“…I lost.” Those three words struck Minato like a bolt of lightning.
Lost?
ANBU Kakashi… a jōnin… lost to a five-year-old child?
It sounded unbelievable.
Seeing the curiosity in Minato’s eyes, Kakashi quietly recounted everything that had happened at Training Ground Seven.
The fight.
Yujiro’s movements.
That terrifying instinct during the final exchange.
And the pressure he felt while facing him.
After listening for a long while, Minato finally let out a slow sigh.
“Kakashi… you really did lose.” Kakashi lowered his gaze slightly.
A trace of bitterness appeared at the corner of his mouth.
How was I supposed to know that a five-year-old monster like that even existed… If I had taken it seriously from the beginning— No.
Kakashi stopped that thought himself.
Excuses were meaningless.
Minato looked at him calmly.
“You lost because you underestimated your opponent.” “And because your mind was unsettled.” Kakashi fell silent.
Minato was right.
Ever since Rin’s death, his heart had never truly calmed down.
Even during battle, part of his mind always wandered somewhere else.
“Kakashi.” Minato’s expression softened slightly.
“Kushina is pregnant.” (PS: By whom?) The moment he spoke those words, the image of Kushina appeared in his mind naturally.
That bright red hair.
That loud smile.
The warmth she brought into every room she entered.
Without realizing it, Minato himself smiled faintly.
“I’ll be assigning you a new mission soon.” Kakashi nodded quietly.
“…Understood.” …
…
“Yujiro.
Yujiro.” A voice kept calling his name softly.
Yujiro slowly opened his eyes.
The first thing he saw was Kurenai’s slightly flushed face at close distance.
He blinked once, then glanced around helplessly.
“…Nee-san.” His voice carried a trace of sleepiness.
“Why are you in my room?” After speaking, Yujiro loosened his arms slightly.
Only then did Kurenai finally break free from his embrace.
“It’s because I was worried about you!” Kurenai glared at him angrily, though her face was still red.
Last night, after Yujiro returned home, he had collapsed onto the bed without even saying anything properly.
She had no choice but to carry him into his room herself.
And then— This brat grabbed her the moment she tried to leave.
Kurenai had originally wanted to pry herself free, but Yujiro’s grip was ridiculously tight.
In the end, she could only stay there beside him until she accidentally fell asleep too.
And when morning came— She still could not escape from his arms.
Just how absurd was this kid’s strength?
“Don’t worry so much, Nee-san.” Yujiro sat up slowly.
Feeling the power flowing beneath his skin, the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
“From now on… I’ll be the one protecting you.” Kurenai stared at his serious expression for a second.
Then she suddenly laughed.
“Pfft…” “You’re talking like some grown-up now.” Yujiro only smiled lightly.
After washing up, he left the courtyard.
Now that he had opened the first stage of the Limiter, he wanted to properly test his limits.
…
Behind Konoha’s mountains.
Yujiro arrived at his usual training area.
A wide stretch of open land.
A river flowed nearby, while dense forest surrounded the other side.
Further ahead were several small valleys.
For Yujiro, this place was perfect.
The first thing he wanted to test was his chakra control.
Yujiro walked toward the river.
Then, without hesitation, he stepped onto the water’s surface.
Ripples spread gently beneath his feet.
But his body remained completely stable.
There was no wasted chakra.
No imbalance.
No effort at all.
This was the enhancement brought by the first stage of the Limiter.
“Next…” Yujiro lightly jumped back onto the shore.
“My chakra nature.” Wind.
Lightning.
With the Limiter’s terrifying precision over bodily control, manipulating chakra became unbelievably smooth.
Crackle.
Lightning suddenly flickered across Yujiro’s fingertips.
The sound of chirping birds echoed faintly through the air.
A small mass of lightning chakra rapidly formed in his hand.
And he had not even formed a single seal.
Yujiro narrowed his eyes slightly.
This was the true strength of the Limiter.
As long as it continued evolving, strengthening ninjutsu, modifying ninjutsu… even creating entirely new techniques would eventually become possible.
After that, Yujiro continued testing the rest of his body.
In normal condition, his physical abilities were now roughly five times greater than before.
And after activating the first stage of the Limiter— They rose to nearly twelve times his previous strength.
No wonder the system removed the daily restriction on pushing his limits.
With a body like this, his recovery and endurance had already become abnormal.
A sharp light flashed through Yujiro’s eyes.
And this was only the first stage.
If he reached the second stage— He would be able to unleash one hundred percent of his body’s hidden potential.
Muscles.
Blood vessels.
Nerves.
Senses.
Everything would evolve dramatically.
His recovery speed, reaction time, and explosive power would rise to an entirely different level.
At that point, his strength would likely become terrifying.
And that was only the second stage.
Yujiro’s lips curved upward slightly.
The method to evolve was simple.
Push yourself to the limit.
Break.
Then surpass it.
That straightforward style suited Yujiro perfectly.
After unlocking the first stage, Yujiro’s combat style had also become far more flexible.
Any weapon could now become an extension of his body.
During the past two years of training, he had accumulated enough points through the system to exchange for a weapon.
The Kusanagi Sword.
The sword Yujiro chose had a plain black sheath and handle.
Simple and sharp.
And most importantly…
Yujiro liked black.
He slowly drew the blade.
A dark edge gradually emerged from the sheath.
The instant the sword fully appeared— An overwhelming killing intent burst from Yujiro’s body.
The air itself seemed to grow colder.
That murderous aura was no weaker than that of a shinobi who had survived countless battles.
Because before arriving in this world— Yujiro himself had once lived in darkness.
In his previous life, he had been a killer.
A true one.
That was why adapting to the shinobi world had been so easy for him.
To Yujiro, assassins and shinobi were not all that different.
The only difference was that many shinobi in this world could still walk beneath the sun openly.
Of course… Only many of them.
Yujiro exhaled softly and cleared the distracting thoughts from his mind.
Then he began swinging the black blade.
Slash.
Turn.
Sheathe.
Every movement flowed together naturally.
Smooth.
Almost beautiful.
Yujiro suddenly laughed loudly.
“My last life was holes…” “But this life?” His grip tightened around the sword.
“I’ll live however the hell I want.” Slash!
The black blade cut through the air.
At the same time— Ding!
Congratulations to the Host for breaking through the physical limit!
Limiter Level 1 progress +0.2%!
…
Ding!
Congratulations to the Host for breaking through the physical limit!
Limiter Level 1 progress +0.2%!
…
By the time Yujiro pushed himself past his limit twice more, the sun had already reached noon.
He slowly lowered his sword.
Then he spoke casually without even turning around.
“You can come out now.” The forest behind him fell silent for a moment.
Then a young figure slowly stepped out from behind a large tree.
Uchiha Itachi.
The black-haired boy wore a dark coat with the Uchiha clan crest on the back.
Even at this age, faint lines already rested beneath his eyes.
As though sorrow had settled there long ago.
Itachi looked quietly at Yujiro.
His instincts warned him clearly.
The Yujiro standing before him now was different from yesterday.
Dangerous.
“Scared?” Yujiro glanced at him calmly.
Truthfully, he had already sensed Itachi’s presence earlier.
The boy had been practicing shuriken nearby in the forest.
Yujiro simply did not care enough to mention it.
In his eyes, Itachi was a deeply tragic person.
At seven years old, he would already start viewing the world from the perspective of a Hokage.
From Konoha’s side, Itachi would eventually become a hero who prevented civil war.
But from the Uchiha clan’s side— He would forever be a traitor stained with blood.
Still… That future was years away.
And Yujiro had no interest in drowning himself in those thoughts.
Living in the present…
That was enough.
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