Kazuki glanced back at Naruto, who was still hiding behind him, and casually reached out to pat the boy's head.
"What's your name?" he asked. "Just call me Kazuki."
Naruto lowered his head shyly, but his eyes squinted in delight from the praise and attention.
"My name is Uzumaki Naruto! You can just call me Naruto, Kazuki-nii-san!"
"All right."
Kazuki extended his hand, inviting Naruto's small hand to meet his own.
"From this day forward, we're friends. I hope we'll get along well in the days to come."
When he heard the word 'friends', Naruto broke into a goofy grin.
It was such a foreign word to him.
He hurriedly stretched out his hand and clasped it tightly around Kazuki's. Over and over, he repeated Kazuki's words to himself with bright eyes: "We're… friends!"
And at that very moment—
A faint glimmer flashed through Kazuki's eyes. A subtle surge of chakra quietly seeped into the depths of Naruto's soul.
To any observer, this scene might've seemed perfectly ordinary.
But it was in fact the activation of a unique dōjutsu—exclusive to Kazuki's Rinnegan, which had been forged from a fusion of multiple Ōtsutsuki bloodlines.
This technique had not been copied from anyone. It was Kazuki's own creation.
Its name was 'Brahma-Manifested Svadhisthana'.
The power of Brahma-Manifested Svadhisthana allowed Kazuki to designate a living being who genuinely accepted him from the heart as the target.
Once the target grew stronger under Kazuki's guidance—or succeeded in defying their original destiny—the benefits of that growth would return to Kazuki at a multiplied rate, based on the individual's innate potential.
And the multiplier itself increased in direct proportion to the depth of their bond.
In simpler terms: Kazuki's dōjutsu functioned like a 'Disciple-Growth Return System' combined with a 'Fate-Reversal Mechanism'.
This was precisely why Kazuki had come to this alternate timeline.
In his original world, the shinobi of the ninja world had already solidified their power ceilings. Simply feeding them chakra or training wasn't enough to spark real growth anymore.
Forming bonds with all the other shinobi? That would just be far too tedious and troublesome...
Besides, in his original timeline, the shinobi world had already reached the final stages of the final bond. All Kazuki needed to do was wait patiently for the Sage of Six Paths to drop his final 'golden coins' into the hands of the shinobi, so they could grow stronger—and in turn, that strength would be reflected back to Kazuki.
So instead of trying to salvage an old save file… why not start a brand-new one across time?
Naruto from this alternate timeline—that was Kazuki's choice.
As a target of his dōjutsu, Naruto possessed talents and potential unmatched by anyone else.
He had the ideal 'hardware'—physically and spiritually robust. With just a little fine-tuning, his strength could skyrocket. What's more, Kazuki, who himself carried the unique innate trait Child of Destiny, saw something deeply familiar in Naruto.
There was no doubt about it. Naruto was this world's Child of Destiny.
After all, in the timeline where Kazuki didn't exist, Naruto was the true protagonist of this world.
If Naruto could grow under Kazuki's guidance, becoming a shinobi on par with the Sage of Six Paths…
If he could overturn his destined path with his own strength and rise to become a completely different kind of top-tier powerhouse—
Then Kazuki wouldn't need to extract even a single sliver of chakra from this timeline.
Without breaking any laws of time and space, he could absorb a power equivalent to the accumulated strength of an entire world—through Naruto alone.
The return on investment was almost absurd.
"Onii-san! When are you gonna start teaching me ninjutsu?"
Naruto clung tightly to Kazuki's hand, his voice eager.
"I really wanna get stronger! I wanna prove myself to everyone in the village! I want to beat that smug Sasuke! I want the Academy teachers to praise me…"
Kazuki chuckled softly. "I can start teaching you anytime, Naruto. But first—there's something I want to ask you."
His gaze met Naruto's, and his tone turned calm and low.
"Why… do you need to prove yourself to the people in the village? You are who you are. You haven't done anything wrong. So why chase their approval?"
