Time flew by.
Years passed.
In the blink of an eye, two years had gone by.
Konoha Village, on an open space near a forest.
Ding!
Ding!
Clang!
Clang!
On the clearing that morning, two five-year-olds were going at it with kunai, their blades clashing with surprising precision. For kids their age, the pace was intense—swift footwork, quick feints, and the occasional mid-air flip. Leaves and dust scattered with every parry.
The boy with the dark high-collar shirt and a red fan crest on his back—Sasuke Uchiha—was falling behind.
He gritted his teeth, flipped back three times to create distance, then stashed his kunai and started weaving signs.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
Chakra surged up from his core, igniting in his throat before exploding forward in a roar of flame.
A massive fireball barreled toward his opponent.
Boom!
A burst of smoke and heat exploded from the impact zone, charring the earth beneath.
But as the smoke cleared...
A single, slightly charred log dropped to the ground.
"Substitution?!" Sasuke gasped.
A familiar, infuriating voice called out from above.
"Hahaha! Sasuke, you really thought you had me with that? Come on! You still can't land that thing on me!" Naruto laughed, standing on a branch overhead, hands behind his head and grinning like a maniac.
Sasuke's fists clenched. "You idiot! Get down here and fight me properly!"
"Who's stopping you? Let's go!"
With that, Naruto launched off the branch and the two collided again. But this wasn't the wild, flailing chaos of their early days. This was clean, practiced Taijutsu—still raw, still sloppy by chūnin standards, but miles ahead of where they'd started.
Sasuke landed a blow to Naruto's ribs, only to eat a spinning heel kick in return. Naruto dodged Sasuke's follow-up elbow and struck with a low sweep, knocking Sasuke back.
Panting, Sasuke wiped a trickle of blood from his lip. "Tch... Who taught you that counter?"
Naruto gave him a smug look. "Natural talent, duh. I'm just built different."
"You're full of it!"
"All that matters is this is your 599th loss!"
"Not until one of us is out cold!"
Before Sasuke could charge again, a soft voice interrupted them.
"Umm... Naruto-kun? Sasuke-kun? I brought lunch..."
Hinata appeared from behind a tree, carrying two small bento boxes. She shyly handed one to Naruto and one to Sasuke.
Naruto popped his open and gasped. "Hearts?! And little sausage octopuses?! Hinata! You spoil me!"
Sasuke blinked at his box. Just... rice balls. Plain. Triangular.
He looked at Naruto's box again.
Naruto caught the look and smirked. "Heh. Better luck next time."
"Tch. Whatever." Sasuke turned away and tore into his rice ball like it had personally offended him.
Naruto glanced at Hinata. "You didn't bring one for yourself?"
Hinata shook her head. "I... forgot."
Naruto grinned. "No worries! We'll share."
"O-okay..."
Sasuke let out an exaggerated groan. "Can you two not flirt while I'm starving?"
The trio settled under the trees to eat. Despite the banter, the bond between them was unmistakable. They trained together, fought together, laughed together.
In these past two years, Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata had grown inseparable. They were always together—on the training field, in the village, or just hanging out.
always pushing each other to become better
And it showed.
Tree-walking and water-walking were already mastered.
Sasuke had a solid grip on Fire Style and basic genjutsu.
Hinata could now execute the Eight Trigrams Sixteen Palms with pinpoint accuracy. Even her father, Hiashi, had started to acknowledge her talent.
And Naruto?
His growth had been just as fast, though carefully tailored.
Toji made sure Naruto mastered the Three Basic Jutsu early, along with top-notch foundational Taijutsu. Every block, dodge, and strike Naruto used was sharpened under Toji's ruthless eye.
Two years ago, Toji had spent 3,000 Blackening Points from the system store to grant himself "Basic Taijutsu Mastery," just to pass it on to Naruto.
Not because he wanted Naruto to become a monster.
But because he wanted him to feel powerful... just powerful enough.
Toji's mission was still the same: corrupt Naruto. Blacken him. Drag him to the edge.
If Naruto became too strong, he'd solve problems through force. That wouldn't serve Toji's plan.
So Toji guided his growth—but only so far.
As the kids laughed and shared lunch, Toji watched quietly from his consciousness space, gazing into his floating crystal sphere.
For now, everything was perfect.
Naruto was happy.
Which meant there was something valuable to break later.
But just then, something flickered in the crystal ball—something unexpected.
Toji narrowed his eyes.
He leaned forward.
"What's this?"