"Mind Transfer Jutsu!"
Minamoto Gi took two steps back and formed a textbook hand seal aimed at Naruto. The next moment, he found himself suspended in a dazzling void, with Naruto standing less than a meter in front of him.
"Warning! Mental space under invasion. You may choose to forcibly eject or forcibly capture the intruder!"
"What was that voice?"
Confused, Minamoto Gi tried to speak but realized he couldn't. Not only that—he couldn't move at all. He couldn't even blink. His eyes were fixed straight ahead.
His gaze trembled as panic surged from deep within. At that moment, the massive forms of three Tailed Beasts appeared behind Naruto.
"Which unlucky bastard came looking to die this time?"
Kurama was the first to speak, sounding somewhat amused.
"This one's so tiny!"
Isobu shoved its giant head close to Gi's, completely ignoring the terror in the boy's eyes.
"Huh? Is he from the Hyuga clan?"
Matatabi was the first to notice Gi's Byakugan.
"He's not an intruder," Naruto smiled, stepping forward. "He's my second world subordinate."
"Don't be afraid. This was just a test—and you passed."
As he spoke, a system panel appeared before him. Naruto navigated to the permissions menu and clicked "World Subordinate" under Gi's profile.
As soon as the selection was made, Gi could move again. He found himself lying on the bed where he'd been resting earlier. Naruto and his five shadow clones were still nearby.
"Huff... Looks like it was just a hallucination."
Drenched in sweat, Gi sat up, still shaken by the memory of the three towering, monstrous beasts.
"But... Lord Naruto was there too. And he was talking to those three monsters…"
Just as the thought surfaced, the scenery shifted again. Gi was back in that dazzling void, once again standing among Naruto and the three beasts he had assumed were illusions.
"It wasn't a dream!"
Gi's eyes widened in shock, but then he suddenly blurted out, "Lord Naruto! I can move, and I can speak!"
Realizing he had control this time, he immediately hid behind Naruto. After a while, he peeked out, cautiously surveying the surroundings—only to cower back when his gaze met Kurama's.
"Don't be scared," Naruto said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "From now on, they're going to be your teachers."
"Hmph! I'm not taking on some brat as my disciple!" Kurama slapped the ground with a paw, unsheathing two glowing claws, eyes fierce.
"This kid's a moron. Teaching him is a waste of time," Isobu added grumpily, clearly offended that someone so weak had entered their space.
"Enough teasing," Matatabi said, elegantly flicking her twin tails. "Naruto already explained his situation. If he were useless, Naruto wouldn't have granted him access to challenge the puppets. He also didn't suppress his ego-consciousness like he did with Yamanaka Fū."
Unlike Kurama and Isobu, Matatabi's tone was calm and noble.
Hearing this, Gi secretly glanced up at her. The fear in his heart slowly eased.
"She's like a giant white horse... and so beautiful…"
The moment that thought formed, Naruto gave him a strange look. Kurama and Isobu exchanged glances—and then burst into roaring laughter.
"Hahaha!"
"Matatabi, the kid says you're beautiful!"
"Yeah! In that case, we'll leave him to you!"
As their voices faded, both Kurama and Isobu vanished.
"Hmph!"
Matatabi snorted in annoyance, summoned a panel with a flick, then opened her mouth, revealing rows of jagged, saw-like teeth.
"Come with me, you foolish brat!"
Gi was still puzzled as to how they could hear his thoughts. Matatabi's sharp tone made him retreat behind Naruto again.
"L-Lord Naruto! Where is she taking me?!"
"She's just taking you to play a game."
Naruto pulled up Gi's data panel, tapped around, and said, "Let me see… You've got water, lightning, earth, and yin chakra attributes. But your chakra reserves are too low. You only get a 3-minute trial."
Curious, Gi reached out to touch the panel—but just before he could, the screen changed.
"Do you accept Matatabi's battle challenge?"
"Eh?"
Gi looked up at Naruto, confused.
"You go do your thing, Naruto," Matatabi said coolly. "I'll train him well."
Naruto smiled and nodded. "Then I'll leave him to you."
With that, he vanished, leaving Gi standing there alone and stunned.
"What are you standing there for?!"
The moment Naruto left, Matatabi's tone turned sharp. She raised a front paw and pointed at the confirmation button.
"Click 'Accept,' now!"
Scene shift—
Back in his own body, Naruto activated the Flying Thunder God Technique and arrived at his personal ninjutsu training ground. Just after creating ten shadow clones, a signal came from Sasuke via the Hologram Technique.
Naruto quickly formed the counter-seal.
"You got a letter."
Sasuke's projection materialized and delivered surprising news.
"A letter? Could it be…"
Naruto's expression sharpened. He immediately ended the call and entered the mirror world, clicking on Granny Cat and Sasuke's profiles.
"Just as I thought—it was sent by Yugito. Sasuke even read it, thinking it came from Itachi. Hah! He even considered cloning Sharingan for research…"
After reviewing their memories, Naruto exited the mirror world and disappeared in a flicker—only to reappear in front of Sasuke.
"Give me the letter."
Sasuke handed over the already-opened envelope. "When Denka delivered it, I thought it was for me."
"Honest of you."
Naruto took the envelope with a smile. "But seriously—you thought your brother wrote to you? That's kinda cute."
"You—!"
Sasuke's face darkened. He hated how Naruto always seemed to know everything. Exhaling slowly, he said, "Since you know now, I'll be direct."
