Naruto had been wandering around, just looking for a suitable place to train, when he unexpectedly found a very spacious underground cave.
There were signs that humans had lived here before, but it had been abandoned for a long time.
There was a small town not far from here, making it very convenient to get supplies. It was definitely the perfect place for Naruto to train.
"Is this what it's like being the child of prophecy?"
Inside the seal space, the Nine-Tailed Fox grinned, looking very surprised.
It knew what Naruto was after, which was why it found it so ridiculous.
It was like someone offering you a pillow when you were already sleepy. It was an incredibly convenient coincidence.
Naruto chuckled and said, "Prophecy or no prophecy, it has nothing to do with me. I'm not the type to act according to prophecies."
"To be exact, since I've come to this world, everything here will revolve around me. I, Naruto Uzumaki, am the one destined by fate!"
The Nine-Tailed Fox sneered, not bothering to respond. Its expression clearly said: Suit yourself.
"Alright, Mr. Power Bank, remember to replenish my chakra in time. I don't want to experience the feeling of fainting from excessive physical exertion. And, keep an eye out for any dangers."
Naruto gave the Nine-Tailed Fox its orders, then began to prepare for his upcoming training.
He had already checked out this underground cave. It seemed that a group of people had lived here a few years ago, but something must have happened, causing many deaths, and the rest moved away.
In short, as long as Naruto didn't make too much noise and didn't collapse the cave, he wouldn't be disturbed.
To collapse the entire cave, he estimated it would take at least one Wind Style: Rasenshuriken.
Next, Naruto began training the Rasengan with his Shadow Clones.
Also, the Shadow Clone technique came from Minato Namikaze. And, just like in the original story, Naruto didn't need to train at all; he succeeded on his first try.
As for climbing trees and walking on water, without the Nine-Tailed Fox's chakra interference, and with Minato Namikaze's combat experience, there was no need to practice. Those basic abilities were like instincts.
What surprised Naruto was that after creating a hundred Shadow Clones, he mastered the Rasengan in less than an hour, and it was a single-handed Rasengan.
"Tsk tsk, with this talent, the original me would be ashamed to death," Naruto was quite pleased with his performance.
The Nine-Tailed Fox sneered, "What does this have to do with talent? The Shadow Clones are accumulating experience, which adds up to a hundred hours. Then there's the Fourth Hokage's experience. You should be ashamed if you couldn't do this."
Naruto didn't bother arguing with the Nine-Tailed Fox; he had learned the single-handed Rasengan in an hour, and no one could compare to him.
He could postpone the Wind Style training. Next, he should perfect the Flying Thunder God.
Another hundred Shadow Clones appeared, continuously performing Flying Thunder God teleportation.
In terms of spatial techniques, his talent was clearly inferior to Minato Namikaze's.
If he hadn't absorbed Minato's experience, he probably wouldn't have learned the Flying Thunder God Technique.
It was like being carsick; when he first used the Flying Thunder God, he was clearly disoriented by the space manipulation.
Now, there were no shortcuts. He could only adapt time and time again, become more proficient, and gradually shorten the casting and recovery times, as well as the cooldown of the skill.
Fortunately, the Shadow Clone Technique could greatly reduce the training time. Currently, this underground cave was only large enough for a hundred people to train in; any more would be too crowded. Otherwise, Naruto wouldn't have minded using a thousand.
Well, he was also worried about excessive stamina consumption, which would leave him too fatigued to handle things.
"Hmm? What's going on?"
At this moment, a Shadow Clone brought a woman over.
Shadow Clone explained, "This woman is acting suspiciously outside, we don't know her intentions."
"Nonsense, this is my home, you're the suspicious ones! And why do you all look exactly the same? Isn't that strange?" The woman struggled in Shadow Clone's grip.
Naruto sized her up. She looked to be in her early twenties, with wine-red hair, blue-purple eyes, and a simple floral dress. She was quite attractive.
She looks familiar… Perhaps she appeared in the original story, but wasn't a major character. Naruto couldn't quite place her.
"Who are you? What's your name?" If he couldn't remember, he'd just ask.
"Why should I tell you?" The woman was defiant, and said with annoyance, "I should be asking you that!"
"It doesn't matter if you don't tell us!" Naruto's expression was calm. "It seems your information might be valuable. Perhaps we can cooperate."
The woman froze for a moment, then let out a scream.
"One more word, and I'll kill you!"
A kunai pressed against her neck instantly silenced the woman.
"You... don't do anything rash!"
The woman's face was filled with fear as she chose to be honest, "I am Yukimi Iburi of the Iburi Clan. This used to be where our clan lived. Later, everyone died, leaving only me. So, I chose to leave."
"I just happened to be nearby today, and decided to come and take a look. I didn't expect to run into you."
"I really have no ill intentions. Although I don't know what you want to do, if you need it, you can have this place. For me, this place is just a place of sadness anyway."
"Don't worry, I didn't see anything today. As long as you let me leave, I'll stay far away and guarantee I won't say a word."
Yukimi finished speaking her mind in one breath, then looked at Naruto nervously.
"Yukimi Iburi…" Naruto thought carefully, then realized, "Oh, that clan with the Smoke Transformation ability, Orochimaru's test subjects."
He remembered now. Orochimaru was seriously injured when he defected from Konoha and recovered by absorbing the Iburi Clan's blood.
The Iburi Clan perished because of this, leaving only Yukimi, whom everyone had desperately tried to protect.
Kakashi and Yamato were also present at the time.
Yamato was still under Danzo then, codenamed "甲 (Kou)".
Later, he switched to the Third Hokage's faction and became Tenzo.
And Tenzo was actually Yukimi's younger brother, who died in Orochimaru's experiments.
"One day, I will definitely kill Orochimaru with my own hands!" Yukimi still held a grudge when she thought about what happened back then.
Perhaps Orochimaru had shown them kindness; without him, the Iburi Clan would have perished sooner.
Even so, that didn't give Orochimaru the right to slaughter them.
Naruto didn't comment, merely asking curiously, "Can you still use your Smoke Transformation ability?"
That's a Logia-type ability in the world of Naruto, even if it's a knock-off. However, if used well, it would be an invincible power.
"I... I can't circulate my chakra now," Yukimi said, a little ashamed.
She'd wanted to use her Smoke Transformation when Naruto grabbed her, but it seemed her chakra was suppressed.
The Shadow Clone that was holding her said calmly, "To avoid trouble, I sealed her chakra with the Nine-Tailed Fox's power when I caught her."
"Let her go; she can't escape," Naruto wasn't worried that this naive girl who couldn't even use ninjutsu could escape his grasp.