[Hand Seals: 1000/3000][Upgrade Available]
"Phew, finally grinded it out," Nara Kazuki muttered, sitting in his room late at night, eyes gleaming at the system prompt floating in front of him.
Before the Night of the Nine-Tails arrived, every ounce of strength he could claw together meant a higher chance of survival.Even if, in the anime, the Nine-Tails Attack was contained within a single night and the Fourth Hokage ultimately sealed the beast away, countless people still died.Kazuki had no intention of being one of them.
[I Shall Call You the Strongest in Hand Seals: Your hand seal speed will always be just a little faster than your enemy's.][Simplified Seals: All ninjutsu hand seal sequences reduced by 30%.][His Movements Are So Mysterious: When you perform hand seals, enemies are more easily entranced, involuntarily staring at your hands.]
"...Can't the upgrades just be normal for once?"Kazuki dragged his hand across his face, sighing.
Another three choices, but this time, all of them were weird.
"I remember that in later battles... most hand seals got skipped entirely, sometimes..." Kazuki mused aloud.
Still, without hesitation, he chose the first upgrade.
What did it mean to always be a little faster than your enemy?That had the whiff of a conceptual rule — even against monsters like Uchiha Madara, he wouldn't lose in a hand seal race.
I shall call you the strongest, indeed.
"There's hope for the future after all," Kazuki grinned, spirit lifting.If he kept grinding hard enough, when the time came, he'd just offer up Obito to Nyarlathotep and be done with it.
He wanted to see just how much SAN Obito had left to lose.
The next morning, Kazuki was up before dawn, diligently refining his chakra.With Rin's death, the Nine-Tails Attack was on the horizon, but Kazuki's priority was the now.
"What? You want me to check on Kakashi?"Kazuki blinked at the jōnin seated before him — a vaguely familiar face, though he couldn't recall the name.
Truth be told, the only Naras Kazuki really knew were Nara Shikamaru and Nara Shikaku.The rest of the clan all blurred together.
"Yeah. And aren't you and Kakashi on pretty good terms?"The jōnin chuckled warmly, pouring Kazuki a cup of tea.
Kazuki accepted the tea, sipping thoughtfully.Good terms?At most, he and Kakashi exchanged polite nods when they crossed paths — hardly what you'd call friends.
"Alright, but I can't guarantee he'll even want to see me," Kazuki agreed.It wasn't difficult work anyway.
After a quick breakfast, he set off, carrying a gift bag the unknown jōnin had handed him.
Wandering through Konoha's bustling streets, Kazuki's expression grew subtly complicated.
If the Naruto world has a timeline, then it's crammed full of transmigrators both past and future.And now, I'm officially one of them.
Timeline: Please stop. We're full. No vacancy.
Rin's death hadn't caused any real visible ripple in Konoha.Most people didn't even know who Nohara Rin was.Those who did, mainly knew because of Kakashi.
Kazuki peered into the gift bag.Inside: deer antlers.
Of course.The Nara Clan's ancestral profession — raising deer.That's where the "deer" in "Ino-Shika-Cho" came from: the Nara bred deer, managed medicinal herbs, and occasionally moonlighted as battlefield medics.
"Does Kakashi even need deer antlers?" Kazuki muttered skeptically.What Kakashi needed wasn't deer antlers — it was Naruto's infamous Talk-no-Jutsu.
Still, Kazuki dutifully trekked toward the Hatake residence... only to find it empty.
"Probably at the cemetery," Kazuki yawned, turning and making his way to Konoha's Memorial Stone.
Sure enough — there he was.
Kakashi, standing rigid, hollow-eyed before two gravestones.
One for Obito — little more than a cenotaph, since they never recovered his body.One for Rin — laid to rest properly.
"Kakashi... my condolences," Kazuki said softly, approaching.
He subtly swept his gaze across the surroundings.Nothing — no chakra signature, no hostile presence.
But Kazuki knew better.Obito — that lunatic — was likely nearby, skulking in the shadows.Wouldn't be the first time he'd stalked Kakashi like some obsessive ghost.
"..."Kakashi didn't respond.He stood there like a corpse, his gaze unfocused, blank.
Kazuki had a strange thought — if he stabbed Kakashi right now, the man probably wouldn't even resist.
The damage was that deep.
Even Minato and Kushina hadn't been able to snap him out of it.Eventually, it took shoving Kakashi into the brutal, numbing work of ANBU to pull him back from the brink.
Kazuki placed the gift bag down beside him and stood silently before the two graves.
If I told Kakashi now that Obito was alive... what would happen?
Probably joy.Followed by horror.Then a berserker rage.
Because Kazuki knew Obito lived — but Kakashi didn't.Telling him now would serve no purpose.
"Kakashi."A warm voice interrupted Kazuki's thoughts.Kakashi finally twitched, lifting his head slightly, staring numbly at the gravestones.
Kazuki turned, recognizing the newcomer instantly.
"Fourth Hokage-sama," Kazuki bowed respectfully.
Minato Namikaze — the Yellow Flash himself — stood there, smiling gently, sunshine incarnate.Technically, he was already the Fourth Hokage, only lacking the formal ceremony.The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was about to retire.
For about a year, Kazuki mused darkly.Before getting dragged back to the Hokage seat, losing his wife along the way.
Minato regarded Kazuki with a brief, curious glance.
"You're from the Nara Clan?"He recognized the clan crest but didn't know Kazuki personally.Understandable — Kazuki was a nobody.
For now.