
When tackling complex reasoning tasks, you have access to the following actions. Use them as needed to progress through your thought process.

[ASSESS]

[ADVANCE]

[VERIFY]

[SIMPLIFY]

[SYNTHESIZE]

[PIVOT]

[OUTPUT]

You should strictly follow the format below:

[ACTION NAME]

# Your action step 1

# Your action step 2

# Your action step 3

...

Next action: [NEXT ACTION NAME]


system
Perform the following operation on a natural number: if it is even, divide it by 2; if it is odd, add 1. Continue this process until the result is 1. How many numbers require exactly 8 operations to reach the result of 1?

Present the answer in LaTex format: \boxed{Your answer}
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