In the Land of Lightning, a storm unlike any before tore across the skies. Frozen blizzard rain fell relentlessly, the once turbulent clouds turning into an endless sheet of gray that blanketed the world in eternal frost.
Yet, amidst the storm's chill, an unnatural blaze raged. Azure flames spread wildly across the land, burning hotter and brighter than any ordinary fire, refusing to bow even to the freezing storm.
The storm froze the land, while the fire consumed it, a clash of contradictions, and at the center of it stood Kadoya Uzumaki.
He stood tall and unwavering, crimson eyes glowing in the pale storm, facing down the surviving forces of Kumogakure.
This wasn't mere vengeance. It wasn't simply the wrath of a man carrying the blood of a destroyed clan. No, this was strategy. Every strike, every step, every scream he wrenched from Kumo's throat was part of a greater design. His goal wasn't only to avenge the Uzumaki but to carve open the path for his brother Minato. To weaken the great villages, to plunge them into disarray, and in the chaos, leave only one clear choice for Konoha's Hokage.
But Minato would not be handed the title. He would have to earn it himself. And if the world was too slow to spark the flames of war, then Kadoya would fan the embers until they ignited.
The massive Eight-Tails bellowed, its roar shaking the frozen heavens. It charged, gathering malevolent chakra into a dense sphere that pulsed with catastrophic force, a Tailed-Beast Bomb, aimed straight at him.
Kadoya's expression never wavered. Forming a single hand seal, a black wall of intricate runes burst forth in front of him.
Fūinjutsu: Seal of Chakra Reversion!
The monstrous bomb collided with the runic wall, but instead of detonating, the chakra sphere was torn apart, dismantled strand by strand, and absorbed into the seal. What should have been devastation became nourishment, flowing back into Kadoya like stolen breath returned.
"Impossible!" A's voice snarled, but disbelief quickly drowned in violence.
From his back, golden chains whipped forward like living serpents, intercepting the Third Raikage and his son A as they lunged in unison. Sparks and frost clashed as the Lightning Chakra Cloaks met the divine chains.
Kadoya spun smoothly, forming another seal, his voice cold as the storm around him.
Ice Style: Frost Dragon's Breath!
From his lips burst a torrent of freezing wind shaped into the roar of a dragon. The icy breath crashed toward the Raikage and his son, forcing them to leap back. Even so, the frost clung to them, creeping over their dark skin. Their movements faltered as patches of their bodies stiffened, skin paling to an unnatural blue.
The Third Raikage gritted his teeth, shattering the ice clinging to him with raw power, while his son ripped free of the frost, lightning sparking around his frame. Yet the cold had sunk deep, stealing speed and strength.
Another massive Tailed-Beast Bomb whirled into existence. With a thunderous roar, Gyūki launched it, determined to erase this crimson-haired demon.
Kadoya's hand snapped into the same seal, the black wall of runes rising once more. The bomb slammed into it, and once again, the chakra was unraveled, dismantled into fragments of raw chakra, and greedily drawn into his body. In seconds, what should have been devastation was nothing more than stolen power pulsing in his veins.
The storm howled. The azure fire raged. And Kadoya Uzumaki smiled.
...
Meanwhile, while Kadoya Uzumaki was busy setting the Land of Lightning ablaze, his counterpart, Kadoya Uchiha, stood quietly in front of Minato.
Minato was practically glowing with anticipation, golden hair swaying in the breeze, eyes bright with excitement. He wanted to prove himself, wanted to show his brother the ninjutsu he had poured his soul into.
In the original story, Minato would one day create the Rasengan, a human-crafted imitation of the Tailed-Beast Bomb. But here, that path had been altered. Kadoya had already taken that step ahead of him. So Minato had chosen a different path, forging something of his own.
"Are you ready?" Kadoya asked casually from a distance, his arms crossed, black eyes narrowing slightly as he watched Minato stretch his limbs, rolling his shoulders and cracking his knuckles like a sprinter before a race.
"Yeah. I got this." Minato replied, voice steady with determination. His hands blurred through a sequence of seals before ending in a sharp clap, palms pressed together. Lightning crackled violently across his frame, fusing with his chakra as sparks bled into crimson light, his eyes then turned crimson, activating his Sharingan.
Lightning Style: High-Velocity Acceleration Technique, Initial Stage: Crimson Photon Ignition!
The moment the words left his lips, Minato's body vanished in a streak of yellow and crimson lightning.
Kadoya's Sharingan flares to life. "Clock Up!"
In the blink of an eye, he too vanished, leaving only a black and red blur.
