A cool breeze stirred, the afternoon sunlight filtering through the canopy in scattered beams, glittering like starlight against Naruto's eyes. He squinted at the brilliance as he adjusted the thin armor encasing his small frame, then fastened the forehead protector across his brow.
"Naruto, you are already so strong. You are only five years old. There is no need to push yourself this hard."
In the seal space, Minato's face was lined with worry.
"I am not rushing," Naruto replied calmly. "I have never neglected my taijutsu. I have mastered every sealing technique you taught me."
He said nothing of ninjutsu. Minato had passed on only the Rasengan and its few variations, alongside basics like the Shadow Clone.
"But this shuriken training is dangerous. You don't need to gamble with your body just to prove yourself."
Minato's voice wavered with unease.
Naruto's tone did not change. "I am wearing armor. And Father, was it not you who wished to test whether my reflexes could meet the demands of the Flying Thunder God? The ANBU no longer tail me, and right now the Third Hokage is occupied inspecting the hospital. Opportunities like this do not come twice."
Before Minato could reply, Naruto produced two storage scrolls.
Channeling chakra into the seals, six mechanical crossbows clattered onto the ground. Each was designed to fire nine kunai at once.
Naruto filled the magazines with careful precision, then positioned them in the surrounding trees, their barrels all aligned with geometric accuracy toward his marked location.
It had been one month since his encounter with the Uchiha brothers. Every night since, Naruto had fought against Itachi's data projection in the Mirror World.
At last, he had broken through. He had obtained Itachi's unmatched shuriken mastery and the fire element itself.
Earlier that month, he had mastered every sealing art his father offered, save for the Reaper Death Seal. Minato had forbidden it outright.
When Naruto asked for the Flying Thunder God, Minato hesitated. He wanted proof that his son's nervous system could handle it. He wavered. He stalled.
Naruto understood. Perhaps his father wanted to delay the inevitable. But the Mirror World had already absorbed Minato's data. It was only a matter of time.
Today he will prove himself.
Naruto fixed the trigger wires to a kunai ring and drove it into the stone at his feet. Three pillars stood nearby. His trap was set.
"...Naruto…" Minato's voice trembled.
"I am beginning. Please do not break my focus."
Naruto kicked the kunai.
A chorus of metallic clicks erupted.
Fifty-four kunai screamed through the air, whistling with lethal speed toward the boy standing alone in the kill zone.
Naruto leapt skyward in the instant the wires snapped, his body fluid as a hawk in flight. Kunai flashed from his hands, intercepting the barrage. Steel clashed in sparks.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
He twisted, kicked off a stone pillar. Pain flared across his stomach and shoulder as blades struck, glancing off his armor.
But Naruto's gaze was colder than steel, untouched by panic.
His heart thundered like a war drum. His blood surged through his veins like a raging river.
He did not falter.
In the span of a blink, he redirected himself midair, slipping between lines of death. He landed hard upon the side of the stone platform, his movements relentless.
"One at the front, one at the back. Without the thrown kunai to deflect them, I would have been pierced."
His eyes sharpened. "The Sharingan grants sight beyond limits. Without it, my calculation should have left only one unavoidable strike to the shoulder. But my armor dulled my instincts. It shackled me."
He reset the field in silence. Then, without hesitation, he began unstrapping the armor from his body.
"Naruto, stop!" Minato's voice rose in alarm.
Naruto's expression did not waver. "I will try again."
"You fool!" Minato nearly shouted. "You are already strong enough. Why do you chase power so desperately? You are five. You can grow step by step. You can take your time!"
Kurama cracked open an eye, amused. To him, the Fourth Hokage understood his son less than a fox did. From the moment Naruto's mind had touched his own, Kurama had seen it, this child's cold, unyielding resolve. Nothing could sway him.
Naruto drove another kunai into the earth. His voice rang, steady and absolute.
"Father, I cannot slow down. I have long since lost the ability to stop."
The words cut like blades. His blue eyes shone with a light as sharp as a drawn sword.
Minato froze, helpless, as Naruto kicked the trigger once more.
Fifty-four kunai descended.
Blood burst across Naruto's shoulder as three blades tore into flesh. He ignored the pain, body twisting through impossible contortions. His blood boiled, but his mind grew calmer still.
With a final turn, he landed upon the stone platform, his stance unbroken. His blue eyes gleamed with merciless brilliance.
"Father," he declared, "no one can make me slow down. Because I am chasing the right goal."
In the seal space, Minato could only stare, speechless.
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