"Naruto… I hope you can truly understand your own heart, rather than live constantly struggling under the weight of other people's eyes."
Naruto stared at Kazuki in a daze, caught off guard by the question. And suddenly… something felt off.
Yeah…
Why did he feel the need to prove himself to everyone in the village?
Why did he crave their approval so much?
He hadn't done anything wrong, had he?
Naruto's expression shifted. Slowly, he crouched down to the ground. The boundless optimism and unnatural tolerance that usually defined him began to fade.
For the first time, what surfaced… was the natural, human dissatisfaction in the face of cruelty and malice.
Why?
Why did he have to be treated like this?
"Kazuki-nii-san… have I ever done anything wrong?"
Naruto took a deep breath, as if searching for an answer in Kazuki's eyes.
"If this terrifying fox is sealed inside me… there must be a reason, right?"
"Even though it doesn't seem very strong under your control… I bet none of the teachers at the Academy could beat it!"
Kazuki gave a faint smile and nodded.
"Very perceptive, Naruto. Your reasoning is sound."
"Your origins are… somewhat complicated. As for whether the way you've been treated is fair—that's not something I can judge for you. It's something only you can decide."
Ever since Kazuki had sealed away the influence of Asura's chakra, the change in Naruto had become clear.
The boy who had always been overly cheerful—who absorbed the overwhelming malice of Konohagakure like a sponge, never letting it shake him—was starting to shift.
He had begun to question whether the way he was being treated was truly right…
Instead of blindly enduring the bullying and desperately chasing after the approval of those who hurt him—like someone afflicted with Stockholm syndrome—Naruto was finally starting to confront the injustice of it all.
The subtle but deep influence of Asura's chakra on Naruto had become undeniable.
"My origins…?"
Naruto looked up in shock.
"Kazuki-nii-san, you know where I come from? Aren't I just the reincarnation of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox? That's what everyone in the village says!"
"Look! The fox is right here inside me—so they must be right, right?!"
Kazuki shook his head.
"Of course not, Naruto. You're just like any other person. You had a father and a mother. And no, you're not the reincarnation of the Nine-Tails. In fact… you could even say you're a hero of this village."
He spoke gently.
"If you want… I can tell you all of this."
"Though I can't act freely—due to my special circumstances, I'm only able to dwell within your body—but I've more or less gathered all the information by now."
Kazuki gestured toward the two glowing orbs floating near Naruto.
"If I'm not mistaken… this one holds your father's chakra, and that one your mother's. If you'd like to meet them now, I can help awaken their chakra for you."
Naruto rushed over to the orbs containing Minato and Kushina's chakra, staring at them in disbelief.
He… he actually had a father and a mother?
Then why—why had no one ever told him?
"Kazuki-nii-san… can you let me meet my mom and dad? I've never seen them before!"
Naruto's eyes brimmed with pleading. He looked up at Kazuki with a soft, desperate expression.
"Please…"
Kazuki sighed and shook his head.
The moment he did, Naruto's heart seized with panic.
Didn't he just agree to this a moment ago? Why was he saying no now?
"Naruto," Kazuki said, gently correcting him, "you don't need to say 'please' to me. We're friends."
Then, with two light taps of his finger, Kazuki touched the chakra orbs representing Kushina and Namikaze Minato.
"Are you ready, Naruto?"
"You're about to meet your father and mother."
Naruto nodded nervously, his eyes filled with longing—yet behind that yearning, a faint trace of fear lingered.
His father and mother…
What kind of people would they be?
And why… why had they left him all alone?
A pounding heart. Trembling hands.
Naruto stared at the two masses of chakra in front of him, holding his breath.
Under Kazuki's guidance, the chakra gradually took on humanoid forms—one was a man with golden-blond hair, the other a woman with fiery red hair…
They were Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina.
Naruto locked his eyes on his parents, not daring to blink. He drank in the sight of them greedily, as if afraid they might vanish the next second—never to be seen again.
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