"Ugh... Boss, I really can't eat anymore."
Deep in one of Konoha's training forests, Konohamaru clutched his stomach, his face a mask of pained defeat.
"You're full already after just this little bit?" Naruto shook his head from across the crackling fire, still tearing into a massive roasted leg of wild boar. "Konohamaru, you still have a long, long way to go." He paused. "Oh well. I guess you can stop for today."
"Oof... Boss," Konohamaru managed, his reply as weak as his willpower. He looked at the small mountain of bones piling up behind Naruto, then at the few gnawed ribs in front of himself. In that moment, he truly understood the chasm that separated the strong from everyone else. He really couldn't take another bite.
Fortunately, Konohamaru wasn't the type to be discouraged. He quickly adjusted his mindset, his eyes shining with expectation. "Boss, what kind of training are we doing next? Can you teach me that move from before?"
Just a few hours ago, he had followed Naruto into the woods, expecting a long, tedious hunt. To his astonishment, Naruto had simply stopped, closed his eyes for a second, and then pointed. "There," he'd said, and they'd found their prey almost instantly.
What truly fascinated Konohamaru was the takedown. Naruto didn't use any flashy jutsu. He just casually picked up a pebble, and with a flick of his wrist, sent it flying. The stone, barely a blur, had struck the boar with the force of a cannonball, shattering bone and ending the hunt in an instant.
Boss Naruto is definitely way stronger than that glasses-teacher, Konohamaru thought with reverence. Even Ebisu-sensei's best kunai throw would only injure a beast like that. It's not even a comparison!
"Huh?" Naruto was taken aback for a moment before he understood. "Oh, that. It's not some amazing technique. You just need to be strong enough."
With that, he stood up. Under Konohamaru's dumbfounded gaze, he opened his cavernous mouth, polished off the rest of the roast meat in a few massive bites, and clapped his hands together with a satisfied sigh.
"Phew—now that's a meal. It would be perfect with some sake..."
He said it casually, but Konohamaru secretly took it to heart, resolving to ask his grandfather for his prized sake tomorrow as an offering to his new boss.
Unfortunately for him, he was destined for disappointment. His grandfather's best sake was already resting comfortably in Naruto's yukata.
"Alright, we're full of meat," Naruto announced, tucking his hands back into his sleeves and giving Konohamaru a friendly smile. "Since you're so eager, let's start with some strength training."
"Oh!"
The naive Konohamaru had no idea what kind of hell awaited him.
...
"B-Boss, are we really going to train like this?"
Konohamaru quickly realized just how naive he'd been. He stood before a massive boulder that Naruto had casually "polished" smooth with his bare hands. The rock was taller than he was, and he began to wonder if he had misheard.
"That's right. Now, put this on your back. We're going to start training."
Naruto's words made his blood run cold. Konohamaru opened his mouth to protest, but the words died in his throat as he watched Naruto take off his haori and hoist an even more ridiculously large boulder onto his own back. Compared to the massive rock Naruto now balanced, which was easily three meters in diameter, the one meant for Konohamaru seemed like a pebble.
Yet Naruto acted as if he felt nothing at all, starting to jog with the boulder completely obscuring his figure.
With a pained expression, Konohamaru began struggling to lift his own rock, so he didn't see the most incredible part of the display. Even under such crushing weight, Naruto's steps didn't sink into the ground. His geta sandals didn't even crack.
This was a brutal but effective chakra control exercise. The goal wasn't just to carry the weight, but to do so with absolute precision, channeling a thin, constant layer of chakra into the soles of his feet to reinforce the ground with every step, preventing it from shattering under the immense pressure. It was an advanced application of the same principle as water-walking, demanding a level of control far beyond any academy lesson.
"Hah... hah..."
Without offering to help Konohamaru, Naruto felt his limbs and muscles begin to warm up, a familiar burn that he welcomed. He was getting into the zone.
It wasn't until the sun began to set that Naruto returned to the village, carrying an exhausted but triumphant Konohamaru on his back. Looking at the little kid sleeping soundly on his shoulder, a satisfied smile touched Naruto's face.
Though he hadn't gone far and had clearly used chakra to assist, Konohamaru had, in fact, lifted that massive rock on his own. He hadn't asked for help even once.
So similar, Naruto thought. The same stubbornness as me. That's the key to getting strong.
After a few quick uses of the Body Flicker Technique, Naruto appeared silently behind a masked ANBU operative perched on a telephone pole.
"Could you take Konohamaru back to Grandpa Third, please?"
The ANBU nearly jumped out of his skin, whirling around and drawing his kunai in a single fluid motion. He froze when he saw Naruto gently setting the sleeping Konohamaru down on the rooftop before vanishing in another flicker of motion. The operative stared at the empty space, his heart still hammering against his chest. How did he get behind me? I didn't sense a thing!
On a distant rooftop, Naruto gazed at the Hokage Monument, the setting sun casting long shadows across the stone faces. That feeling of being watched was still there.
Seriously, even a Genin has a right to some privacy.
Sighing internally at the disrespect of certain elders, Naruto began leaping across the rooftops, making no effort to conceal his movements this time.
In his office, the Third Hokage watched Naruto's journey through his crystal ball, his face grim. The boy had changed too much, in every sense of the word. And from his final actions, it was clear he knew he was being watched.
So... willful.
Hiruzen was certain that Naruto still didn't know the truth of his lineage. Yet he had transformed so drastically overnight, and he made no attempt to hide his new power. It was as if he were openly, defiantly venting some unknown emotion.
"Naruto... Minato..." Hiruzen murmured, slowly exhaling a puff of smoke. In the dimming light of the office, the old man's wrinkles seemed to deepen.
Naruto soon returned to his small apartment. After a quick shower and changing into a fresh set of clothes, he lay down on his bed and almost instantly fell asleep. His consciousness sank into a comfortable darkness.
"Kid... Kid..."
A faint, rough voice echoed from the depths of his mind, pulling his consciousness back from the brink of sleep.
When he came to, he found himself standing in a place that looked like an immense, dark sewer, his feet submerged in ankle-deep water. In front of him loomed a colossal cage, its bars sealed with a single paper talisman.
Where... is this?
Naruto felt a strange sense of familiarity with the place, as if he had been here many times before in dreams he couldn't quite remember.
"KID!"
With a thunderous roar, a giant claw slammed against the bars, shaking the very foundations of his mind. A massive, orange-furred beast emerged from the darkness, its nine tails whipping furiously behind it.
"Huh? A fox?"
To Kurama's immense disappointment, his carefully planned, terrifying entrance didn't seem to faze the boy in the slightest. The kid even reached out with genuine interest, as if wanting to touch his paw. The move caught Kurama completely off guard. He momentarily forgot what he was going to say and instinctively pulled his paw back.
"What a big fox..."
Naruto showed not a hint of fear, calmly sizing up the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. The beast's sheer size was comparable to the Sea Kings he'd seen in the Calm Belt. As he compared its massive frame to the beasts of the sea, he subconsciously rubbed his stomach. Even though he had just eaten, he was starting to feel hungry again.
"KID! WHAT'S WITH THAT LOOK!"
As a Tailed Beast, he could feel the emotions of his jinchuriki. And right now, he felt a pure, primal malice radiating from Naruto. It wasn't the fear and disgust he got from other ninja who saw him as a living disaster. It was a kind of...
"Big guy," Naruto said, wiping a bit of drool from the corner of his mouth. "You look... really delicious."
[Chapter Complete]
***
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