"I want to open a lab in the Land of Snow."
"Fine by me," Naruto replied. "There are plenty of labs there. When are you heading over?"
"Right now."
Expressionless, Sasuke created two shadow clones and walked up to Naruto. "Kakashi's gathering us again tomorrow. Gotta use the time well."
"Good luck with your experiments."
Naruto grabbed one clone in each hand and vanished again.
Once in the Land of Snow, Naruto had his clones escort Sasuke's clones elsewhere, while he re-entered the mirror world.
He pulled up the battle interface—unsurprisingly, Kurama was sparring with Uchiha Itachi.
Naruto teleported straight to Kurama's location, only to be stunned.
Kurama sat cross-legged, looking excited. Each paw held a massive black chakra sphere over five meters wide—and he hurled them across the battlefield.
Naruto recognized the technique instantly: Big Rasengan Barrage.
Kurama noticed Naruto and froze. Then, he casually picked Naruto up with a claw and exited the fight.
"Kurama, you—"
"Don't tell Isobu or Matatabi about this!"
Back in the core mental space, Kurama set Naruto down gently and spoke sternly.
"No problem," Naruto agreed, then asked, "But since when could you use my Big Rasengan Barrage? I thought Tailed Beasts couldn't use ninjutsu?"
"What do you mean, 'your' Rasengan?"
Kurama scoffed. "Didn't I help you figure it out in the first place? As for us not using ninjutsu—that depends."
"Take Son Goku's Lava Release or Matatabi's Boil Release. Those are innate abilities for us. But in human terms, they're special kekkei genkai."
"The Rasengan Barrage is basically a variation of the Tailed Beast Ball. Since I was bored—couldn't get Rebirth of Self from Chiyo—I thought I'd try it. And hey, turns out I can do it."
Naruto was surprised at how detailed Kurama's explanation was.
"But why keep it a secret from the others?"
"Don't ask."
Kurama closed his eyes. "And let me clarify—the Big Rasengan Barrage is a Tailed Beast Ball. I'm not learning ninjutsu—I already knew it."
"Fair enough."
Naruto nodded. "By the way—Yugito and Gyūki replied."
Kurama's eyes shot open, grin sharp and full of teeth. "Those two finally wrote back?"
Kurama was pissed. His letter had reached Kumogakure in five days, and it had taken them over a month to respond.
Naruto stayed quiet. After a moment, Kurama squinted and asked, "What did they say?"
"Just four words. See for yourself."
Naruto raised a fist.
Kurama bumped it. Then his eyes bulged.
"Hmph! Keep in touch? Do they think I'm on their level?"
Naruto smirked. "Want to reply?"
"Nope!"
Kurama summoned the interface and began scrolling through profile icons. When Chiyo's appeared, his eyes gleamed.
"We'll reply after your plan is complete."
The Next Day.
Naruto and the team arrived early at the mission hall. Around 9 AM, Kakashi strolled out with a copy of Make-Out Paradise.
"This week's missions. Today, you're walking dogs for the pet shop. Go on."
He handed over the request sheet.
"A whole week of missions?" Sakura and Sasuke looked puzzled.
Naruto snatched the sheet, flipped it open, and gasped. "There's a mission bundle?!"
"Yup," Kakashi flipped another page. "No one wanted these, so I signed them all to you. Just follow the schedule."
Sasuke asked, "What about afternoon training?"
"Training?" Kakashi closed his book. "Seems you misunderstood. I've already taught you far more than other teams get. The rest is up to you. Besides, my real job is to lead missions—not babysit."
"Got it," Naruto nodded. "So from now on, we handle our own training."
Sakura was stunned. Kakashi wasn't wrong—Tenten had once told her she'd learned things it took others two years to master.
Sasuke was secretly pleased. This wouldn't slow his own training.
"You can go now," Kakashi reopened his book, turned to leave, then added, "But if you hit a wall with training, meet me by the Memorial Stone at 1 PM."
Half a Month Later.
"You want to know how strong Itachi is?" Naruto stood on a frozen plain in the Land of Snow, speaking to Sasuke's projection with a smirk. "Or do you just want to fight me and get a taste of death?"
"You know my reason."
Sasuke's clone stared back, Sharingan spinning. "I'll activate Izanagi with a cloned Sharingan. I want to see the difference between myself and him."
"Fine."
Naruto cut the connection and instantly teleported Sasuke to the frozen battlefield.
"Hidden Mist Jutsu!"
Sasuke leapt back, casting his first jutsu midair.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Barrage!"
Naruto moved faster. As Sasuke landed, three giant fireballs barreled toward him.
"Water Style: Water Mirror Technique!"
A water mirror formed instantly, reflecting the three fireballs back.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
Explosions rang out, thick fog rolled in. Sasuke donned his chakra armor and soared into the sky.
Fighting on ice was suicide—Naruto's wind style could clear the fog in seconds.
But just as Sasuke gained altitude, darkness fell over him.
He looked up—and saw Naruto already in the air, radiating visible chakra that shot into the sky.
"Storm Style: Thunderfall Purgatory!"
RUMBLE—!
Thunder exploded as black storm clouds blotted out the sun. Swirling vortexes formed in the sky, each one a brewing bolt of doom.
Sasuke's eyes shrank.
The last thing he saw was a blinding flash—then, nothing.
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