The Third Hokage's face briefly stiffened before he smoothed it over with the ease of an old fox.
"Ah, Naruto! Still working hard on your training? How have you been lately?"
Hiruzen spoke with a benevolent smile.
Naruto grinned.
"Grandpa Third, I've been doing great! I've made a lot of friends in class. We even train together often!"
Then, lowering his voice in an exaggerated whisper, he added,
"It's just… kunai have gotten really expensive lately."
As he said this, Naruto deliberately stole a glance at the Hokage.
"..."
Hiruzen's lips twitched. Still, he was pleased. He already knew about Naruto's situation at the Academy—how he remained aloof with most people—yet with him, Naruto showed genuine warmth.
Didn't that mean he held a special place in the boy's heart?
Well… aside from being a little greedy about money.
"Haha… Little Naruto, next time Grandpa comes by, I'll bring you a few kunai."
With that, the Hokage excused himself and hurried away.
Naruto's eyes narrowed slightly. Old man, you think you're clever?
Once the Hokage was gone, Sasuke and Neji approached. To avoid being overheard, they slipped into their shared mental space.
"Naruto, what did the Third Hokage want?"
Neither boy held much affection for Hiruzen Sarutobi anymore. The massacre of the Uchiha clan, the death of Neji's father Hizashi—both bore his shadow.
And now they knew the truth about Naruto's identity.
Lee had been the first to find out. Naruto hadn't revealed it at first, but when he began exposing Konoha's corruption, he confessed: he was the son of the Fourth Hokage.
The revelation had shaken them to their core. They had always believed Naruto was just another nameless orphan. To learn he was Minato Namikaze's child—his status far higher than theirs—was staggering.
Even more shocking was the life he'd been forced to endure. Worse than any common orphan, surviving only by his own grit.
In the "original story," Naruto had lived on expired milk and rotten vegetables sold at higher prices than fresh ones. No wonder he'd been shorter than Sakura in the early days, earning the nickname "runt."
But this Naruto was different. With proper meals—plenty of meat—and relentless taijutsu training, he'd built a strong, balanced body. Not bulky, but perfectly proportioned.
How ironic. The son of the Fourth Hokage, reduced to scraping by, while Hiruzen's own grandson Konohamaru enjoyed the luxury of a personal Special Jōnin tutor.
"That old man just shows up now and then to keep his presence alive," Naruto said with scorn.
"It's his usual trick—using the so-called 'Will of Fire' to sway people. He parades around like a benevolent leader, but it's disgusting."
His eyes hardened.
"In reality, he's let Danzo get away with who knows how many atrocities. Konoha won't last much longer under him."
Sasuke and Neji exchanged glances. Each time Naruto spoke of Hiruzen, their respect for the Hokage eroded further. The once-revered "God of Shinobi" was nothing more than a corrupt relic, clinging to power.
"Alright, let's keep training," Naruto said briskly.
Both nodded, and the sparring resumed.
Neji's strikes were razor-sharp, his movements honed by Naruto's Six Styles training. Blending them with the Hyūga clan's Gentle Fist, he had created his own hybrid: Six Styles Gentle Fist.
Paper Arts in particular resonated with Gentle Fist principles, and Neji's mastery grew with every session.
Sasuke, in contrast, focused more on ninjutsu. But Naruto forbade large-scale techniques—they would draw too much attention in the village. Because of this, Sasuke often fell behind. Still, with the Sharingan's dynamic vision, he could track Neji's every movement, keeping the fight balanced.
"Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"
Neji's hands blurred, striking in rapid succession. Sasuke's Sharingan spun frantically, his eyes tracking every blow—but his body couldn't keep up.
"Iron Body!"
In desperation, Sasuke coated himself in chakra, using Naruto's modified version of the Rokushiki technique.
Unlike the original Tekkai (Iron Body) from One Piece, which foolishly encouraged tanking hits, Naruto had reworked it into a flexible defense—one meant to endure without suicide.
Even so, Neji's Gentle Fist slipped through the cracks, pressing Sasuke to his limits.
The result was a half-finished technique.
Naruto, however, felt inspired. Using his Heaven Rewards Diligence ability, he refined the Iron Body and elevated it into a complete training system.
The first stage was the most basic—Iron Body.
As the name suggested, the body hardened like steel, forming a natural defense. With the addition of chakra, the effect was magnified, making it function almost like a defensive ninjutsu. This was the stage Sasuke had currently reached.
The next realm was Copper Body.
Here, the body's resilience increased severalfold, strengthening not only its durability but also its vitality. Cells were invigorated, muscles toughened, and the body as a whole became sturdier.
If Iron Body was pure defense, then Copper Body marked a qualitative change.
The body gained a measure of offensive enhancement, similar to the Eight Gates technique—though nowhere near as extreme. Its advantage was simple: there were no fatal side effects. The cost was only chakra and stamina.
Still, the essence of this system was defense. And in that regard, the improvement was profound.
Beyond Copper Body lay the Golden Body.
At this stage, the user's flesh reached an astonishing hardness, granting defense few could hope to pierce. But it wasn't merely defensive—chakra itself surged violently throughout the body, dramatically increasing combat power.
The drawback was clear: in this state, ninjutsu became nearly unusable, as the chakra flowed too chaotically. Just like opening the Eight Gates, it offered great strength, but at a steep price in chakra consumption and physical strain.
Naruto himself had managed to reach only a half-step into Golden Body. His age and physical development placed limits on how far his body could go. The shinobi world offered few natural treasures to enhance one's physique, after all.
It was only thanks to his Uzumaki heritage and the Nine-Tails' unparalleled regenerative power that he could touch the threshold of Golden Body at all. Otherwise, he would still be confined to Copper Body.
The pinnacle, in Naruto's vision, was a final realm: the Unbreakable Golden Body.
A stage beyond the Kage-level, where flesh and blood would undergo a fundamental metamorphosis—an evolution of life itself.
This concept drew from fragments of high-martial training methods and fantastical cultivation practices he still remembered from his past life, reinterpreted through the lens of chakra. For now, it remained only a theory, incomplete and untested.
Naruto suspected that Natural Energy would be the key to reaching it.
If his guess was correct, Natural Energy could not only make the Unbreakable Golden Body a reality, but also grant him the possibility of true longevity. After all, Natural Energy stood above chakra itself—its potential touching the realm of the Sage of Six Paths.
...
TN:
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