time is right. Even an idiot can know this! It has nothing to do with strength period. The only thing that happened in his encounter with Sasuke is a chidori/ransengan clash, and that reading minds session. It was clearly a reference to something mental, not physical. Naruto did not contradict himself.
Also, the only thing you possibly have to go on is the statement that Sasuke can't simply be beat by being strong. Immediately after he said that, he said Now I know.... (this means the next phrase is a continuation of this one) Inside him is...." Tell me something, right before this, when he fought him, the big moment was seeing what's inside of him, namely, his heart. What do you think he's referring to if not
that?!
Simply put, Naruto never contradicted himself. He said both would die if they fought. He said that you can't beat him by being strong. He never stated Sasuke was stronger. He said that he'd tell them the reason when the time's right. The whole point of the kage summit arc was 1. to start the 4th great shinobi war. 2.Focus on what's inside of Sasuke, namely, his hatred and the curse of hatred, and how Naruto will confront it.
Any moron can piece these events together to mean that Naruto was talking about Sasuke's heart. Yet, Sasuke fanboys will selectively take a single panel, isolate it from the other events, and claim that that it means that Sasuke>Naruto.