〖Year Four〗
Ninjas are human too. They also have to worry about food, oil, salt, vinegar, and tea—daily life doesn't spare anyone.
Many shinobi who ventured out to sea eventually came back empty-handed, disheartened, returning to their villages to go back to the grind: completing missions to support their families.
Now, on the vast ocean, only the wealthy—nobles and merchants—can afford to continue hiring shinobi to crew large ships and search the seas.
Danzo had gone mad—mad from a love he could never attain: his love for Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Hiruzen accepted the heavy burden of Root with a heavy heart.
It wasn't just Danzo. His contract with Enma had mysteriously broken at some unknown point, and without Enma, his aging body simply couldn't support the decaying strength of Konoha.
To keep the village prosperous, the Third Hokage was forced to ease off the suppression of clan powers.
With no more rumors spread by Root, and no more twisted policies pushed by Hiruzen, the reputation of the Uchiha Clan steadily improved...
...
You remained in seclusion, cultivating in peace. This year's fruit harvest had ripened again. Thanks to the tree's roots feeding off the blood and flesh of elder monkeys and their kin, this batch of fruit was doubly potent and abundant compared to the previous year.
You left the largest fruit behind and distributed the rest between Sage Shark and Boss Black-Cat.
With the right formula and the potent properties of the fruit, you had no fear of damaging your body and dove deep into cultivating the Battle Saint Scripture without restraint.
Though this technique was focused on physical combat strength, its training required meditative use of spirit to guide your body's meridians in precise patterns—thus also improving your spirit stat.
You reached the third level of the Battle Saint Scripture. Surprisingly, you felt no inner chaos or negative emotions at all. You guessed this was due to your powerful spirit and its deep integration with your physical body...
...
〖Year Five〗
You pushed the Battle Saint Scripture to the fifth level.
At last, you clearly felt the birth of your first strand of evil intent—a burning desire for bloodshed and battle, the urge to kill and devour flesh.
You suspected this was the reason why, during the White Ape Sage's time, members of the Shark and Eel clans had gone missing so often.
Just as you were considering whether to go vegetarian and start chanting sutras, your Sharingan suddenly activated on its own—instantly devouring that evil intent down to the last wisp.
You felt your Ocular Power increase ever so slightly, and your mind cleared with it.
This—this was your perfect match!
You're an Uchiha, after all!
Negative emotions? For a Sharingan user, they're prime fuel—nutrient-rich catalysts.
For most Uchiha, the three-tomoe Sharingan is the end. For the talented ones with stronger bloodlines, it's the Mangekyō.
Even among the rarest of prodigies, those with a brother who also awakened the Mangekyō might attain the Eternal Mangekyō.
But you're different. After devouring multiple Mangekyō, your Sharingan already holds the potential for limitless evolution!
If there is a limit, it would be the ultimate form—the Nine-Tomoe Rinne-Sharingan!
You used to worry about needing more fuel for your Sharingan's evolution. After all, Mangekyōs are rare, and merging them requires time to adapt and recover.
But now, you've gained a passive "cheat" that lets you farm Ocular Power endlessly!
One man's poison is another man's honey.
This strange reaction only reinforced your resolve to train in multiple disciplines at once!
...
That same year, Boss Black-Cat brought you good news.
He had discovered that the runes on the Ring were identical to the inscriptions on a giant abandoned stone tablet from the ninja cat clan.
Even more, it looked nearly identical to the spherical boulder Shark Sage had used to seal the Dragon Vein's outlet.
You immediately dove into the sea to retrieve that stone sphere—only to learn that the Eel Sage's Cavern also contained one just like it.
Once you gathered both stones, you pulled out the deformed Ring.
The three ordinary-looking items quickly snapped together. One sphere transformed into a bead and embedded itself into the ring. The warped section you had crushed was instantly repaired.
Then, the ring began to emit an oppressive aura. You felt only slight discomfort, but Boss Black-Cat had already collapsed, legs trembling, completely unable to move.
You noticed that after absorbing both beads, the Ring's hardness shot up. You couldn't twist or bend it at all anymore.
You stored it away in Kamui.