The collision came instantly. Fists met fists, legs clashed against legs, and each impact detonated with the force of miniature sonic booms. The earth split and cracked beneath them. Trees splintered into fragments. Grass was shredded into dust by sheer pressure.
From outside the training field, a few Uchiha guards leaned forward nervously, peeking past the gates. Their Sharingan spun wildly, three tomoe revolving at full speed, yet even they struggled to keep up with the two blurs darting across the battlefield.
One of them muttered under his breath, voice trembling. "Are they even human…?"
The shattered debris from their last collision hadn't even hit the ground before the brothers clashed again, once, twice, three times, moving faster than the eye could comprehend. Their afterimages painted streaks of yellow, crimson, black, and red across the air like dueling brush strokes of living lightning.
Minato lunged forward with a kick, his body twisting mid-air in a flash of golden light. Kadoya countered by ducking low, his heel sweeping upward. The collision cracked the air like thunder, shockwaves tearing through the training ground and scattering rubble into the sky.
But then, suddenly, Minato faltered. His sandals scraped violently against the dirt, smoke rising as friction burned the ground. He dropped to one knee, panting, sweat dripping down his chin as his lightning cloak sputtered.
"Time… out," he muttered breathlessly, still grinning despite his exhaustion.
Kadoya appeared beside him in a blur, ending his own acceleration with a single murmur. "Clock Over." His movements slowed back into normal time, and the world seemed unnaturally quiet after the chaos of their clash.
He glanced down at Minato, lips curling into a proud smile. "Not bad. I didn't think you could actually craft a Lightning Style ninjutsu that mimics my Clock Up."
Minato wiped the sweat from his forehead, still catching his breath. But his eyes glowed with determination, reflecting that same fire that Kadoya had seen in himself years ago.
Minato was indeed outstanding.
In the original series, faced with opponents whose sheer power and defense he couldn't counter head-on, Minato had created the Rasengan, a seal-less, chakra-compressed sphere carrying devastating force. It became a technique that defined not just him, but his entire lineage.
But here, with the Rasengan already forged and claimed by Kadoya, Minato's genius had been forced in a different direction. He turned his focus toward something many considered unlearnable: Clock Up. Kadoya's signature acceleration technique.
As a speed-type shinobi himself, Minato recognized its overwhelming potential. His Flying Raijin already allowed him to blitz battlefields, but pairing that with ultra-fast reflexes and his Sharingan granted him a reaction speed far beyond what ordinary shinobi could dream of. Unlike most, who saw nothing but blur when Kadoya accelerated, Minato could still vaguely track his brother's image. That single detail became his inspiration.
Thus, he created: Lightning Style: High-Velocity Acceleration Technique, Initial Stage: Crimson Photon Ignition.
By forcing lightning-nature chakra through his body, Minato stimulated his cells, blood flow, and chakra network, pushing his body into a temporary overdrive. The result: movement on par with Kadoya's Clock Up.
Of course, the technique was not without flaws. To anyone lacking Sharingan-like perception and superhuman reflexes, attempting it was practically suicide. The loss of bodily control at such speeds would send most shinobi crashing headfirst into the nearest wall, tree, or unfortunate bystander.
Minato knew this intimately. Don't ask why Kushina's basement had nine Minato-shaped holes in its paper walls.
Even with his prodigious control, he could only sustain the technique for ten seconds before his muscles screamed in agony from strain.
Panting lightly after his demonstration, Minato scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Thanks… but this is still incomplete. It's got too many flaws, and right now I can only use it for about ten seconds before my body gives out."
Kadoya raised a brow, lips twitching. "Still, couldn't you… shorten that name? You've only got ten seconds of use, and you waste six just pronouncing it."
Minato blinked, then sighed. "…I already did shorten it."
Kadoya tilted his head. "Wait... that was the shortened version?"
Minato nodded seriously, then cleared his throat. "The full name is: Lightning Release: High-Velocity Acceleration Technique, Initial Stage: Crimson Photon Ignition, Manifestation of Godspeed through the Convergence of Thunder and Light."
Kadoya: "…"
Tiamama: "…Mama didn't expect your naming sense to be this terrible!"
She began to worry about her future grandchild, imagining names that would stretch across half a scroll if Minato was left in charge.
Kadoya let out a long sigh. "Wow. You seriously invented a speed-based ninjutsu with a ten-second duration… but it takes you six just to announce it. Genius."
Minato's deadpan glare did nothing to hide his embarrassment. The sarcasm was far too sharp to miss.
"…Alright then," Minato muttered, crossing his arms. "If you think it's so bad, why don't you come up with a better name?"
