Unification in logic programming isn't a forwards-only process, so there's no reason to expect deduction in an AI to proceed in a sort of procedural step by step fashion either. What ultimately matters is that all of the various deductions unify coherently in the end.
If you add a "cheat" rule that lets you deduce anything from something else, then replacing these cheat rule applications with real subgoal proofs is denoising for Natural Deduction.
However after step 4 you might notice that you made a mistake in step 2 and revise it. You might think in steps, but the state you are building is formed a bit diffusion-like