When you asked Boss Black-Cat about the rune tablet among the ninja cats, he told you it didn't emit any kind of suppressive force. You guessed, like the ring before it, it was incomplete—missing a key component.
So you decided to retrieve it together with him. You returned to human form and suppressed your power, careful not to rupture the ninja cat clan's dimensional space.
Yet, perhaps because of your Ōtsutsuki and dragon lineage, despite now being eight years old, you only looked slightly taller than you had at age three—still a child's appearance.
You could only sigh helplessly.
...
〖Year Six〗
You arrived at the ninja cat clan.
It didn't feel like a typical summoning beast habitat—it was more like a massive logistics corporation.
Goods were meticulously categorized, moving in and out nonstop. Numerous ninja cats sat inside specialized summoning formations, conducting remote communications.
Of course, there were also standard security and intelligence departments...
Boss Black-Cat took you to meet the Cat Sage. You briefly revealed your true form and nearly scared the old feline into fainting.
The Cat Sage gifted you a special card as a greeting token. With this card, anything you deal with through the ninja cat clan would receive the highest priority—free of charge.
Even though you've always freeloaded off Boss Black-Cat and the ninja cats, you figured you should probably bring a proper gift next time...
With your VIP card in hand, the two of you passed through unhindered into the back mountain of the cat clan—an area where large abandoned items were stored.
There, you saw the massive tablet Boss Black-Cat had mentioned.
It was collateral from a summoning beast clan hundreds of years ago. After that clan was wiped out, the ninja cats couldn't figure out how to make use of it and eventually left it to gather dust.
You tried to absorb it with Kamui, only to find it had fused over time with a branch of the ninja cats' Dragon Vein.
Forcibly removing it would disturb the energy flow.
If the Dragon Vein had fully belonged to the ninja cats, that wouldn't have been an issue—but they were a minor clan. The Cat Sage, despite being hundreds of years old, was at best Kage-level in strength.
They couldn't claim a Dragon Vein as their own.
Currently, both the Dragon Vein and the dimensional space they used were rentals—borrowed from a sub-branch of Mount Myōboku. If you yanked the tablet out by force, the toads from Mount Myōboku would jack up the rent again.
In fact, most of the ninja cat clan's resources over the years had been funneled to Mount Myōboku. That's why they hadn't been able to raise any real powerhouse.
Most ninja cats didn't even have time to train, stuck in a 9-9-6 work cycle just to keep paying Myōboku's bills...
Coincidentally, after the White Ape Clan's extermination, several small islands around Dragon Spine's main island had been vacated. Aside from fruit trees, they were empty.
The natural energy there was far denser than here—and they wouldn't be living under someone else's roof anymore.
You decided to relocate the ninja cat clan there. They could help watch over the fruit trees too—saving you the hassle of constantly summoning the sharks and eels to come ashore...
As for the massive tablet, it could wait. You also told the ninja cats to go through all their old items—who knew, maybe they'd unearth some ancient techniques or hidden legacies.
When you told the Cat Sage about the relocation plan, he was overwhelmed with gratitude.
But you just said: "As long as the cats eat fish, that'll be enough payment."
That way, you wouldn't have to give the fruit to the shark and eel clans anymore…
...
Once the ninja cat matter was settled, you returned to Dragon Spine and reworked the barrier and sealing techniques.
You reinforced the defensive and concealment seals across the main island and the surrounding auxiliary islands.
Then, using Magnet Release, you disturbed the local magnetic fields—making it nearly impossible for even a Kage-level sensor-type shinobi to find the location…
You resumed training, pushing the Battle Saint Scripture to the sixth level.
This time, the evil intent within you began surging constantly—but it was swiftly absorbed and refined into nutrients by your Sharingan.
...
That same year, Orochimaru attempted to initiate his Konoha Crush Plan during the Chūnin Exams.
However, with the Uchiha Clan and several other clans rising in power after the Third Hokage lifted the restrictions, Orochimaru ultimately failed.
He was defeated and fled. His whereabouts are now unknown.
Naruto discovered the truth of his heritage. After coming to terms with the Third Hokage, he swore to protect the village.