Kadoya smirked, tapping his chin like he was indulging a child. "Simple. Call it. Start Up."
"Hmmm." Minato considered it, eyes narrowing. "Doesn't that sound a little… too short? Not very impressive compared to Lightning Style: High-Velocity Acceleration Technique, Initial Stage: Crimson Photon Ignition!"
"At least you don't waste half your time limit on the name," Kadoya shot back dryly.
There was a long pause. Then finally, Minato let out a reluctant sigh. "…Fine. Start Up it is."
Kadoya grinned. "See? Already better."
And in that small moment, between sarcasm and brotherly banter.
After a while, the two brothers decided to sit down and have a proper chat, the bubbling hotpot between them giving off waves of steam.
The girls were out for a night of their own, leaving the brothers free to relax in their own way. The warm scent of broth, vegetables, and grilled meat filled the air, softening the serious undertone that inevitably came when they started talking about the state of the world.
"Say… what do you think about the current situation of the Ninja World?" Minato finally asked, moving his chopsticks to pick up a piece of cooked meat from the pot. He spoke lightly, but there was curiosity behind the question.
"You want to hear my thoughts about the current Ninja World?" Kadoya repeated, his tone calm as he placed a few white mushrooms into the hot broth.
"Yeah." Minato nodded as he chewed thoughtfully on his vegetable. "We're currently seventeen, almost eighteen now. It's been years since the Second Great Ninja War, so I just want to hear your thoughts on it."
"Hmm…" Kadoya began, pausing deliberately for effect, his eyes narrowing slightly. "I think the Ninja World is getting a bit too peaceful."
Minato: "…"
Damn, why does he make it sound like he wants to start a war?
"Don't get me wrong," Kadoya continued, noticing the look on his brother's face. "Peace is good. But this current peace is nothing more than a long ceasefire… where all sides are just readying themselves for the next war."
His words carried weight, sinking into Minato's mind. He paused, chopsticks hovering in midair, and let his thoughts drift.
The history of the world wasn't kind. During the Warring States Period, chaos consumed everything. Only the overwhelming strength of the First Hokage had silenced that chaos, bringing a fragile era of peace. But peace hadn't lasted. The moment the man died, the balance crumbled. The First Great Ninja War erupted, dwarfing all the conflicts that came before.
And when that war ended, it was only a few years before the Second Great Ninja War flared up. Peace treaties, alliances, and promises, none of it lasted. They were, as Kadoya said, little more than extended ceasefires. Minato could see it clearly now: each village was simply buying time, rebuilding their strength, preparing for the next inevitable clash.
"We were drafted to the battlefield at the age of nine, some as early as eleven. Who can say that by the time our kids reach those ages, they won't be pushed into another war?" Kadoya said, chewing on a piece of meat without a hint of hesitation. His black eyes reflected the simmering broth. "Peace doesn't come by begging others to be nice; it comes from strength."
"The First Hokage showed us that much. He bowed his head and begged for peace… and one of the biggest wars in history began the moment he died." Kadoya's gaze sharpened, locking with Minato's clear blue eyes. "There's no point in hoping for a miracle. We have to make it happen with our own strength."
By now, neither of them was eating. The hotpot continued to bubble quietly, almost in contrast to the weight of their conversation.
"Then what happens after the war?" Minato asked, his voice lower, more measured.
"The war will be to unite the Ninja World under one banner, one nation." Kadoya leaned back slightly, his expression unreadable, then glanced toward the open gate that led into the Uchiha Compound. "I've already laid the foundation for the system this nation would operate on."
He exhaled softly before continuing. "It isn't the strongest who build a country, it's the people who grant them that power. That's the principle I've instilled in the clan. Family first. One person can't build a future alone, it takes everyone."
"I see…" Minato said quietly, turning the words over in his head. After a beat, he returned to eating, the motion almost absentminded. "Then, how long do you think it'll be before the next war begins?"
Kadoya picked up his chopsticks again, his tone casual despite the gravity of the topic. "It probably won't take that long."
Steam rose between them, blurring the edges of their faces for a moment. The food was still warm, but the air between them had grown heavy.
___
A/N: Yo, Ace here. Sorry for the late upload. Apparently, it isn't a burnout that causes this story's long upload schedule, but the problem is that I actually lost interest in Naruto's story, making me lack the motivation to continue writing. Which is frustrating cause I have spent a lot of time brainstorming this decent ending and storylines, and I don't want it all to go to waste.
So yeah, I'm writing this to see if you guys are still interested in this or not.